Instance-based categorization: automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval

Process Dissociation Procedure: Double Dissociations following Divided Attention and Speeded Responding

The validity of the process dissociation procedure was examined by manipulating attention and speed of responding in a recognition task. Both manipulations were expected to decrease the probability of controlled memory processes, c, while leaving the probability of automatic memory processes, a, unaffected. In order to estimate c and a, a multinomial processing tree model was fitted to the data. Contrary to expectation, a double dissociation (i.e.a decrease inc coupled with an increase in a) was obtained, suggesting that a does not accurately measure the probability of automatic processes. The results are discussed with reference to the independence assumption in the process dissociation procedure.

Distinctions between Implicit and Explicit Memory: Significance for Understanding Cognitive Development

This research was designed to explore developmental trends for implicit and explicit memory as well as relations between memory measures and other aspects of cognitive development for preschool and second-grade children, and adults. For one task, children and adults gradually clarified patterns of random dots until they could identify an emerging picture, in each of two testing sessions separated by one week. Reliable effects for testing session and age group were obtained for explicit memory (verbal recall as well as frequency and recognition ratings), but not for implicit memory. Typicality ratings, also obtained in this picture-clarification task, appeared more related to implicit than explicit memory. For other tasks, children and adults completed word stems (e.g. BR- - -) and provided examples of categories (e.g. animals). The absence of developmental differences for implicit memory contrasted with clear developmental improvement for recall (explicit memory). Other tasks—perceptual classification, and, for younger children, assessments of theories of mind—provided other measures of cognitive development. Measures of perceptual classification were generally unrelated to implicit or explicit memory; for preschoolers with poor explicit memory, naive theories of mind were associated with good implicit memory. Results were discussed primarily in terms of the significance of both implicit and explicit memory for understanding diverse areas of cognitive development.

Understanding Age Differences in Memory: Disentangling Conscious and Unconscious Processes

Distinct processes involved in memory development were explored by obtaining separate measures of preschoolers’ and college students’ use of familiarity and conscious recollection in picture recognition. In each of two testing sessions (separated by one week; with different video materials), participants viewed pictures in the context of hearing a story. Further phases of the experimental procedure were based on process dissociation, a methodology that provides separate estimates of the contributions of conscious recollection and familiarity. Consistent with existing literature on separate implicit and explicit tasks, the results revealed a reliable difference between preschoolers and adults for measures of conscious recollection. In contrast, but also consistent with past research with implicit memory tasks, no developmental differences were observed for familiarity estimates. Results were discussed in the context of controversy regarding the best procedures for measuring different memory processes.

Instructional control of reinforcement learning: a behavioral and neurocomputational investigation

Humans learn how to behave directly through environmental experience and indirectly through rules and instructions. Behavior analytic research has shown that instructions can control behavior, even when such behavior leads to sub-optimal outcomes (Hayes, S. (Ed.). 1989. Rule-governed behavior: cognition, contingencies, and instructional control. Plenum Press.). Here we examine the control of behavior through instructions in a reinforcement learning task known to depend on striatal dopaminergic function. Participants selected between probabilistically reinforced stimuli, and were (incorrectly) told that a specific stimulus had the highest (or lowest) reinforcement probability. Despite experience to the contrary, instructions drove choice behavior. We present neural network simulations that capture the interactions between instruction-driven and reinforcement-driven behavior via two potential neural circuits: one in which the striatum is inaccurately trained by instruction representations coming from prefrontal cortex/hippocampus (PFC/HC), and another in which the striatum learns the environmentally based reinforcement contingencies, but is "overridden" at decision output. Both models capture the core behavioral phenomena but, because they differ fundamentally on what is learned, make distinct predictions for subsequent behavioral and neuroimaging experiments. Finally, we attempt to distinguish between the proposed computational mechanisms governing instructed behavior by fitting a series of abstract "Q-learning" and Bayesian models to subject data. The best-fitting model supports one of the neural models, suggesting the existence of a "confirmation bias" in which the PFC/HC system trains the reinforcement system by amplifying outcomes that are consistent with instructions while diminishing inconsistent outcomes.

The Influence of Memory for Prior Instances on Performance in a Conflict Detection Task

In 3 experiments, the authors examined the role of memory for prior instances for making relative judgments in conflict detection. Participants saw pairs of aircraft either repeatedly conflict with each other or pass safely before being tested on new aircraft pairs, which varied in similarity to the training pairs. Performance was influenced by the similarity between aircraft pairs. Detection time was faster when a conflict pair resembled a pair that had repeatedly conflicted. Detection time was slower, and participants missed conflicts, when a conflict pair resembled a pair that had repeatedly passed safely. The findings identify aircraft features that are used as inputs into the memory decision process and provide an indication of the processes involved in the use of memory for prior instances to make relative judgments.

A Multilevel Analysis of Effort, Practice, and Performance: Effects; of Ability, Conscientiousness, and Goal Orientation

This article examines the relationship between motivation and performance during skill acquisition. The authors used multilevel analysis to investigate relationships at within- and between-person levels of analysis. Participants were given multiple trials of practice on an air traffic control task. Measures of effort intensity and performance were taken at repeated intervals. As expected, the relationship between effort and performance increased with practice. Furthermore, the rate at which this effect strengthened was faster for individuals with high-ability or low-performance orientation. There was also an interaction between learning and performance orientations that only emerged after practice. By the end of practice, the negative effects of performance orientation were stronger for individuals with high learning orientation. Results highlight the importance of adopting a multilevel framework to enhance understanding of the link between motivation and performance.

Further evidence on the similarity of memory processes in the process dissociation procedure and in source monitoring

Buchner, Erdfelder, Steffens, and Martensen (1997) proposed that the memory processes involved in recognition judgments in the process dissociation procedure are the same as those involved in standard source monitoring tasks. Two extensions of that research are presented here. First, following a line of reasoning recently brought forward by Jacoby (1998), the instructions in the earlier study could have triggered different processes from those triggered by his instructions. However, with instructions conforming as closely as possible to those reported by Jacoby (1991), Experiment 1 replicated the earlier recognition judgment finding almost perfectly. Second, the memory processes underlying fame judgments in the process dissociation procedure could also resemble those involved in source monitoring tasks. Indeed, the results of Experiment 2 are compatible with the hypothesis that the same processes are involved in fame judgments given a source monitoring or a process dissociation procedure.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE NEW ORGANIZATIONAL ERA

Changes in contemporary firms and their competitive environments translate into a new focus in organizational research. This chapter reviews organizational behavior research reflecting the shift from corporatist organizations to organizing. Key research themes include emerging employment relations, managing the performance paradox, goal setting and self-management, discontinuous information processing, organization learning, organizational change and individual transitions, and the implications of change for work-nonwork relations. Research into organizing is building upon and extending many of the field's traditional concepts. This chapter suggests that some assumptions of organizational behavior research are being superseded by those more responsive to the new organizational era.