Fuzzy-trace theory: dual processes in memory, reasoning, and cognitive neuroscience

Simplifying social learning

Social learning is complex, but people often seem to navigate social environments with ease. This ability creates a puzzle for traditional accounts of reinforcement learning (RL) that assume people negotiate a tradeoff between easy-but-simple behavior (model-free learning) and complex-but-difficult behavior (e.g., model-based learning). We offer a theoretical framework for resolving this puzzle: although social environments are complex, people have social expertise that helps them behave flexibly with low cognitive cost. Specifically, by using familiar concepts instead of focusing on novel details, people can turn hard learning problems into simpler ones. This ability highlights social learning as a prototype for studying cognitive simplicity in the face of environmental complexity and identifies a role for conceptual knowledge in everyday reward learning.

Intuitive thinking predicts false memory formation due to a decrease in inhibitory efficiency

False memory formation is usually studied using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (DRM), in which individuals incorrectly remember words that were not originally presented. In this paper, we systematically investigated how two modes of thinking (analytical vs. intuitive) can influence the tendency to create false memories. The increased propensity of intuitive thinkers to generate more false memories can be explained by one or both of the following hypotheses: a decrease in the inhibition of the lure words that come to mind, or an increased reliance on the familiarity heuristic to determine if the word has been previously studied. In two studies, we conducted tests of both recognition and recall using the DRM paradigm. Our observations indicate that a decrease in inhibitory efficiency plays a larger role in false memory formation compared to the use of the familiarity heuristic.

Prediction of Sex and the Potential Use of On-Demand PrEP Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States

BACKGROUND

On-demand dosing of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) requires accurate prediction of sex; however, prediction abilities among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) have not been characterized.

SETTING

A nationally recruited prospective cohort of YMSM ages 16-24 years.

METHODS

We followed 120 YMSM for 8 weeks using digital daily surveys (DDSs) to measure engagement in and prediction of anal sex over 24 hours, along with condom use and other encounter-level circumstances. Our main outcome, an "unpredicted spontaneous encounter," was defined as an anal sex encounter that occurred without sufficient prior knowledge to (hypothetically) enable protective on-demand PrEP use according to dosing guidelines. We operationalized this outcome as an anal sex encounter for which a participant indicated: (1) on the prior day's DDS that there was a low likelihood of sex occurring in the subsequent 24 hours (unpredicted) and (2) on the current day's DDS that he knew ≤2 hours in advance that the encounter would occur (spontaneous).

RESULTS

Approximately one-third of all anal sex encounters during the study period were unpredicted and spontaneous and would not have been protected (hypothetically) by on-demand dosing. More than two-thirds of participants experienced such an encounter and almost three-quarters of all acts were condomless.

CONCLUSIONS

On-demand PrEP to prevent HIV acquisition may be challenging for many YMSM. Clinical and public health approaches that account for patients' predictive abilities alongside their dosing preferences may help to optimize selection of and adherence to PrEP dosing strategies.

The effect of feedback and recollection rejection instructions on the development of memory monitoring and accuracy

Recollection rejection (a form of memory monitoring) involves rejecting false details on the basis of remembering true details (recall to reject), thereby increasing memory accuracy. This study examined how recollection rejection instructions and feedback affect memory accuracy and false recognition in 5-year-olds, 6- and 7-year-olds, 8- and 9-year-olds, and adults. Participants (N = 336) completed three study-test phases. Instructions and item-level feedback were manipulated during the first two phases, with the third phase including a test containing no instructions or feedback to evaluate learning effects. As predicted, in the younger children, as compared with the older children and adults, we found reduced accuracy scores (hits to studied items minus false alarms to related lures), reduced recollection rejection to related lures, and increased false recognition scores. We also found that, in the third phase, prior feedback reduced false recognition scores, potentially by improving monitoring, and typical developmental differences in false recognition were eliminated. However, there were mixed findings of instructions and feedback, and in some conditions these interventions harmed memory. These findings provide initial evidence that combining instructions and feedback with repeated task practice may improve monitoring effectiveness, but additional work is needed on how these factors improve and sometimes harm performance in young children.

Women's health behaviour change after receiving breast cancer risk estimates with tailored screening and prevention recommendations

Background

The Predicting Risk of Cancer at Screening (PROCAS) study provided women who were eligible for breast cancer screening in Greater Manchester (United Kingdom) with their 10-year risk of breast cancer, i.e., low (≤1.5%), average (1.5–4.99%), moderate (5.-7.99%) or high (≥8%). The aim of this study is to explore which factors were associated with women’s uptake of screening and prevention recommendations. Additionally, we evaluated women’s organisational preferences regarding tailored screening.

Methods

A total of 325 women with a self-reported low (n = 60), average (n = 125), moderate (n = 80), or high (n = 60) risk completed a two-part web-based survey. The first part contained questions about personal characteristics. For the second part women were asked about uptake of early detection and preventive behaviours after breast cancer risk communication. Additional questions were posed to explore preferences regarding the organisation of risk-stratified screening and prevention. We performed exploratory univariable and multivariable regression analyses to assess which factors were associated with uptake of primary and secondary breast cancer preventive behaviours, stratified by breast cancer risk. Organisational preferences are presented using descriptive statistics.

Results

Self-reported breast cancer risk predicted uptake of (a) supplemental screening and breast self-examination, (b) risk-reducing medication and (c) preventive lifestyle behaviours. Further predictors were (a) having a first degree relative with breast cancer, (b) higher age, and (c) higher body mass index (BMI). Women’s organisational preferences for tailored screening emphasised a desire for more intensive screening for women at increased risk by further shortening the screening interval and moving the starting age forward.

Conclusions

Breast cancer risk communication predicts the uptake of key tailored primary and secondary preventive behaviours. Effective communication of breast cancer risk information is essential to optimise the population-wide impact of tailored screening.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09174-3.

When Reflection Hurts: The Effect of Cognitive Processing Types on Organizational Adaptation to Discontinuous Change

Technological breakthroughs, institutional disruptions, and natural disasters often alter the course of organizations and entire industries. Such discontinuous changes threaten organizations’ survival by affecting the value of the knowledge accumulated in routines and capabilities. Although it is widely acknowledged that managerial cognition is a critical antecedent of organizational responses to discontinuous change, the role of type 1 (intuitive) and type 2 (reflective) processing in the adaptation of shared patterns of behavior, that is, routines, remains understudied. Drawing on dual-process theory, we propose that particular features of type 1 processing render this approach superior to type 2 processing, especially in highly ambiguous environments in which information is limited and difficult to verify. We tested our hypotheses in a longitudinal experiment linking individual-level factors with organizational-level practices of routine adaptation. Experienced managers, paired in 80 groups, developed routines in a first round of a simulation game; in a second round, we then introduced a discontinuous change making previous routines obsolete in order to observe how they adapted. The data show that priming type 1 processing facilitates organizational adaptation more than type 2 processing by providing faster, more routinized, efficiently coordinated, and optimal responses. In addition, type 1 appears to be more functional in highly ambiguous environments, whereas type 1 and type 2 processes yield similar levels of performance under low levels of ambiguity. Overall, our study advances the understanding of the nondeliberative dimension of organizational adaptation to discontinuous change.

Lie for Me: Developmental Trends in Acquiescing to a Blatantly False Statement

A pair of studies demonstrates that simply asking children to make a blatantly false accusation in the guise of helping others can result in both immediate and long-term false claims. In the pilot study, the initial willingness to make a blatantly false statement was associated with some children making false statements a week later despite being told that the first interviewer had made mistakes during the initial interview. On a positive note, the majority of participants accurately stated that they did not have first-hand knowledge of their accusation's accuracy. Across both studies, the rate of false accusation rates was high. The main experiment demonstrated that children who were young, possessed the lowest verbal intelligence or who were from the lowest SES homes made the most accusations. These findings illustrate not only the dangers of encouraging children to make false statements, but the ease and durability of making such false statements.

Patients' and Providers' Needs and Preferences When Considering Fertility Preservation Before Cancer Treatment: Decision-Making Needs Assessment

BACKGROUND

As cancer treatments continue to improve, it is increasingly important that women of reproductive age have an opportunity to decide whether they want to undergo fertility preservation treatments to try to protect their ability to have a child after cancer. Clinical practice guidelines recommend that providers offer fertility counseling to all young women with cancer; however, as few as 12% of women recall discussing fertility preservation. The long-term goal of this program is to develop an interactive web-based patient decision aid to improve awareness, access, knowledge, and decision making for all young women with cancer. The International Patient Decision Aid Standards collaboration recommends a formal decision-making needs assessment to inform and guide the design of understandable, meaningful, and usable patient decision aid interventions.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to assess providers' and survivors' fertility preservation decision-making experiences, unmet needs, and initial design preferences to inform the development of a web-based patient decision aid.

METHODS

Semistructured interviews and an ad hoc focus group assessed current decision-making experiences, unmet needs, and recommendations for a patient decision aid. Two researchers coded and analyzed the transcripts using NVivo (QSR International). A stakeholder advisory panel guided the study and interpretation of results.

RESULTS

A total of 51 participants participated in 46 interviews (18 providers and 28 survivors) and 1 ad hoc focus group (7 survivors). The primary themes included the importance of fertility decisions for survivorship, the existence of significant but potentially modifiable barriers to optimal decision making, and a strong support for developing a carefully designed patient decision aid website. Providers reported needing an intervention that could quickly raise awareness and facilitate timely referrals. Survivors reported needing understandable information and help with managing uncertainty, costs, and pressures. Design recommendations included providing tailored information (eg, by age and cancer type), optional interactive features, and multimedia delivery at multiple time points, preferably outside the consultation.

CONCLUSIONS

Decision making about fertility preservation is an important step in providing high-quality comprehensive cancer care and a priority for many survivors' optimal quality of life. Decision support interventions are needed to address gaps in care and help women quickly navigate toward an informed, values-congruent decision. Survivors and providers support developing a patient decision aid website to make information directly available to women outside of the consultation and to provide self-tailored content according to women's clinical characteristics and their information-seeking and deliberative styles.

[Cognitive aging apart from dementia]

Cognitive aging apart dementia results from different genetic programming, different according to individuals. The aging of the various cognitive and very heterogeneous cognitive functions largely depends on the life course of each person. Social factors, in particular the environment in which a person lives, may or may not accelerate the processes of cognitive aging. The slower processing speeds of information from the environment, practical or strategic new acquisitions, and the difficult management of multiple tasks, reflect an age-related hypofrontality. Physical and mental health, social and relational well-being participate in good cognitive aging. Exploration of the different facets of cognitive aging shows its complexity.

The influence of semantic context on false memories

Although false memories have largely been examined with the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, little research has focused on the semantic context in which associates are encoded. Across three experiments, we varied semantic context during a sentence-processing task with DRM associates embedded within sentences. More meaningful sentences resulted in greater memory errors (Experiment 1). Furthermore, providing contextual information to discriminate old from new items did not reduce false alarms relative to encoding words in isolation when sentences converged on the meaning of the critical lure (Experiment 2), and actually increased memory errors (Experiment 3). These results suggest that semantic context that allows for meaningful relational processing of items within-lists and that converge on the semantic meaning of the critical lure increases the likelihood that the list theme is identified, resulting in more errors at test.

Evidence for a visual bias when recalling complex narratives

Although it is understood that episodic memories of everyday events involve encoding a wide array of perceptual and non-perceptual information, it is unclear how these distinct types of information are recalled. To address this knowledge gap, we examine how perceptual (visual versus auditory) and non-perceptual details described within a narrative, a proxy for everyday event memories, were retrieved. Based on previous work indicating a bias for visual content, we hypothesized that participants would be most accurate at recalling visually described details and would tend to falsely recall non-visual details with visual descriptors. In Study 1, participants watched videos of a protagonist telling narratives of everyday events under three conditions: with visual, auditory, or audiovisual details. All narratives contained the same non-perceptual content. Participants' free recall of these narratives under each condition were scored for the type of details recalled (perceptual, non-perceptual) and whether the detail was recalled with gist or verbatim memory. We found that participants were more accurate at gist and verbatim recall for visual perceptual details. This visual bias was also evident when we examined the errors made during recall such that participants tended to incorrectly recall details with visual information, but not with auditory information. Study 2 tested for this pattern of results when the narratives were presented in auditory only format. Results conceptually replicated Study 1 in that there was still a persistent visual bias in what was recollected from the complex narratives. Together, these findings indicate a bias for recruiting visualizable content to construct complex multi-detail memories.

Memory illusions and category malleability: False recognition for goal-derived reorganizations of common categories

Four studies explore semantic memory intrusions for goal-derived subcategories (e.g., "sports good for backache") embedded in taxonomic categories (e.g., "sports"). Study 1 presented hybrid lists (composed of typical items from both representations: taxonomic categories and subcategories) together with names of subcategories, names of taxonomic categories, or with no names. Subcategory names produced levels of false recognitions for critical lures from subcategories comparable with critical lures from taxonomic categories. Study 2 presented lists of exemplars either from taxonomic categories or subcategories (between participants). Lists of subcategories paired with their names produced higher levels of false recognition for subcategories lures compared with taxonomic lures. Study 3 replicated this result and showed that even though distinctiveness of taxonomic lures in a subcategory context (i.e., subcategory list with a subcategory name) may facilitate rejection of these lures, subcategory lures were still more falsely recognized than were taxonomic lures when retrieval monitoring was hindered through speeded recognition. Study 4 replicated the results with lists in which production frequency was better controlled and with a larger sample allowing for increased power of the test. Although confirming the critical role of preexistent categorical structures in the generation of false memories, results show that false memories for goal-derived subcategories can occur with the same frequency as false memories stemming from better established taxonomic categories. Such results broaden the scope of occurrence of false memories to goal-derived semantic organizations, which are often closer to categorizations used in real-world environments.

Structured word-lists as a model of basic schemata: deviations from content and order in a repeated event paradigm

Repeated events are common in everyday life, but relatively neglected as a topic within memory psychology. In two samples of adults, we investigated memory for repeated, schema-establishing simple events (operationalised as structured word-lists), and the effects of deviations within those events. We focused on the effects of deviations from two core dimensions of schema: content and order. Across three successive word-list events, we established and reinforced a basic list schema by always presenting three content categories in the same order. These expectations were violated in a fourth and final word-list. We measured the effects on memory of both the violating and the schema-establishing lists in multiple recall attempts over a period of one month. We measured correct recall, misattribution errors, metacognitive awareness of list-organisation and deviations, and recall organisation. Across all delays and across all word-lists (not only the final one), content changes increased recall, whereas order changes decreased recall. Participants were also more aware of content changes than order changes. These disparate effects suggest that the two types of schema-deviations may have qualitatively different effects on memory for specific instances of a repeated generic event. Cognitive processes underlying memory for typical and exceptional instances of repeated events are discussed.

Age differences in false memories for visual scenes and the effect of prior recall

This study investigated age differences in false memory for visual scenes and the effect of immediate recall on subsequent recognition. Eighty children (7–9 years), 74 adolescents (14–16 years), 92 young adults (19–26 years) and 82 older adults (50–80 years) studied four visual scenes and then took a recognition test after either a free-recall task or a filler task. Results showed an age-related decline in false recognition for visual scenes, but this trend was eliminated when participants were asked to free-recall before recognition. Prior recall decreased false recognition in children, but increased false recognition in older adults. Across the lifespan, adolescents had the loosest criterion, children had the lowest false recall, and prior recall increased true recognition in older adults.

What’s in a Gist? Towards an Unsupervised Gist Representation for Few-Shot Large Document Classification

The gist can be viewed as an abstract concept that represents only the quintessential meaning derived from a single or multiple sources of information. We live in an age where vast quantities of information are widely available and easily accessible. Identifying the gist contextualises information which facilitates the fast disambiguation and prediction of related concepts bringing about a set of natural relationships defined between information sources. In this paper, we investigate and introduce a novel unsupervised gist extraction and quantification framework that represents a computational form of the gist based on notions from fuzzy trace theory. To evaluate our purposed framework, we apply the gist to the task of semantic similarity, specifically to few-shot large document classification where documents on average have a large number of words. The results show our proposed gist representation can effectively capture the essential information from a text document while dramatically reducing the features used.

Emotion-enhanced binding of numerical information in younger and older adults

There are documented deficits in older adults' abilities to bind numerical information to other types of information, perhaps due to the arbitrariness and specificity of numbers. Although some studies have found that memory for associative details is more accurate for emotionally salient information than for emotionally neutral information, other research has failed to find this benefit. We investigated whether older adults' associative memory deficit for numerical information may be reduced when information is encountered in an emotionally salient context. We presented younger and older adults with numerical information in a sentence that was emotionally positive, negative, or neutral and later asked them to recall the numbers when given their corresponding context. Although younger adults recalled more information than older adults, both groups of participants recalled more numbers in emotionally valenced as compared with emotionally neutral contexts, with the most accurate memory for numbers in the highly arousing negative context. Both groups of participants also rated the negative information as more important and easier to remember. These results provide evidence that emotion-enhanced binding is consistent between younger and older adults in some contexts and that memory for specific and arbitrary numerical information may be more accurate in an emotionally salient as compared with emotionally neutral context.

Memory for important item-location associations in younger and older adults

Older adults typically experience memory impairments for verbal and visuospatial episodic information, which are most pronounced for associative information. Although some age-related verbal memory deficits may be reduced by selectively focusing on high-value item information, the binding of items to locations in visuospatial memory involves different processes that are impaired in older adults. In the current study, we examined whether age-related impairment in visuospatial binding could be alleviated by strategic focus on important information and whether varying study time and presentation formats would affect such selectivity. We also used novel spatial resolutions analysis to examine participants' gist-based visuospatial memory with respect to information importance. Younger and older adults were presented with items worth different point values in a visuospatial display, either sequentially (Experiment 1) or simultaneously (Experiment 2). When items were presented sequentially, participants became more selective with task experience, but when items were presented simultaneously, selectivity was maintained throughout the task. These patterns were also observed when encoding time was reduced for younger adults. Although older adults successfully engaged in value-based memory strategies, age-related visuospatial memory deficits were still present, even for high-value information, consistent with the associative deficit hypothesis. However, under some conditions, older adults showed reduced spatial relocation errors for high-value item-location associations. The results suggest that strategic control can be used when binding information in visuospatial memory, and that both younger and older adults can benefit by focusing on high-value items and their locations, despite associative memory deficits present in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record

Targeted Reactivation during Sleep Differentially Affects Negative Memories in Socially Anxious and Healthy Children and Adolescents

Cognitive models propose a negative memory bias as one key factor contributing to the emergence and maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). The long-term consolidation of memories relies on memory reactivations during sleep. We investigated in SAD patients and healthy controls the role of memory reactivations during sleep in the long-term consolidation of positive and negative information. Socially anxious and healthy children and adolescents learnt associations between pictures showing ambiguous situations and positive or negative words defining the situations' outcome. Half of the words were re-presented during postlearning sleep (i.e., they were cued). Recall of picture-word associations and subjective ratings of pleasantness and arousal in response to the pictures was tested for cued and uncued stimuli. In the morning after cueing, cueing facilitated retention of positive and negative memories equally well in SAD patients and healthy controls. One week later, cueing led to reduced ratings of pleasantness of negative information in SAD but not in healthy controls. Coincidental to these findings was more pronounced EEG theta activity over frontal, temporal and parietal regions in response to negative stimuli in SAD patients. Our findings suggest that the preferential abstraction of negative emotional information during sleep might represent one factor underlying the negative memory bias in SAD.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We aim to uncover mechanisms underlying the characteristic negative memory bias in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The formation of long-lasting memories-a process referred to as memory consolidation-depends on the reactivation of newly acquired memories during sleep. We demonstrated that experimentally induced memory reactivation during sleep renders long-term memories of negative experiences more negative in SAD patients but not in healthy controls. We also found in SAD patients that the reactivation of negative experiences coincided with more pronounced oscillatory theta activity. These results provide first evidence that memory reactivation during sleep might contribute to the negative memory bias in SAD.

Decoding the content of recollection within the core recollection network and beyond

Recollection - retrieval of qualitative information about a past event - is associated with enhanced neural activity in a consistent set of neural regions (the 'core recollection network') seemingly regardless of the nature of the recollected content. Here, we employed multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to assess whether retrieval-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity in core recollection regions - including the hippocampus, angular gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, retrosplenial/posterior cingulate cortex, and middle temporal gyrus - contain information about studied content and thus demonstrate retrieval-related 'reinstatement' effects. During study, participants viewed objects and concrete words that were subjected to different encoding tasks. Test items included studied words, the names of studied objects, or unstudied words. Participants judged whether the items were recollected, familiar, or new by making 'remember', 'know', and 'new' responses, respectively. The study history of remembered test items could be reliably decoded using MVPA in most regions, as well as from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region where univariate recollection effects could not be detected. The findings add to evidence that members of the core recollection network, as well as at least one neural region where mean signal is insensitive to recollection success, carry information about recollected content. Importantly, the study history of recognized items endorsed with a 'know' response could be decoded with equal accuracy. The results thus demonstrate a striking dissociation between mean signal and multi-voxel indices of recollection. Moreover, they converge with prior findings in suggesting that, as it is operationalized by classification-based MVPA, reinstatement is not uniquely a signature of recollection.

Mismaking Memories

Memory illusions—vivid experiences of events that never occurred—could result from inaccuracies either in retrieving memories or in initially storing them. In two experiments, people studied lists of associated words that either did or did not induce later illusory (false) memories of associated but nonpresented lure words. The amplitude of the electrical brain activity during study of words (~500-1,300 ms) that were themselves later correctly remembered reliably distinguished list words that led to such illusory memories from those that did not. This encoding difference associated with subsequent illusory memory (referred to as a DIM)—presumably reflecting item-specific encoding differences—is a neural precursor of memory illusions.

Gist-based memory for prices and "better buys" in younger and older adults

Ageing typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults' tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the "better buy"). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the "better buy" and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the "better buy" in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive ageing.

Intuition versus cognition: a qualitative exploration of how women understand and manage their increased breast cancer risk

Risk comprehension in individuals at increased familial risk of cancer is suboptimal and little is known about how risk is understood and managed by at-risk individuals who do not undergo genetic testing. We qualitatively studied these issues in 36 unaffected women from high-risk breast cancer families, including both women who had and had not undergone genetic testing. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and data analysis was guided by Grounded Theory. Risk comprehension and risk management were largely influenced by the individual's experience of coming from a high-risk family, with both tested and untested women relying heavily on their intuition. Although women's cognitive understanding of their risk appeared generally accurate, this objective risk information was considered of secondary value. The findings could be used to guide the development and delivery of information about risk and risk management to genetically tested and untested individuals at increased risk of hereditary cancer.

The secret is at the crossways: hodotopic organization and nonlinear dynamics of brain neural networks

By integrating the classic psychological principles of ancient art of memory (AAOM) with the most recent paradigms in cognitive neuroscience (i.e., the concepts of hodotopic organization and nonlinear dynamics of brain neural networks), Llewellyn provides an up-to-date model of the complex psychological relationships between memory, imagination, and dreams in accordance with current state-of-the-art principles in neuroscience.

The role of phantom recollection in false recall

Although high levels of phantom recollection (illusory vivid experience of the prior "presentation" of unpresented items) have been found for false recognition, little is known about phantom recollection in recall. We examined this issue with Deese/Roediger-McDermott lists using two paradigms: repeated recall and conjoint recall. High levels of phantom recollection were observed with both standard behavioral measures and the parameters of fuzzy-trace theory's dual-recall model. In addition, phantom recollection and the true recollection that accompanies presented items appear to involve different retrieval processes, because they were dissociated by manipulations such as number of recall tests and list strength.

Errorless and errorful learning of face-name associations: an electrophysiological study

The advantage of errorless learning over errorful learning is associated with the avoidance of errors during learning. Errorful learning challenges the executive control system as erroneous items compete with correct items during retrieval. In an event-related potential (ERP) study, face-name associations learned in errorless or errorful mode were contrasted during retrieval. Learning mode was manipulated by the number of distracters. This modulation resulted in best performances after errorless learning followed by medium and high conflict errorful learning but lost its advantage over time. Within stimulus-locked ERPs, the N250 and the N400f components were associated with successful retrieval. The N250 was also driven by learning mode. Within response-locked ERPs, the error-related negativity (ERN) was modulated by correctness. The error-positivity (Pe) to erroneous responses was modulated by learning mode. The study reveals an initial advantage of errorless over errorful learning, which diminishes over time. The neurocognitive findings are discussed in light of conflict and error-likelihood models.

Children's competence or adults' incompetence: different developmental trajectories in different tasks

Dual-process theories have been proposed to explain normative and heuristic responses to reasoning and decision-making problems. Standard unitary and dual-process theories predict that normative responses should increase with age. However, research has focused recently on exceptions to this standard pattern, including developmental increases in heuristic or intuitive responses. Developmental trends for normative and heuristic responses were investigated for 2 kinds of causal reasoning (if-only and covariation) problems in 2 experiments. To investigate the role of superstitious thinking in these developmental trends, in both experiments a superstitious element was added to the problem solved by half the participants. In the first experiment, 90 fifth graders, 99 seventh graders, and 153 adults responded to an if-only problem. Children performed better than adults, with normative responses decreasing and heuristic responses increasing with age. A superstitious jinx intended to reduce heuristic responses had little effect for all age groups. In the second experiment, 276 fifth graders, 344 seventh graders, and 90 adults responded to a covariation-detection problem. When win-loss ratios were equal, adults performed better than children, with normative responses increasing and heuristic responses decreasing with age. When win-loss ratios were strikingly different, however, even the youngest children were able to solve the problems correctly; participants of all ages responded about equally well. When the normative response required recognizing that a good-luck ritual led to better team performance, participants in all age groups responded skeptically that the ritual had no effect, illustrating belief bias. These results are discussed in terms of dual-process theories and the development of heuristic (or intuitive) and analytical processes.

An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories

Perception and memory are imperfect reconstructions of reality. These reconstructions are prone to be influenced by several factors, which may result in false memories. A false memory is the recollection of an event, or details of an episode, that did not actually occur. Memory formation comprises at least three different sub-processes: encoding, consolidation and the retrieval of the learned material. All of these sub-processes are vulnerable for specific errors and consequently may result in false memories. Whereas, processes like imagery, self-referential encoding or spreading activation can lead to the formation of false memories at encoding, semantic generalization during sleep and updating processes due to misleading post event information, in particular, are relevant at the consolidation stage. Finally at the retrieval stage, monitoring processes, which are assumed to be essential to reject false memories, are of specific importance. Different neuro-cognitive processes have been linked to the formation of true and false memories. Most consistently the medial temporal lobe and the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex have been reported with regard to the formation of true and false memories. Despite the fact that all phases entailing memory formation, consolidation of stored information and retrieval processes, are relevant for the forming of false memories, most studies focused on either memory encoding or retrieval. Thus, future studies should try to integrate data from all phases to give a more comprehensive view on systematic memory distortions. An initial outline is developed within this review to connect the different memory stages and research strategies.

Priming correct information reduces the misinformation effect

The misinformation effect is a well-established phenomenon in the false memory literature, although the mechanisms that underlie it are debated. In the present study, we explored one aspect of the controversy, the fate of the original memory. We began from an activation-based view of memory, capitalizing on the well-understood processes of associative priming and spreading activation, to test the hypothesis that true and suggested information can coexist in memory. After exposure to misinformation, participants were unknowingly primed with associates of either the true or a suggested item. Misled participants who were primed for the true item performed better on a final memory test than did misled participants primed for neutral information. The results indicated that true and suggested information coexist and that retrieval is influenced by each concept's activation level at test. Implications for theories of the misinformation effect were discussed.

Remembering kinds: new evidence that categories are privileged in children's thinking

What are the representations and learning mechanisms that underlie conceptual development? The present research provides evidence in favor of the claim that this process is guided by an early-emerging predisposition to think and learn about abstract kinds. Specifically, three studies (N=192) demonstrated that 4- to 7-year-old children have better recall for novel information about kinds (e.g., that dogs catch a bug called "fep") than for similar information about individuals (e.g., that a particular dog catches a bug called "fep"). By showing that children are particularly likely to retain information about kinds, this work not only provides a first empirical demonstration of a phenomenon that may be key to conceptual development but also makes it apparent that young children's thinking is suffused with abstractions rather than being perceptually-based and concrete.

Interactions between spontaneous instantiations to the basic level and post-event suggestions

Extensive research shows that post-event suggestions can distort the memory for a target event. In this study we examined the effect of such suggestions as they interact with the products of a spontaneous memory process: instantiation of abstract information to an intermediate level of abstractness, the basic level (Pansky & Koriat, 2004 ). Participants read a narrative containing items presented at the superordinate level (e.g., FRUIT), were exposed to suggestions that referred to these items at the basic level (e.g., APPLE), and were finally asked to recall the original items. We found that the tendency to instantiate spontaneously in the control (non-misleading) condition, particularly over time, increased following exposure to suggestions that were likely to coincide with those instantiations. Exposure to such suggestions, either immediately or following a 24-hour delay, reduced subsequent correct recall of the original items only if the suggested information coincided with the information one tends to instantiate spontaneously in a given context. Suggestibility, in this case, was particularly pronounced and phenomenologically compelling in terms of remember/know judgements. The findings are taken to imply that effects of post-event suggestions can be understood in terms of the constructive processes that set the stage for their occurrence.

Errorless and errorful learning modulated by transcranial direct current stimulation

BACKGROUND

Errorless learning is advantageous over trial and error learning (errorful learning) as errors are avoided during learning resulting in increased memory performance. Errorful learning challenges the executive control system of memory processes as the erroneous items compete with the correct items during retrieval. The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a core region involved in this executive control system. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modify the excitability of underlying brain functioning.

RESULTS

In a single blinded tDCS study one group of young healthy participants received anodal and another group cathodal tDCS of the left DLPFC each compared to sham stimulation. Participants had to learn words in an errorless and an errorful manner using a word stem completion paradigm. The results showed that errorless compared to errorful learning had a profound effect on the memory performance in terms of quality. Anodal stimulation of the left DLPFC did not modulate the memory performance following errorless or errorful learning. By contrast, cathodal stimulation hampered memory performance after errorful learning compared to sham, whereas there was no modulation after errorless learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Concluding, the study further supports the advantages of errorless learning over errorful learning. Moreover, cathodal stimulation of the left DLPFC hampered memory performance following the conflict-inducing errorful learning as compared to no modulation after errorless learning emphasizing the importance of the left DLPFC in executive control of memory.

Inoculating against eyewitness suggestibility via interpolated verbatim vs. gist testing

In real-life situations, eyewitnesses often have control over the level of generality in which they choose to report event information. In the present study, we adopted an early-intervention approach to investigate to what extent eyewitness memory may be inoculated against suggestibility, following two different levels of interpolated reporting: verbatim and gist. After viewing a target event, participants responded to interpolated questions that required reporting of target details at either the verbatim or the gist level. After 48 hr, both groups of participants were misled about half of the target details and were finally tested for verbatim memory of all the details. The findings were consistent with our predictions: Whereas verbatim testing was successful in completely inoculating against suggestibility, gist testing did not reduce it whatsoever. These findings are particularly interesting in light of the comparable testing effects found for these two modes of interpolated testing.

Contributions of familiarity and recollection rejection to recognition: evidence from the time course of false recognition for semantic and conjunction lures

It has been suggested that both familiarity and recollection contribute to the recognition decision process. In this paper we leverage the form of false alarm rate functions--in which false alarm rates describe an inverted U-shaped function as the time between study and test increases--to assess how these processes support retention of semantic and surface form information from previously studied words. We directly compare the maxima of these functions for lures that are semantically related and lures that are related by surface form to previously studied material. This analysis reveals a more rapid loss of access to surface form than to semantic information. To separate the contributions of item familiarity and reminding-induced recollection rejection to this effect, we use a simple multinomial process model; this analysis reveals that this loss of access reflects both a more rapid loss of familiarity and lower rates of recollection for surface form information.

Elevated Cortisol at Retrieval Suppresses False Memories in Parallel with Correct Memories

Retrieving a memory is a reconstructive process in which encoded representations can be changed and distorted. This process sometimes leads to the generation of “false memories,” that is, when people remember events that, in fact, never happened. Such false memories typically represent a kind of “gist” being extracted from single encountered events. The stress hormone cortisol is known to substantially impair memory retrieval. Here, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, we tested the effect of an intravenous cortisol infusion before retrieval testing on the occurrence of false memories and on recall of correct memories using a modified Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm. Subjects studied sets of abstract shapes, with each set being derived from one prototype that was not presented during learning. At retrieval taking place 9 hr after learning, subjects were presented with studied shapes, nonstudied shapes, and the prototypes, and had to indicate whether or not each shape had been presented at learning. Cortisol administration distinctly reduced susceptibility to false memories (i.e., false recognition of prototypes) and, in parallel, impaired retrieval of correct memories (i.e., correct recognition of studied shapes). Response bias as well as confidence ratings and remember/know/guess judgments were not affected. Our results support gist-based theories of false memory generation, assuming a simultaneous storage of the gist and specific details of an event. Cortisol, by a general impairing influence on retrieval operations, decreases, in parallel, retrieval of false (i.e., gist) and correct (i.e., specific) memories for the event.

Quando a forma importa: o efeito de configuração de mensagens na tomada de decisão

O presente artigo se propôs a realizar uma revisão da literatura sobre o efeito de configuração na tomada de decisão. O efeito de configuração refere-se ao achado de que as pessoas respondem de forma distinta a diferentes descrições de um mesmo problema. Para tanto, foi explorado o surgimento da teoria dos prospectos (também denominada teoria prospectiva), que deu origem aos estudos sobre o efeito de configuração, considerando as diferentes variáveis usualmente relacionadas ao referido efeito. O avanço dos estudos culminou no achado de diferentes tipos de efeito de configuração (de risco, de objetivos e de atributos), que divergem quanto a definições operacionais, padrões de resultados e teorias para a interpretação. A teoria dos prospectos, entretanto, prestar-se-ia apenas para a análise e a interpretação do referido efeito exclusivamente em um contexto de risco.

User testing and stakeholder feedback contributed to the development of understandable and useful Summary of Findings tables for Cochrane reviews

OBJECTIVE

To develop a Summary of Findings (SoF) table for use in Cochrane reviews that is understandable and useful for health professionals, acceptable to Cochrane Collaboration stakeholders, and feasible to implement.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

We gathered stakeholder feedback on the format and content of an SoF table from an advisory group of more than 50 participants and their constituencies through e-mail consultations. We conducted user tests using a think-aloud protocol method, collecting feedback from 21 health professionals and researchers in Norway and the UK. We analyzed the feedback, defined problem areas, and generated new solutions in brainstorming workshops.

RESULTS

Stakeholders were concerned about precision in the data representation and about production feasibility. User testing revealed unexpected comprehension problems, mainly confusion about what the different numbers referred to (class reference). Resolving the tension between achieving table precision and table simplicity became the main focus of the working group.

CONCLUSION

User testing led to a table more useful and understandable for clinical audiences. We arrived at an SoF table that was acceptable to the stakeholders and in principle feasible to implement technically. Some challenges remain, including presenting continuous outcomes and technical/editorial implementation.

Invariance of cognitive triage in the development of recall in adulthood

Past research has demonstrated that cognitive triage (weak-strong-weak recall pattern) is a robust effect that optimises children's recall. The aim of the current research was to determine whether adults' free recall also exhibits triage and whether cognitive triage is less marked with older than younger adults' recall. Younger and older adults memorized 16 unrelated words until all items were recalled perfectly. The triage pattern existed for both the younger and older adults' recall and there was evidence for age differences in triage. Our results are consistent with claims of greater verbatim forgetting and increased susceptibility to output interference with age in adulthood. Further research is needed to determine whether fuzzy-trace theory adequately explains the ageing of triage and what factors play a role in the development of this pattern of recall in adulthood.

The role of sleep in false memory formation

Memories are not stored as exact copies of our experiences. As a result, remembering is subject not only to memory failure, but to inaccuracies and distortions as well. Although such distortions are often retained or even enhanced over time, sleep's contribution to the development of false memories is unknown. Here, we report that a night of sleep increases both veridical and false recall in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, compared to an equivalent period of daytime wakefulness. But while veridical memory deteriorates across both wake and sleep, false memories are preferentially preserved by sleep, actually showing a non-significant improvement. The same selectivity of false over veridical memories was observed in a follow-up nap study. Unlike previous studies implicating deep, slow-wave sleep (SWS) in declarative memory consolidation, here veridical recall correlated with decreased SWS, a finding that was observed in both the overnight and nap studies. These findings lead to two counterintuitive conclusions - that under certain circumstances sleep can promote false memories over veridical ones, and SWS can be associated with impairment rather than facilitation of declarative memory consolidation. While these effects produce memories that are less accurate after sleep, these memories may, in the end, be more useful.

Narrative exposure therapy for the treatment of traumatized children and adolescents (KidNET): from neurocognitive theory to field intervention

Many children in war-affected and refugee populations have experienced multiple traumatic experiences, and high rates of psychologic disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are found. Intervention strategies require pragmatic and effective approaches to treatment. This article describes the rationale for and the use of narrative exposure therapy in children (KidNET). KidNET is a short-term treatment for PTSD based on a neurocognitive theory of traumatic memory. Early treatment trials, including randomized controlled studies, show promising results for the treatment of children and adolescents who have PTSD living in war-affected countries and refugee communities.