Angle between choice alleys as a critical factor in spontaneous alternation

Rats were tested for spontaneous alternation in a variety of mazes differing in the angle between choice alleys. Uniformly high alternation rates were found at all angles from 330 down to 90 deg. At 45 or 0 deg, the rates approximated a chance 50%, and at angles between 45 and 90 deg the alternation rates were also intermediate. The hypothesis that the spatial distance between goal regions is the critical factor was rejected, and it was concluded that the angle between alleys is the principal factor determining alternation under these conditions. The results support the idea that alternation in the rat is basically a vestibular phenomenon.     

Arousal and short-term memory: Effects of caffeine and trial spacing on delayed-alternation performance

Two experiments tested the prediction of Kesner’s (1973) parallel memory-stores theory that arousal reduces retention in short-term memory. Using rats as subjects, the effect of caffeine on delayed-alternation performance in a spatial discrimination was investigated. Trial spacing was also manipulated, both alone and in combination with the drug variable. The results showed that, with massed trials, caffeine facilitated alternation at the short delay and inhibited it at the longer delays tested. Using spaced trials, caffeine decreased alternation at all delays. Spaced trials produced overall superior performance as compared with massed trials. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that caffeine reduces short-term retention but, paradoxically, can also increase performance under massed trials by decreasing proactive interference (i.e., retention) from earlier trials.     

Auditory short-term memory in the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

We trained two budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) with operant techniques in a delayed matching-to-sample task using pairs of acoustic stimuli. These stimuli included simple pure tones, complex, species-specific vocalizations, and tone-vocalization combinations. The birds were then tested with different retention intervals. The budgerigars’ short-term memory was similar for complex, species-specific vocalizations and for simple pure tones. By contrast, they showed significantly better short-term memory when tested with two sounds drawn from different acoustic categories.     

Retroactive inhibition in rat spatial memory

Two experiments were carried out in which rats first were given four forced choices on an eight-arm radial maze, then were given interpolated maze experiences, and finally were given a free choice retention test on the first maze. In Experiment 1, interpolated experiences consisted of forced choices made on one, two, or three other mazes, each placed in a different room. Retroactive inhibition (RI) was not found with one and two interpolated mazes but was found with three interpolated mazes. In Experiments 2a and 2b, an attempt was made to produce RI within a single context by using two mazes placed side by side or on top of one another and by using interpolated forced choices that were different, random, or the same with respect to forced choices onMaze 1. These conditions failed to yield any evidence of RI. In Experiment 2c, forced choices were followed by interpolated direct placements on the same maze on different, random, or the same maze arms, and retention tests revealed RI under these conditions. It was concluded that rats encode memories of specific places visited in space and that RI will arise only if (1) memory is greatly overloaded with interpolated information or (2) an interpolated visit is made to exactly that position in space to which an animal must travel in order to achieve a correct choice on the retention test.     

Variables affecting alternation behavior in the cockroach,Blatta orientalis

To investigate alternation behavior in the cockroach as an invertebrate, three T-maze experiments were conducted assessing the effects of (a) intratrial (exposure) and intertrial (exposure to test) interval, (b) brightness similarity of the alternatives and response-direction factors, and (c) an initial free-choice vs. a varying number of forced-choice exposures. Alternation was enhanced with a long exposure on Trial 1, a short interval between Trial 1 and Trial 2 (test), greater dissimilarity (or discriminability) of the arm brightnesses and more frequent forced-choice exposures to an arm prior to test. These results highlight the role of intramaze brightness cues as controlling alternation in the cockroach and accord well with a response-to-change interpretation of the phenomenon. In addition, they suggest that the alternation paradigm can be used effectively to assay short-term memory storage in neurologically simple organisms.     

Does task-focused versus task-avoidance behavior matter for literacy development in an orthographically consistent language?

We examined the importance of children’s classroom activity, defined as task-focused versus task-avoidance behavior, on different literacy outcomes in an orthographically consistent language. Greek children (n = 95) were tested in kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2 on measures of general cognitive ability, phonological awareness, RAN, and short-term memory. The teachers of the children also assessed their task-focused behavior. Nonword decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension measures were administered in grades 2 and 3. The results indicated that task-focused behavior accounted for unique variance in spelling and reading comprehension, even after controlling for the effects of autoregressor, non-verbal IQ, and phonological processing.     

Repeated failures in reducing rat’s spontaneous alternation through the intertrial disruption of spatial orientation

Three experiments examined the contention that an extramaze cue representing relative spatial direction controls rats’ spontaneous alternation. Attempts to eliminate this short-term directional memory by horizontally rotating the Ss were without effect. These data, along with other recent findings, cast doubt upon the completeness of Douglas’s model of spontaneous alternation.     

A Drop in the Bucket: Randomized Controlled Trials Testing Reading and Math Interventions

The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of empirical studies published in the last 5 years in a sample of special education peer‐reviewed journals that (1) assessed the effects of reading and math interventions with group designs and (2) used random assignment to treatment conditions to test those interventions. A hand search of articles from the Journal of Special Education, Exceptional Children, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and School Psychology Review yielded 806 relevant articles, of which 5.46 percent tested a reading or math intervention using a group design and 4.22 percent used random assignment. These findings indicate that randomized experimental designs, which offer the highest level of evidence of an intervention's efficacy, are underrepresented in the literature, at least in the area of reading and math interventions.     

前瞻记忆的影响因素

前瞻记忆是对预定事件或行为的记忆,是一种指向来来活动的记忆。最近二十年来,前瞻记忆一直是认知心理学研究的前沿和热点问题之一,其影响因素一直是研究者关注的重要方面。研究者主要从年龄因素、靶线索特征、进行中任务与前瞻记忆任务的匹配性、延时间隔等方面对前瞻记忆影响因素进行了研究。但是由于前瞻记忆加工过程的复杂性以及研究设计等的不同,研究结果并不一致。     

Predictors of Spelling Ability in Children With Down Syndrome

This study examined whether there are processing differences between children with Down syndrome (DS; n = 22; 7 years 8 months to 13 years 10 months) and typically developing children (TD; n = 22; 6 years 6 months to 10 years 10 months), matched for receptive vocabulary. The TD children performed better on tests of nonverbal intelligence (matrices), phonological awareness (sound deletion), and phonological short-term memory (digit span), as well as spelling accuracy (30 single words). Separate regression analyses revealed that nonverbal intelligence and phonological awareness were the best predictors of spelling accuracy for TD children, whereas receptive vocabulary and phonological short-term memory were the best predictors for children with DS. An examination of spelling errors suggested that although children with DS do use some phonological awareness during spelling, deficits in short-term memory appear to limit success. The implications of these results for intervention studies are briefly discussed.     

Cues for spontaneous alternation by gerbils

Twenty male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) were tested for spontaneous alternation behavior in a T-maze under five cue conditions: (1) all cues present, (2) only S’s own odor trail, (3) only orientation cues, (4) no cues, (5) only another S’s odor trail. Significant alternation was found only in the first two conditions, indicating that odor trail is the only alternation cue for gerbils under testing conditions which also yield considerable orientation alternation in rats. There was also a tendency for gerbils to “alternate” the odor trail left by the noncagemate, but to follow that of a cagemate. A previous failure to find evidence of alternation in gerbils may have been due to a lack of opportunity for the animals to engage in trail-marking behavior.     

Cognitive and Linguistic Precursors to Early Literacy Achievement in Children With Specific Language Impairment

This study investigated the role of cognitive and language skills as predictors of early literacy skills in children with Specific Language Impairment. A range of cognitive and linguistic skills were assessed in a sample of 137 eight-year-old children with SLI at the beginning of the school year, and 6 months later on word decoding and reading comprehension. The cognitive and linguistic measures revealed four factors that were called language, speech, short-term memory, and phonological awareness. Structural equation modeling showed word decoding to be predicted by speech, short-term memory, and phonological awareness, whereas reading comprehension was predicted by word decoding skills and short-term memory. It can be concluded that in children with SLI variations in early word decoding are mostly determined by speech abilities and short-term memory, and to a lesser extent by phonological awareness. Moreover, reading comprehension turns out to be highly dependent on word decoding and short-term memory.     

Maze patrolling by rats with and without food reward

The effects of food reward on rats’ behavior in radial and Dashiell tunnel mazes were examined in two experiments. In the first, with animals at ad-lib body weights, food reward reduced speed of movement at the food locations, but did not affect the patterns of movement in either maze. Exploratory efficiency in the Dashiell maze was unaffected by food reward, and spontaneous patrolling of the radial maze by the nonrewarded animals was comparable to the behavior, reported by others, of rats running for food reward on elevated eight-arm mazes. In the second experiment, with subjects maintained at 80% of ad-lib body weights, there was some evidence for “winstay” learning: food-rewarded rats in the Dashiell maze were relatively more active near the food locations than were the nonrewarded animals, and more rewarded than nonrewarded rats revisited all food locations in the radial maze. Nonetheless, exploratory efficiency in the Dashiell maze was unaffected by food reward, as was patrolling efficiency in the radial maze, which was again comparable to that of rats on elevated mazes. The similarity in behavior of rewarded and nonrewarded animals in these mazes implies that the major determinant of their behavior, whether or not food reward is provided, is a spontaneous tendency to avoid places recently visited.     

Digging behavior in 12 taxa of muroid rodents

The digging behavior of 12 taxa of muroid rodents was observed on sand and peat substrates. Overall, significantly more digging was performed on peat than on sand. The percentage of animals of each taxon that dug was found to be positively correlated with both the duration of digging and the number of bouts of digging and negatively correlated with latency to dig. Differences across taxa in the duration of digging were correlated with field observations of the nesting behavior of these taxa; taxa that frequently utilize subterranean nest sites exhibited more digging than those that do not. The motor patterns used in digging are described;Mus musculus was the only species that appeared to exhibit a unique digging pattern. Digging behavior appears to be a pattern that is readily elicited in the laboratory, related to behavior in the field, and appropriated for further laboratory study.     

Prenatal Predictors of Postnatal Quality of Caregiving Behavior in Mothers and Fathers

SYNOPSIS

Objective. The quality of parental caregiving has been shown to affect children’s development from birth onward. Therefore, it is important to detect parents at risk for low-quality caregiving as early as possible – preferably before birth. Design. Observations of expectant mothers’ and fathers’ behavior when exposed to infant crying were examined as predictors of the quality of caregiving toward their own infant 6 weeks postpartum. Eighty-eight expectant mothers and 57 of their male partners were tested during the third trimester of pregnancy. Parents were filmed individually while caring for a crying Simulator Infant for 15 min; the quality of their caregiving was rated on sensitivity and cooperation. Also, cognitive interference on a working memory task and the ability to regulate physical force when exposed to infant crying were assessed. When their baby was 6 weeks old, parents were filmed and rated for sensitivity and cooperation during a 15-min interaction with their own infant at home. Results. Prenatal quality of caregiving behavior toward a simulator infant predicted postnatal quality of caregiving toward the own infant in both mothers and fathers. Cognitive interference and the ability to regulate physical force did not predict postnatal quality of caregiving behavior. Conclusions. Expectant parents’ quality of caregiving behavior toward a crying simulator infant predicted both mothers’ and fathers’ postnatal quality of caregiving behavior. Future research is needed to determine whether the simulator infant may be a useful screening instrument and training tool for parenting skills in at risk groups of parents-to-be.     

Working memory, fluid intelligence, and science learning

A review of the history of working memory (WM) studies finds that the concept of WM evolved from short-term memory to a multi-component system. Comparison between contemporary WM models reveals: (1) consensus that the content of WM includes not only task-relevant information, but also task-irrelevant information; (2) consensus that WM consists of phonological and visuospatial components; (3) consensus that short-term memory storage is a function of WM; (4) disagreement as to whether an independent executive control is a necessary WM component; and (5) disagreement as to whether the control function is active or passive. Methods for measuring WM differed across studies with a preponderance of various dual-tasks; little psychometric work has been done on these measures. Correlational studies supported a close relationship between WM and measures of fluid intelligence and science achievement, but we found no experimental studies on the impact of WM training on science achievement. Finally we suggest how WM research findings may be applied to improve fluid intelligence and science achievement.     

Memory training program for older adults

ABSTRACT

Objective: Memory loss affects a large proportion of older adults. Research indicates a positive association between memory training and better memory performance as people age. However, studies on specific memory training using an experimental design are limited. This study explored whether memory training has improved memory performance in a group of older adults.

Method: A convenience sample of 48 participants was recruited from two communities. Disregarding dropouts, this left 23 experimental (mean age = 65.4 ± 6.0, range = 56–80) and 19 control participants (mean age = 64.5 ± 4.9, range: 57–72). The intervention consisted of 60-min classes held on a weekly basis continuing for 8 weeks. The class session was held after a 1-h exercise class and before a 1-h session of cognitive games. The pre–post objective memory performances, including associative, list, text, place, grocery learning, and transfer-effect of daily event memory (ecology validity), were examined to determine whether the intervention was effective.

Results: Intragroup: With Wilcoxon test, the findings showed that the intervention of both the list and place learning had significant differences for the experimental group, but not for the control group. Intergroup: The main effects were found for the associative and text learning. The mixed design ANOVA indicated that there is an interaction (time x group) on the dependent variable of the place learning test. Daily events memory: We found within group that the pre–post differences were significant for the experimental group but not for the control group.

Conclusion: The study showed that memory training can help older adults to ameliorate memory loss problems and these findings deserve more attention.     

The Relations Between Children’s Reading Comprehension, Working Memory, Language Skills and Components of Reading Decoding in a Normal Sample

The primary aim of the current study was to identify the strongest independent predictors of reading comprehension using word reading, language and memory variables in a normal sample of 180 children in grades 3–5, with a range of word reading skills. It was hypothesized that orthographic processing, receptive vocabulary and verbal working memory would all make independent contributions to reading comprehension. The contributions of reading speed, receptive grammatical skills, exposure to print, visuospatial working memory and verbal learning and retrieval (a measure of longer-term retention) were also investigated. Working memory tasks that required the processing and storage of numerical and spatial material were used. One of the numerical working memory tasks was based on the number span task developed by Yuill, Oakhill, and Parkin British Journal of Psychology, 1989, 80, 351–361. A visuospatial equivalent of that task was developed from the forward Corsi block task [Corsi, Abstracts International, 1973, 34, 891]. The results revealed that, after controlling for age and general intellectual ability, the word reading and the language variables had a much stronger relation with reading comprehension than the memory variables. The strongest independent predictor of reading comprehension was orthographic processing since it captured variance in both word reading, language skills and verbal working memory. The forward Corsi task and performance on a measure of verbal learning and retrieval each made small independent contributions to reading comprehension but the contribution of verbal working memory was not significant. It was concluded that tasks measuring the interplay between short-term and long-term memory, in which new information is combined with information already stored in long-term memory, may better predict reading comprehension measured with the text available than working memory tasks which only have a short-term memory component.