Effects of modality on memory for original and misleading information

The modality effect of ego depletion: Auditory task modality reduces ego depletion

An initial act of self-control that impairs subsequent acts of self-control is called ego depletion. The ego depletion phenomenon has been observed consistently. The modality effect refers to the effect of the presentation modality on the processing of stimuli. The modality effect was also robustly found in a large body of research. However, no study to date has examined the modality effects of ego depletion. This issue was addressed in the current study. In Experiment 1, after all participants completed a handgrip task, one group's participants completed a visual attention regulation task and the other group's participants completed an auditory attention regulation task, and then all participants again completed a handgrip task. The ego depletion phenomenon was observed in both the visual and the auditory attention regulation task. Moreover, participants who completed the visual task performed worse on the handgrip task than participants who completed the auditory task, which indicated that there was high ego depletion in the visual task condition. In Experiment 2, participants completed an initial task that either did or did not deplete self-control resources, and then they completed a second visual or auditory attention control task. The results indicated that depleted participants performed better on the auditory attention control task than the visual attention control task. These findings suggest that altering task modality may reduce ego depletion.

Do Format Differences in the Presentation of Information Affect Susceptibility to Memory Distortions? The Three-Stage Misinformation Procedure Reconsidered

To date most studies within the misinformation paradigm have used the visual presentation of a to-be-remembered event that is later tested verbally or visually. However, the well-established encoding specificity hypothesis predicts that congruence between encoding and test phases should lead to fewer memory errors. In Study 1, we examined the susceptibility to misinformation after encoding original information in 1 of 4 different formats: as a film, slides, and as a written or auditory narrative. All participants were tested verbally, and those who encoded original information pictorially (as a video or slides) were more likely to incorrectly accept verbally suggested information. This might be-a consequence of encoding-retrieval format match. In Study 2, using either verbal or pictorial modality during encoding, postevent information, and test (fully crossed design), we partially supported the encoding-retrieval format match hypothesis; however, auditory presentation of original or postevent information modified the effect, showing that a memory trace created after auditory description was the strongest.

Age-related wayfinding differences in real large-scale environments: detrimental motor control effects during spatial learning are mediated by executive decline?

The aim of this study was to evaluate motor control activity (active vs. passive condition) with regards to wayfinding and spatial learning difficulties in large-scale spaces for older adults. We compared virtual reality (VR)-based wayfinding and spatial memory (survey and route knowledge) performances between 30 younger and 30 older adults. A significant effect of age was obtained on the wayfinding performances but not on the spatial memory performances. Specifically, the active condition deteriorated the survey measure in all of the participants and increased the age-related differences in the wayfinding performances. Importantly, the age-related differences in the wayfinding performances, after an active condition, were further mediated by the executive measures. All of the results relative to a detrimental effect of motor activity are discussed in terms of a dual task effect as well as executive decline associated with aging.