Visual working memory (WM) is traditionally considered a robust form of visual representation that survives changes in object motion, observer's position, and other visual transients. This article presents data that are inconsistent with the traditional view. We show that memory sensitivity is dramatically influenced by small variations in the…

In this article, the authors present their opposing views on whether students need to memorize facts in the digital age. One author contends that it is foolhardy to expect students to develop procedural knowledge (processes) without the underlying declarative knowledge (facts). The other says that analyzing always takes precedence over memorizing…

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) undergoes sequential cleavages to generate various polypeptides, including the amyloid [beta] (1-42) peptide (A[beta][1-42]), which is believed to play a major role in amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we provide evidence that, in contrast with its pathological role when accumulated,…

Memory for naturalistic events over short delays is important for visual scene processing, reading comprehension, and social interaction. The research presented here examined relations between how an ongoing activity is perceptually segmented into events and how those events are remembered a few seconds later. In several studies, participants…

Historical memories are often weak, and must be kept alive by media, schools, and government. The disaster of 9/11 is one of those unusual and unsettling events that call for recognition. But memories are already fading in people's minds after just ten years. Unpleasant, contested events require commemoration but we tend to honor more upbeat…

Although the psychophysics of infants' nonsymbolic number representations have been well studied, less is known about other characteristics of the approximate number system (ANS) in young children. Here three experiments explored the extent to which the ANS yields abstract representations by testing infants' ability to transfer approximate number…

Working memory (WM) has been predominantly studied in adults. The insights provided by these studies have led to the development of competing theories on the structure of WM and conflicting conclusions on how strongly WM components are related to higher order thinking skills such as fluid intelligence. However, it remains unclear whether and to…

The nucleus accumbens shell (NAC) receives axons containing dopamine-[beta]-hydroxylase that originate from brainstem neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). Recent findings show that memory enhancement produced by stimulating NTS neurons after learning may involve interactions with the NAC. However, it is unclear whether these…

Sensitivity to variations in the spacing of features in faces and a class of nonface objects (i.e., frontal images of cars) was tested in 3- and 4-year-old children and adults using a delayed or simultaneous two-alternative forced choice matching-to-sample task. In the adults, detection of spacing information was robust against exemplar…

Cognitive development and learning are characterized by diminished reliance on effortful procedures and increased use of memory-based problem solving. Here we identify the neural correlates of this strategy shift in 7-9-year-old children at an important developmental period for arithmetic skill acquisition. Univariate and multivariate approaches…

The goal of this research was to determine the effects of [beta]-adrenergic antagonism in the IC before or after inhibitory avoidance (IA) training or context pre-exposure in a latent inhibition protocol. Pretraining intra-IC infusion of the [beta]-adrenergic antagonist propranolol disrupted subsequent IA retention and impaired latent inhibition…

Apolipoprotein receptors belong to an evolutionarily conserved surface receptor family that has intimate roles in the modulation of synaptic plasticity and is necessary for proper hippocampal-dependent memory formation. The known lipoprotein receptor ligand Reelin is important for normal synaptic plasticity, dendritic morphology, and cognitive…

The cognitive causes as well as the neurological and genetic basis of developmental dyslexia, a complex disorder of written language acquisition, are intensely discussed with regard to multiple-deficit models. Accumulating evidence has revealed dyslexics' impairments in a variety of tasks requiring visual attention. The heterogeneity of these…

Overgeneral memory (OGM) is a phenomenon that refers to difficulty retrieving specific autobiographical memories. The tendency to be overgeneral in autobiographical memory recall has been commonly observed among individuals with emotional disorders compared to those without emotional disorders. Despite significant advances in identifying…

When other individuals move, we interpret their movements as discrete, hierarchically-organized, goal-directed actions. However, the mechanisms that integrate visible movement features into actions are poorly understood. Here, we consider two sequence learning mechanisms--transitional probability-based (TP) and position-based encoding…