Generated information is better recognized and recalled than information that is read. This so-called "generation effect" has been replicated several times for different types of material, including texts. Perhaps the most influential demonstration was by McDaniel et al. (1986, "Journal of Memory and Language," 25, 645-656;…

Phonological processing skills have not only been shown to be important for reading skills, but also for arithmetic skills. Specifically, previous research in typically developing children has suggested that phonological processing skills may be more closely related to arithmetic problems that are solved through fact retrieval (e.g., remembering…

Involuntary musical imagery (INMI; more commonly known as "earworms" or having a song "stuck in your head") is a common musical phenomenon and one of the most salient examples of spontaneous cognition. Despite the ubiquitous nature of INMI in the general population, functional roles of INMI remain to be fully established and…

The aim of this study is to examine what learning capabilities and ways of learning may be possible for women in their third age. The study addresses cognitive aspects of real-life learning of older women who are experienced learners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 women aged between 60 and 81 who hold either a PhD or a MA.…

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to complete a task at the appropriate moment in the future. Past research has found reminders can improve PM performance in both laboratory and naturalistic settings, but few projects have examined the circumstances when and what types of reminders are most beneficial. Three experiments in…

Arithmetic is commonly taught through timed practice and drill, yet little research exists to guide optimal practice structure. This study investigated the effects of distributed practice and time pressure on the acquisition and retention of arithmetic facts. Following a pretest, adult participants (n = 211) were randomly assigned to learn…

Background: Japanese EFL learners often fail to identify and categorise the different degrees of certainty associated with CERTAIN, PROBABLE, and POSSIBLE items. This computer-mediated study evaluated the relative effects of animated versus static illustrations on stimulating the spatial concept of distance for the acquisition of this knowledge.…

Studies have revealed that rewards promote long-term memory, even in an incidental way. However, most previous studies using the incidental paradigm have included two reward levels, and it is still not clear how the reward magnitude influences memory. Adopting the incidental paradigm and three reward levels, the current study revealed that the…

Feedback information can be a powerful influence on learning, yet there is currently insufficient understanding of the cognitive mechanisms responsible for these effects. In this exploratory study, students (N = 279) received teacher feedback on a practice exam paper, and a few days later we assessed the amount and type of feedback information…

Recently, several studies have suggested that metacognition emerges early in infancy and toddlerhood. However, to date, the developmental trajectory of these early metacognitive monitoring and control processes and their influence on children's later memory functioning remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to longitudinally document…

Previous research has mostly approached face recognition and target identification by focusing on face perception mechanisms, but memory mechanisms also appear to play a role. Here, we examined how the presence of a mask interferes with the memory mechanisms involved in face recognition, focusing on the dynamic interplay between encoding and…

Previous research indicates that episodic retrieval contributes to divergent creative thinking. However, this research has relied on standard laboratory tests of divergent creative thinking, such as generating creative uses for objects; it is unknown whether episodic retrieval also contributes to domain-specific forms of creativity. Here we start…

During associative retrieval, the brain reinstates neural representations that were present during encoding. The human medial temporal lobe (MTL), with its subregions hippocampus (HC), perirhinal cortex (PRC), and parahippocampal cortex (PHC), plays a central role in neural reinstatement. Previous studies have given compelling evidence for…

Memory is inherently context-dependent: internal and environmental cues become bound to learnt information, and the later absence of these cues can impair recall. Here, we developed an approach to leverage context-dependence to optimise learning of challenging, interference-prone material. While navigating through desktop virtual reality (VR)…

Background: The ability to understand figurative language, including metaphors and proverbs, decreases with age, although the phenomenon is not universal. Cognitive capacities and education play an important role in the competence connected with figurative language use and comprehension in people during the second half of life. Aims: To identify…