The authors tested source memory across three conditions, one in which 3 strongly associated primes of a target word were presented in the same source as the target, one in which primes were presented in a different source than the target, and one in which no associates of targets were encoded. In the first 2 experiments, target source memory…

The regulation and function of the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin (CaN, protein phosphatase 2B) in learning and memory remain unclear, although recent work indicates that CaN may play a differential role in training and reversal training. To gain more insight into the involvement of CaN in these two types of learning, hippocampal CaN…

The transformation of episodic inputs to semantic representations was studied in two very similar tasks. In one, subjects were required to infer the underlying four-term linear ordering from three comparative sentences such as, "The teacher is taller than the doctor." In the second task, subjects inferred underlying 4- and 5-digit…

Suggests that difficulty is a parameter of all cognitive tasks. Therefore, a search for the common mechanisms across tasks will lead to understanding of the system rather than understanding of only the paradigms. Uses earlier research by DeRosa and Morin (1967, 1970) in exploring retrieval strategy. (Author/RK)

Four experiments examined whether studying a single Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) list produces semantic priming for nonstudied critical items (CIs) and semantic + repetition priming for studied associates. After 30 s of mental arithmetic that followed the study of a DRM list, priming was assessed in a lexical decision task when the nonwords were…

Five individuals participated in an extensive practice study (10 1-hr sessions, 11,000 trials total) on a self-paced identity-judgment ?n-back task (n ranging from 1 to 5). Within Session 1, response time increased abruptly by about 300 ms in passing from n = 1 to n > 1, suggesting that the focus of attention can accommodate only a single item (H.…

Background: In recent research, verbal working memory has been proposed as a primary area of deficit for children with language impairment (LI), and therefore a source of more sensitive assessment measures. In addition, research on non-linguistic tasks has suggested that children with LI may have deficits that extend beyond the linguistic domain.…

This study examined time-based prospective memory performance in relation to individual and developmental differences in executive functioning. School-age children and young adults completed six experimental tasks that tapped three basic components of executive functioning: inhibition, updating, and mental shifting. Monitoring performance was…

Background: Children who meet language test criteria for specific language impairment (SLI) are not necessarily the same as those who are referred to a speech and language therapist. Aims: To consider how far this discrepancy reflects insensitivity of traditional language tests to clinically important features of language impairment. Methods &…

Cognitive performance is affected by an individual's characteristics and the environment, as well as by the nature of the task and the amount of practice at it. Mental performance tests range in complexity and include subjective estimates of mood, simple objective tests (reaction time), and measures of complex performance that require decisions to…

Background: Narratives have been used by a number of researchers to investigate the language of children with specific language impairment (SLI). While a number of explanations for SLI have been proposed, there is now mounting evidence that children with SLI have limited memory resources. Phonological memory has been the focus of the research on…

An associative theory of memory is proposed to serve as a counterexample to claims that dissociations among episodic, semantic, and procedural memory tasks necessitate separate memory systems. The theory is based on task analyses of matching (recognition and familiarity judgments), retrieval (cued recall), and production (free association). (TJH)

Structure was imposed on a tapping task by requiring participants to reproduce sequences of responses to icons organised in spatial clusters. A first experiment featured sequences either segregated or not segregated by clusters. Accuracy was higher for sequences segregated by clusters. Moreover, inter-response times were longer at cluster…

It is not known why people move their eyes when engaged in non-visual cognition. The current study tested the hypothesis that differences in saccadic eye movement rate (EMR) during non-visual cognitive tasks reflect different requirements for searching long-term memory. Participants performed non-visual tasks requiring relatively low or high…