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The Generation Effect: Delineation of a Phenomena
Abstract
Five experiments are reported comparing memory for words that were generated by the subjects themselves with the same words when they were simply presented to be read. In all cases, performance in the generate condition was superior to that in the read condition. This held for measures of cued and uncued recognition, free and cued recall, and confidence ratings. The phenomenon persisted across variations in encoding rules, timed or selfpaced presentation, presence or absence of test information, and between- or within-subjects designs. The effect was specific to the response items under recognition testing but not under cued recall. A number of potential explanatory principles are considered, and their difficulties enumerated. It is concluded that the generation effect is real and that it poses an interesting interpretative problem. This is an empirically oriented article whose purpose is to report a set of simple experiments that establish the existence of a robust and interesting phenomenon of memory. This phenomenon, called the generation effect, is robust in that it manifests itself across a variety of testing procedures, encoding rules, and other situational changes. It is interesting in that it does not seem to be easily or satisfactoril y accommodated by any of the currently familiar explanatory notions. We expect that once the phenomenon is described in its initial form, it will be the subject of wider experimental analysis and will eventually become better understood. In contrast to the usual objective reasons for embarking upon a line of research, the present work was neither initiated by any extant theoretical issue nor inspired by any previously published findings. It was carried out with the sole purpose of arriving at a
... Knutsen and Le Bigot (2014) have suggested that the self-presentation bias in decisions to refer is due to a self-production effect in memory, whereby words produced aloud are remembered better than words read silently, especially when these words are self-produced (as opposed to partner- produced; MacLeod, 2011; MacLeod, Gopie, Hourihan, Neary, & Ozubko, 2010). In cases where speakers generate the references at the time of presentation (Knutsen et al., in press), this effect could also be due to a generation effect in memory (e.g., Burnett & Bodner, 2014; Rosner, Elman, & Shimamura, 2013; Slamecka & Graf, 1978). These suggestions are corroborated by the finding that after the end of an interaction, speakers tend to remember self-generated content better than partner-generated content (Hjelmquist, 1984; Jarvella & Collas, 1974; Knutsen et al., in press). ...
... The purpose of Experiment 1 was to determine whether speakers' memory for decisions about how to refer is subject to a generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). The results corroborated this idea, as the participants recalled the content words they had generated themselves better than the content words which had been generated by their partner. ...
... The results of Experiment 1 and 2 contribute to a better understanding of the low-level memory and conceptual processes at play during dialogue. First, the results of Experiment 1 suggest that at least some decisions about how to refer (namely, decisions which match one's conceptualisations) are subject to a generation effect: self-generated content words are remembered better than partner-generated ones (Burnett & Bodner, 2014; Rosner et al., 2013; Slamecka & Graf, 1978). This has important theoretical consequences. ...
As speakers interact, they add references to their common ground, which they can then reuse to facilitate listener comprehension. However, all references are not equally likely to be reused. The purpose of this study was to shed light on how the speakers’ conceptualisations of the referents under discussion affect reuse (along with a generation effect in memory documented in previous studies on dialogic reuse). Two experiments were conducted in which participants interactively added references to their common ground. From each participant’s point of view, these references either did or did not match their own conceptualisation of the referents discussed, and were either self- or partner-generated. Although self-generated references were more readily accessible in memory than partner-generated ones (Experiment 1), reference reuse was mainly guided by conceptualisation (Experiment 2). These results are in line with the idea that several different cues (conceptual match, memory accessibility) constrain reference reuse in dialogue.
... The beneficial effect of insight on learning is therefore likely partially based on the positive effect of generation on long-term memory formation. The so- called generation effect describes the superiority of generated items (generate condition) over presented items (read condi- tion) regarding later long-term memory performance (Burns, 1992;Slamecka & Graf, 1978). The generate condition typi- cally involves the production of a word, such as coming up with a semantic associate or completing a word fragment. ...
... The generate condition typi- cally involves the production of a word, such as coming up with a semantic associate or completing a word fragment. The processes behind the beneficial effect of generation on memory encoding are not completely understood, but it is generally agreed that better semantic integration plays an important role (McElroy & Slamecka, 1982;Slamecka & Graf, 1978). Higher cognitive effort and a deeper level of process- ing have also been considered, but insufficient evidence has been found to support those claims (Bertsch, Pesta, Wiscott, & McDaniel, 2007). ...
... It has only become convention to call the condi- tion in which the stimulus is directly presented "read, " because early generation effect studies used verbal material. The gen- eration rule is typically easy enough so that the vast majority of the items can be successfully generated, in order to avoid an item selection effect, that is, where only easy items are success- fully generated (Gardiner, Java, & Richardson-Klavehn, 1996;Slamecka & Graf, 1978). 1 For most problem-solving tasks that are used to investigate insight, this is not the case. These types of items require creative thinking and are often made to be almost unsolvable via normal analytical problem-solving strat- egies (e.g., Mednick, 1962). ...
Recent evidence suggests that solving problems through insight can enhance long-term memory for the problem and its solution. Previous findings have shown that generation of the solution as well as experiencing a feeling of Aha! can have a beneficial relationship to later memory. These findings lead to the question of how learning in problem-solving tasks in which a novel solution needs to be generated—such as in tasks used to study insight—differs from the classical generation effect. Because previous studies on learning from insight on one hand and the generation effect on the other hand have measured different types of memory, the present study examined two kinds of memory measures: indirect (solving old and new problems at test) and direct (recognition memory). At encoding, we manipulated whether participants had the chance to solve Compound Remote Associates Task items and compared later memory for generated solutions (generate condition) to solutions that were presented after failing to generate one (fail-to-generate condition), and to solutions that were presented without a chance at generation (read condition). Participants also reported if they had an Aha! experience for each problem. While both Aha! experiences and generated solutions were associated with more positive emotional responses, only the generation variable was associated with differences in later memory performance. While attempts to generate had an advantage over the read condition in recognition memory performance (generate > fail-to-generate > read), only when generation was successful did it enhance the solution rate of old items during testing (generate > read > fail-to-generate). Contrary to generation effects with other verbal stimuli, these results suggest that the generation effect in problem-solving tasks in which a novel solution needs to be found differs from the classical generation effect. Seeing a correct solution for a longer time (read) seems in the current case to be more helpful for solving the same problem later on, compared to being presented with the solution after a failed attempt at problem solving.
... Hintzman & Block, 1971). Despite this, the current data are partly aligned with the generation effect, where material that is produced by an individual is easier to retrieve later by that same individual than material that is passively studied (e.g., Bertsch, Pesta, Wiscott, & McDaniel, 2007;Slamecka & Graf, 1978). A typical example of the generation effect involves generating a word from a clue; for example, finding a synonym of the word rapid beginning with f to get the target word fast. ...
... A typical example of the generation effect involves generating a word from a clue; for example, finding a synonym of the word rapid beginning with f to get the target word fast. In later memory tests such target words are recalled better in generation conditions than in control conditions where a different participant simply reads the word pair rapid-fast (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). One mechanism by which the generation effect is proposed to operate is through transfer-appropriate processing; ...
In memory tests, recalled information can be distorted by errors in memory and these distortions can be more memorable than the original stimuli to a later learner. This is typically observed over several generations of learners but there is less exploration of the initial distortions from the first generation of learners. In this article, participants studied visual matrix patterns which were either erroneous recall attempts from previous participants or were random patterns. Experiment 1 showed some evidence that material based on previous participants’ recall data was more memorable than random material, but this did not replicate in Experiment 2. Of greater interest in the current data were homogeneity in the memory errors made by participants which demonstrated systematic recall biases in a single generation of learners. Unlike studies utilising multiple generations of learners, the currently observed distortions cannot be attributed to survival-of-the-fittest mechanisms where biases are driven by encoding effects.
... In particular, generative activities engage learners in actively constructing representations (e.g., summaries, stories, diagrams), which activate prior knowledge and encourage identification of implicit features of the materials (Wittrock, 1989). In comparison to reading a text, generative tasks often produce stronger outcomes and longer retention (Dewinstanley, 1995;DeWinstanley & Bjork, 2004;Marsh, Edelman, & Bower, 2001;Slamecka & Graf, 1978). For example, Schwartz and Bransford (1998) found that prompting students to generate distinctions between contrasting cases supported learning better than reading texts about those cases. ...
... This finding that the more challenging instructional approach resulted in more robust learning outcomes aligns with prior research on desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994;Bjork & Linn, 2006;Christina & Bjork, 1991;Vitale et al., 2014) and productive failure (Kapur, 2008). Specifically, researchers have found benefits for the more difficult learning approach in the cases of interleaving disparate concepts rather than blocking related concepts ( Richland et al., 2005;Ziegler & Stern, 2014), spacing study sessions rather than massing practice (Appleton-Knapp, Bjork, & Wickens, 2005), and generating rather than reading words prior to a recall task (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). ...
Graphs illustrating complex scientific relationships require students to integrate multiple concepts and visual features into a coherent understanding. We investigate ways to support students in integrating their understanding of density concepts through a graph that is linked to a simulation depicting the relationship between mass, volume, and density. We randomly assigned 325 8th-grade students to 1 of 2 graphing activities. In the analyze condition, students plotted a set of data points selected to help clarify the relationship between mass, volume, and buoyancy, and then interacted with a guided simulation to improve their plotting accuracy. In the generate condition, students chose their own data points, and then interacted with a guided simulation to test and revise their choices. We found that, although analyze participants were more likely to construct accurate graphs, generate participants were more likely to develop a coherent understanding of density and buoyancy. Analyses of process data and interviews suggest that generate participants grappled with the mass-volume ratio by deliberately testing points and identifying patterns as they updated their understanding of science concepts. In contrast, analyze participants displayed less deliberate exploration of the graph space. We discuss how activities that integrate graph interpretation and concept refinement can deepen science learning.
... In addition, the possibility of modifying the rules allowed students to explore relations between them and the technical-tactical dynamics of the game, enriching their knowledge. The generation effect [52], according to which memory is improved when the learner generates the learning materials, could help to explain the effect of CL on conceptual learning. ...
(1) Background: The objective was to analyze if cooperative learning (CL) can have benefits compared to direct instruction (DI) in learning, behavior, and subjective experience of pupils. (2) Methods: An intervention was performed with a counterbalanced within-subjects design. To perform the intervention, 75 schoolchildren aged 10 to 12 from four primary classes were divided into two groups, and two units were taught in each one, namely "games of the world" and "traditional games", exchanging the methodologies CL and DI. Dependent measures were learning and retention over time, behavior, interest–enjoyment, value–utility, and affiliation. They were measured after each unit. Six months later, conceptual retention was also evaluated. (3) Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to analyze differences between methodologies. CL resulted in greater conceptual learning and retention. Likewise, CL students communicated with each other to a greater extent, although the time spent doing the activity were similar for both methodologies. No significant differences were found for the psychological variables. (4) Conclusions: The study confirmed the higher ability of CLs to improve cognitive learning and retention, as well as improved communicative behavior with peers and teachers.
... Thus, no imaginary internal processes are required by the participant, but the environ- ment is altogether externally imposed. This could eliminate a potential memory-boosting generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978) with clas- sic MOL (although it is not clear to what extent MOL effects actually depend on the generation effect). (c) Participants receive no instruc- tion about using a particular memory strategy neither at encoding nor at time of retrieval, and (d) MOL usually involves memorizing and retrieving items in a fixed temporal order, whereas the present study is about categorizing words into three gender categories by association of a distinct context with each gender, with no demand on item-order recollection. ...
The importance of contextual information for memory organization has been advocated by memory research and ancient mnemonic techniques (e.g., method of loci), yet it remains overlooked in most current study environments. Here, German noun gender was presented to 48 participants without prior knowledge of German, either without or within a provided spatial context consisting of a simulated virtual environment that could be explored freely. The three main findings were: in addition to reduced forgetting rate, memory was significantly enhanced when acquisition had occurred with a spatial context than without, in immediate, and delayed cued recall, as well as in delayed free recall. Second, visualization ability predicted spatial context efficiency as a memory aid for cued recall. Lastly, performance of the method of loci‐based method correlated with its perceived efficiency. This is the first study to experimentally demonstrate the potential effectiveness of computer‐induced spatial context on grammar learning.
... Practice testing (i.e., retrieval practice) improves memory for material compared to the same time spent re-reading the mate- rial (e.g., Roediger & Karpicke, 2006; for a meta-analysis, see Rowland, 2014; for classroom evidence, see Butler & Roediger, 2007;McDermott, Agarwal, D'Antonio, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). A related strategy is generating, the idea that creating one's own study materials is superior to being provided with materials (e.g., DeWinstanley & Bjork, 2004;Slamecka & Graf, 1978; for classroom evidence, see McCabe, 2015a). ...
This survey study examined the learning strategy recommendations and endorsements made by heads of academic support centers at 77 institutions of higher education. Participants answered open-ended and forced-choice items regarding various strategies. Several evidence-based strategies were endorsed and frequently recommended (e.g., self-testing, discussing course materials, answering questions, teaching materials to others, spacing study sessions), but some (e.g., multi-modal coding, interleaving topics) had lower endorsement. In a second section, participants' predictions of learning scenario outcomes indicated strong endorsement for self-generating, moderate for testing and dual-coding, and low for spacing and interleaving. The results present mixed evidence for the endorsement of strategies most likely to support student success, highlighting an opportunity to improve the communication between researchers and those on the front lines of student academic support.
... Motivated by psychological studies, Wang, Kyle and Wang, Odean and Daniel, Hirshleifer and Subrahmanyam [10][11][12][13] have modeled the investor overconfidence as an overestimation of the accuracy of their private information. The effect of private information has been previously pointed out by Erdelyi, Buschke and Finkelstein, Greenwald and Albert, Slamecka and Graf and Greenwald [14][15][16][17] who point out that the information is more remembered and more evaluated when the person plays an active, rather than, a passive role in generating it. Daniel et al. [13] point out that when investors are overconfident in their signals and the estimates in which they were strongly and personally involved, they will tend to exhibit more confidence in the information generated by themselves and not public information perceived by everyone. ...
Theoretical and empirical studies in behavioral finance show that overconfident
investors overreact to their private signals and trade excessively causing a return volatility. We examined this hypothesis in the Tunisian stock market in an attempt to explain the relation between the trading volume and the return volatility. We found weak evidence in favor of this hypothesis.
... The process of creating questions may help students reinforce their own knowledge, particularly if it involves reviewing related content and writing explanations to accompany their questions. The generation effect suggests that individuals tend to remember information better if they take an active role in its creation[10,25]. This is a robust effect in the context of knowledge recall, however earlier work investigating question authoring in more natural settings did not find an effect[3,13]. ...
Students and instructors expend significant effort, respectively, preparing to be examined and preparing students for exams. This paper investigates question authoring, where students create practice questions as a preparation activity prior to an exam, in an introductory programming context. The key contribution of this study as compared to previous work is an improvement to the design of the experiment. Students were randomly assigned the topics that their questions should target, removing a selection bias that has been a limitation of earlier work. We conduct a large-scale between-subjects experiment (n = 700) and find that students exhibit superior performance on exam questions that relate to the topics they were assigned when compared to those students preparing questions on other assigned topics.
... Increasing the cognitive effort expended by raising the criterion for success to high levels and making the conditions under which learning occurs more challenging or difficult (Hagman & Rose, 1983); Organizing the components of the skill to be learned into an integrated, coherent whole, coupled with verbal explanations about the "how," "what" and "why" of task performance that helps the learner create a mental model which aids in integrating the new information with what the learner already knows (Smith & Goodman, 1984); Continuing to train and practice after mastery has been achieved to produce overlearning and automatic performance of the behavior (Loftus, 1985); Engaging the learner as an active participant who answers questions, produces his or her explanations, and practices the to-be-learned skill extensively rather than passively listens and watches during the training sessions (Rothkopf, 1981;Slamecka & Graf, 1978); Spacing or distributing practice over a relatively long period of time (Dempster, 1990); Embedding formative assessments (which provide the opportunity for the feedback to improve performance) that give learners the opportunity to practice retrieval of the knowledge underlying the skill to be learned (Swets & Bjork, 1990); Providing refresher courses, training sessions, or practice periods following long periods of nonuse of the skill that include the use of creative visualization techniques, which are especially useful in the absence of the ability to physically perform the skill (Richardson, 1967). ...
... Another memorial encoding effect is the generation effect (e.g., Jacoby, 1978;Slamecka & Graf, 1978), which states that information that is somehow generated during encoding is better remembered than information that is only read. For instance, participants who read words and generate synonyms to them will remember those words better than participants who only read the words. ...
Many would agree that learning occurs when new information is stored in memory. Therefore, most learning efforts typically focus on encoding processes, such as additional study or other forms of repetition. However, as I will outline in this thesis, there are other means by which to improve memory, such as retrieval practice in the form of tests. Testing memory has a reinforcing effect on memory, and it improves retention more than an equal amount of repeated study – referred to as the testing effect – and it has been assumed that retrieval processes drive this effect. Recently, however, this assumption has been called into question because of findings that suggest that articulation, that is, the act of providing an explicit response on a memory test, may play a role in determining the magnitude of the testing effect. Therefore, in three studies, I have examined the effects of retrieval and articulation on later retention, in an attempt to ascertain whether the testing effect is entirely driven by retrieval, or if there are additive effects of articulation. I have also explored possible boundary conditions that may determine when, and if, the effects of retrieval and articulation become selective with respect to memory performance. In all three studies, participants studied paired associates and were tested in a cued recall paradigm after a short (~5 min) and a long (1 week) retention interval, and retrieval was either covert (i.e., responses were retrieved but not articulated) or overt (i.e., responses were retrieved and articulated).
In Study I, I demonstrated that uninstructed covert retrieval practice (by means of delayed judgments of learning) produced a testing effect (i.e., improved memory relative to a study-only condition) similar to that of explicit testing, which supports the idea that the testing effect is mainly the result of retrieval processes. In study II, I compared memory performance for covert and overt testing, and found partial support for a relative efficacy in favor of overt retrieval, compared to covert retrieval, although the effect size was small. In Study III, I further explored the distinction between different response formats (i.e., covert retrieval vs. various forms of overt testing), specifically handwriting and keyboard typing. I also examined the relative efficacy of covert versus overt retrieval as a function of list order (i.e., whether covert and overt retrieval is practiced in blocks or random order) and its manipulation within or between subjects. The results of Study III were inconclusive insofar as a relative efficacy of covert versus overt retrieval, with respect to later retention, could not be demonstrated reliably. The list order manipulations did not appear to affect covert and overt retrieval selectively. More importantly, in cases where a relative efficacy was found, the effect size was again small.
Taken together, the three studies that comprise this thesis indicate that the benefit of testing memory appears to be almost entirely the result of retrieval processes, and that articulation alone adds very little – if anything – to the magnitude of the testing effect, at least in cued-recall paradigms. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications, as well as their importance for the development of optimal teaching and learning practices in educational settings.
... Second, it encourages self-generation of strategies. Selfgenerated information is more likely to be remembered than that which is supplied by others[33][34][35], and this effect likely also applies to strategy use[30]. Third, it explicitly focuses on the similarities between activities and contexts to help clients understand the general conditions under which particular strategies are appropriate, thus enhancing the likelihood of transfer[36,37]. ...
Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of a novel client-centered cognitive strategy training intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Materials and methods: This was a case series of seven people with PD without dementia but with subjective cognitive decline. The intervention involved ≥5 treatment sessions at the participant’s home. Participant acceptance and engagement were assessed by the Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ), Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ), enjoyment and effort ratings, and homework completion. Logistical information was tracked, and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was an exploratory outcome measure. Data analysis was descriptive.
Results: CEQ scores were positive and increased over time. CSQ scores were high (M = 30.8, SD = 0.75), with all participants rating all items positively. Almost all (95%) effort and enjoyment ratings were ≥3 (Much), and homework completion rates averaged 84% (SD = 18). Intervention duration was 6–15 weeks (M = 9.2, SD = 2.8), with treatment sessions averaging 1.7 h (SD = 0.5). Group and most individual COPM ratings improved ≥2 points.
Conclusions: These findings support the feasibility of the intervention for people with PD. It was acceptable, engaging, and promising in terms of its effect on self-identified functional cognitive problems.
• Implications for Rehabilitation
• People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) without dementia can experience cognitive decline that negatively impacts function and quality of life.
• Strategy-based interventions that explicitly train for transfer may mitigate the negative functional consequences of cognitive decline in this population.
• We developed a client-centered cognitive strategy training intervention for people with PD. This small case series supports its feasibility, indicating that it is acceptable and engaging for people with PD and promising in terms of its effect on self-identified functional cognitive problems.
... If fly learning in composite situations is compared to situations where the same stimulus was trained classically, it is routinely observed that the stimuli are learned faster and to a higher level in the composite, than in the classical situation, even if the sensory input during training was identical between groups (Brembs and Heisenberg, 2000;Brembs and Wiener, 2006). This observation is reminiscent of the generation effect ("learning-by-doing"), i.e., the facilitation of world-learning by being in control of the stimuli, which are to be learned (Thorndike, 1898;Slamecka and Graf, 1978;Kornell and Terrace, 2007;James, 1890;Baden-Powell, 1908). The mechanism by which this facilitation of world learning occurs in composite conditioning compared to otherwise identical classical conditioning remains elusive. ...
In contrast to the long-held assumption that the organization of behavior is best characterized as the perception of a sensory stimulus followed by appropriate response (i.e., “sensorimotor hypothesis”), recent converging evidence from multiple systems and fields of study instead suggests that both ancestral and extant general brain functions are best described in operant terms. Rather than specifying precise behaviors, sensory information—if at all present—interacts with ongoing neural activity to instruct the organism which type of spontaneous, exploratory behavior to generate. Evaluating the ensuing reafferent feedback modifies the nervous system such that ongoing neural activity patterns become biased toward activity that has generated increased appetitive and decreased aversive feedback in the past. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the exploratory, spontaneous behaviors as well as those underlying the modifications caused by the feedback are becoming increasingly understood, even on a molecular level. It is straightforward to hypothesize that the constant interaction between ongoing neural activity and the incoming sensory stream allows the organism to balance behavioral flexibility with efficiency to accomplish adaptive behavioral choice in an often unpredictably changing environment.
... concluded from their extensive review that practice testing is extremely effective for lon- ger-term learning in a variety of learning situations. We also note that testing is one example of a broader cate- gory of memory strategy called generation, which is based on the idea that memory is better for learner-cre- ated materials than instructor/trainer-created ones (e.g., Slamecka & Graf, 1978; for more on generation in relation to educationally relevant materials, see McCabe, 2015). ...
In 2014, two groups of scientists published open letters on the efficacy of brain-training interventions, or “brain games,” for improving cognition. The first letter, a consensus statement from an international group of more than 70 scientists, claimed that brain games do not provide a scientifically grounded way to improve cognitive functioning or to stave off cognitive decline. Several months later, an international group of 133 scientists and practitioners countered that the literature is replete with demonstrations of the benefits of brain training for a wide variety of cognitive and everyday activities. How could two teams of scientists examine the same literature and come to conflicting “consensus” views about the effectiveness of brain training?
In part, the disagreement might result from different standards used when evaluating the evidence. To date, the field has lacked a comprehensive review of the brain-training literature, one that examines both the quantity and the quality of the evidence according to a well-defined set of best practices. This article provides such a review, focusing exclusively on the use of cognitive tasks or games as a means to enhance performance on other tasks. We specify and justify a set of best practices for such brain-training interventions and then use those standards to evaluate all of the published peer-reviewed intervention studies cited on the websites of leading brain-training companies listed on Cognitive Training Data ( www.cognitivetrainingdata.org ), the site hosting the open letter from brain-training proponents. These citations presumably represent the evidence that best supports the claims of effectiveness.
Based on this examination, we find extensive evidence that brain-training interventions improve performance on the trained tasks, less evidence that such interventions improve performance on closely related tasks, and little evidence that training enhances performance on distantly related tasks or that training improves everyday cognitive performance. We also find that many of the published intervention studies had major shortcomings in design or analysis that preclude definitive conclusions about the efficacy of training, and that none of the cited studies conformed to all of the best practices we identify as essential to drawing clear conclusions about the benefits of brain training for everyday activities. We conclude with detailed recommendations for scientists, funding agencies, and policymakers that, if adopted, would lead to better evidence regarding the efficacy of brain-training interventions.
... Dunlosky et al. (2013) concluded from their extensive review that practice testing is extremely effective for longer-term learning in a variety of learning situations. We also note that testing is one example of a broader category of memory strategy called generation, which is based on the idea that memory is better for learner-created materials than instructor/trainer-created ones (e.g., Slamecka & Graf, 1978; for more on generation in relation to educationally relevant materials, see McCabe, 2015). Turning now to spacing (or distributed processing) as a third memory principle with great potential for translation to training programs, research has repeatedly shown a large benefit from taking breaks between periods of study, as compared to massing or cramming studying into one session, even with total study time held constant (e.g., Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, & Rohrer, 2006; Kornell & Bjork, 2007; S. M. Smith & Rothkopf, 1984). ...
Previous studies have shown that self-generated stimuli in auditory, visual, and somatosensory domains are attenuated, producing decreased behavioral and neural responses compared to the same stimuli that are externally generated. Yet, whether such attenuation also occurs for higher-level cognitive functions beyond sensorimotor processing remains unknown. In this study, we assessed whether cognitive functions such as numerosity estimations are subject to attenuation in 56 healthy participants (32 women). We designed a task allowing the controlled comparison of numerosity estimations for self (active condition) and externally (passive condition) generated words. Our behavioral results showed a larger underestimation of self- compared to externally-generated words, suggesting that numerosity estimations for self-generated words are attenuated. Moreover, the linear relationship between the reported and actual number of words was stronger for self-generated words, although the ability to track errors about numerosity estimations was similar across conditions. Neuroimaging results revealed that numerosity underestimation involved increased functional connectivity between the right intraparietal sulcus and an extended network (bilateral supplementary motor area, left inferior parietal lobule and left superior temporal gyrus) when estimating the number of self vs. externally generated words. We interpret our results in light of two models of attenuation and discuss their perceptual versus cognitive origins.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWe perceive sensory events as less intense when they are self-generated compared to externally-generated ones. This phenomenon, called attenuation enables us to distinguish sensory events from self and external origins. Here, we designed a novel fMRI paradigm to assess whether cognitive processes such as numerosity estimations are also subject to attenuation. When asking participants to estimate the number of words they had generated or passively heard, we found bigger underestimation in the former case, providing behavioral evidence of attenuation. Attenuation was associated with increased functional connectivity of the intraparietal sulcus, a region involved in numerosity processing. Together, our results indicate that attenuation of self-generated stimuli is not limited to sensory consequences but also impact cognitive processes such as numerosity estimations.
Several cognitive functions show a decline with advanced age, most prominently episodic memory. Problem-solving by insight represents a special associative form of problem-solving that has previously been shown to facilitate long-term memory formation. Recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that the encoding network involved in insight-based memory formation is largely hippocampus-independent. This may represent a potential advantage in older adults, as the hippocampus is one of the earliest brain structures to show age-related volume loss and functional impairment. Here, we investigated the potential beneficial effects of learning by insight in healthy older (60–79 years) compared to young adults (19–28 years). To this end, we compared later memory performance for verbal riddles encoded incidentally via induced insight-like sudden comprehension in both age groups. We employed a variant of the Compound Remote Associate Task (CRAT) for incidental encoding, during which participants were instructed to judge the solvability of items. In a 24-h delayed surprise memory test, participants attempted to solve previously encountered items and additionally performed a recognition memory test. During this test, older adults correctly solved an equal proportion of new CRA items compared to young adults and both age groups reported a similar frequency of Aha! experiences. While overall memory performance was better in young participants (higher proportion of correctly solved and correctly recognized old CRA items), older participants exhibited a stronger beneficial effect of insight-like sudden comprehension on later recognition memory for CRA items. Our results suggest that learning via insight might constitute a promising approach to improve memory function in old age.
How can psychology research be used to improve education? In this chapter we review empirical research on learning and memory that has the potential to enhance classroom education. First we identify several basic principles of memory. Then we explore seven tools for enhancing learning: spaced practice, interleaving, retrieval practice, elaborative interrogation, self‐explanation, mnemonics, and self‐regulated learning. In reviewing each strategy we highlight laboratory research and research conducted in representative educational contexts, along with identifying directions for future research. We end by addressing some potential concerns with applying memory research to educational settings. Throughout we argue that conducting research with an eye toward educational applications not only contributes to educational practice but also enables researchers to explore learning and memory in a more realistic context.
Efficient conversation is guided by the mutual knowledge, or common ground, that interlocutors form as a conversation progresses. Characterized from the perspective of commonly used measures of memory, efficient conversation should be closely associated with item memory—what was said—and context memory—who said what to whom. However, few studies have explicitly probed memory to evaluate what type of information is maintained following a communicative exchange. The current study examined how item and context memory relate to the development of common ground over the course of a conversation, and how these forms of memory vary as a function of one’s role in a conversation as speaker or listener. The process of developing common ground was positively related to both item and context memory. In addition, content that was spoken was remembered better than content that was heard. Our findings illustrate how memory assessments can complement language measures by revealing the impact that basic conversational processes have on memory for what has been discussed. By taking this approach, we show that not only does the process of forming common ground facilitate communication in the present, but it also promotes an enduring record of that event, facilitating conversation into the future.
This experiment was concerned with learning to identify objects (birds) based on their common names. The image of a bird was paired thrice along a training session with its name, which could appear in an auditory or in a visual-textual modality. Additionally, it intended to evaluate if productive language modes, speaking (saying aloud) or writing the just heard or read name, could have a facilitating effect on nominal identifica tion learning. Six learning conditions were arranged, according to language modes combinations: 1) Silent reading; 2) Reading and speaking (reading aloud); 3) Reading and writing; 4) Listening; 5) Listening and speaking (repeating aloud); 6) Listening and writing. Experimental results showed that reactive modes, listening and silent reading, generated better object recognizing performances when the name was presented in either modality during the test. The participation of productive modes, specially writing, produced poor recognizing performances. An occurrence contingencies analysis is offered for each experimental condition intending to explain the observed results.
Background:
Difficulties in learning and memory are among the most persistent and frequently reported cognitive symptoms in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Objective:
To examine the efficacy of the self-generation learning program ( self-GEN trial) that consist of behavioral intervention sessions, teaching self-generation technique while using metacognitive strategies to improve learning and memory abilities in persons with MS. Additionally, the treatment aimed to address generalization of the treatment to activities of daily living.
Methods:
This double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial included 35 participants with clinically definite MS, 19 in the treatment group and 16 in the placebo control group. Participants completed a baseline neuropsychological assessment, including questionnaires assessing everyday memory and a repeat assessment immediately post-treatment.
Results:
The treatment group showed significantly improved learning and memory, self-regulation, and metacognition relative to the placebo post-treatment. Similar results were noted on measures of depression, functional status, and quality of life (QOL).
Conclusion:
This study provides initial Class I evidence that the self-GEN behavioral intervention improves memory, self-regulation, functional status, affective symptomatology, and QOL in patients with MS.
Retrieval-induced forgetting is observed when the retrieval of target information causes the forgetting of nontarget information. The present study investigated whether similar dynamics occur in the context of generating arguments in the process of explanation. Participants studied arguments associated with several issues before attempting to think of new arguments pertaining to a subset of those issues. When given a later memory test, participants were less likely to recall the studied arguments if they had attempted to think of new arguments than if they had not. This argument-induced forgetting effect was observed regardless of whether participants attempted to generate arguments that either agreed or disagreed with the position of the arguments they studied. The effect was significantly reduced, however, and even numerically reversed, when participants generated arguments that were highly related to the studied arguments. This finding fits well with previous research on retrieval-induced forgetting, which has shown that the retrieval or generation of new information fails to cause the forgetting of old information when the two types of information are well integrated or semantically associated.
Studying Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) lists using a distinctive encoding task can reduce
the DRM false memory illusion. Reductions for both distinctively encoded lists and nondistinctively
encoded lists in a within-group design have been ascribed to use of a
distinctiveness heuristic by which participants monitor their memories at test for distinctivetask
details. Alternatively, participants might simply set a more conservative response
criterion, which would be exceeded by distinctive list items more often than all other test
items, including the critical non-studied items. To evaluate these alternatives, we compared a
within-group who studied 5 lists by reading, 5 by anagram generation, and 5 by imagery,
relative to a control group who studied all 15 lists by reading. Generation and imagery
improved recognition accuracy by impairing relational encoding, but the within group did
not show greater memory monitoring at test relative to the read control group. Critically, the
within group’s pattern of list-based source judgments provided new evidence that
participants successfully monitored for distinctive-task details at test. Thus, source judgments
revealed evidence of qualitative, recollection-based monitoring in the within group, to which
our quantitative signal-detection measure of monitoring was blind.
There is a body of research suggesting compromised ability to distinguish between different external sources of information (i.e., external monitoring) in Korsakoff’s syndrome. Here we replicate and extend this literature by assessing the ability of patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome to distinguish between different external sources of information (i.e., external monitoring), between internal and external sources of information (i.e., reality monitoring), and between different internal sources of information (i.e., internal monitoring). On the external monitoring assessment, patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome and controls watched the experimenter place objects (e.g., a toothbrush) in either a black or white box; afterward, they were asked to remember where the objects had been placed. On the reality monitoring assessment, participants had to either place objects or watch the experimenter place objects in a black box; afterward, they were asked to remember whether the objects had been placed in the box by themselves or by the experimenter. On the internal monitoring assessment, participants had to either place objects or imagine themselves placing objects in a black box; afterward, they were asked to remember whether they had previously placed the objects in the box or imagined doing so. Analyses demonstrated lower external and internal monitoring in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome than in controls, but no significant difference was observed between the two populations on the reality monitoring condition. Our data provide preliminary evidence that the ability to recognize oneself as the author of one's own actions may be relatively preserved in Korsakoff's syndrome.
Research on mathematics education has shown that learners’ actions can influence how they think and vice versa. Much of this work has been rooted in the use of manipulatives, gestures, and body movements. Our article dissects the mechanisms that underscore the impact of embodied activities and applies this lens to explore how to harness the affordances of new technology to enhance mathematical thinking. This is especially crucial given the increasing accessibility of technology—such as digital touch devices, 3D printers, and location sensors—for constructing embodied experiences. Providing guidance for incorporating those tools, we focus on the role that embodied cognition can play in communicating mathematical concepts as well as in allowing learners to experiment and evolve their ideas. To inspire future integration of theory in the development of technologically enhanced embodied mathematics experiences, we provide examples of how this can be done. Finally, we outline future directions in the areas of design, implementation, and assessment of embodied learning of mathematics.
There is a lack of instruments for measuring teaching behavior in academic learning. This article introduces an observation sheet (BEO-LV) that allows for a descriptive measurement of teacher-centered and student-centered teaching. To facilitate teachers' acceptance of data collection, observations may also be used to support professional development activities. Here we present two studies examining the psychometric properties of the BEO-LV: (1) The interrater agreement and interrater reliability in an observation-based study were found to be satisfactory. (2) The interrater agreement and internal validity in a video study were found to be satisfactory for observers with advanced didactic knowledge. The results indicate that the BEO-LV is suitable for measuring teaching behavior. To achieve good psychometric results, the observer must have detailed insight into the operationalized definitions of the items.
PSICO-A is a computer system for learning Psychology. It is specially designed for secondary school children. It is the first system in Psychology designed for learning didactic units of the subject. PSICO-A is based on many pedagogical influences, such as concept maps, free retrieval practice, effective feedback, simulations, digital games, and metacognition. A significant improvement has been shown in the conceptual performance in those children that constructed computer-generated maps using the system compared to those that have drawn them by hand. An evaluation was also made of the interactions between concept mapping and simulations, demonstrating that the first group of pupils performed better in simulations than the second group. Further studies are needed to study the influence of these two conditions of concept mapping on the performance of digital games.
Comparison and reminding have both been shown to support learning and transfer. Comparison is thought to support transfer because it allows learners to disregard non-matching features of superficially different episodes in order to abstract the essential structure of concepts. Remindings promote memory for the individual episodes and generalization because they prompt learners to retrieve earlier episodes during the encoding of later related episodes and to compare across episodes. Across three experiments, we compared the consequences of comparison and reminding on memory and transfer. Participants studied a sequence of related, but superficially different, proverb pairs. In the comparison condition, participants saw proverb pairs presented together and compared their meaning. In the reminding condition, participants viewed proverbs one at a time and retrieved any prior studied proverb that shared the same deep meaning as the current proverb. Experiment 1 revealed that participants in the reminding condition recalled more proverbs than those in the comparison condition. Experiment 2 showed that the mnemonic benefits of reminding persisted over a one-week retention interval. Finally, in Experiment 3, we examined the ability of participants to generalize their remembered information to new items in a task that required participants to identify unstudied proverbs that shared the same meaning as studied proverbs. Comparison led to worse discrimination between proverbs related to studied proverbs and proverbs unrelated to studied proverbs than reminding. Reminding supported better memory for individual instances and transfer to new situations than comparison.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s41235-016-0028-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Context
Patient recall of treatment information is a key variable towards chronic disease (CD) management. It is unclear what communication and patient participation characteristics predict recall.
Objectives
To assess what aspects of doctor‐patient communication predict patient recall of medication information. To describe lifestyle treatment recall, in CD primary care patients.
Design
Observational study within a RCT.
Setting & participants
Community‐based primary care (PC) practices. Family physicians (n=18): practicing >5 years, with a CD patient caseload. Patients (n=159): >40 years old, English speaking, computer literate, off‐target hypertension, type II diabetes and/or dyslipidaemia.
Main variables
Patient characteristics: age, education, number of CDs. Information characteristics: length of encounter, medication status, medication class. Communication variables: socio‐emotional utterances, physician dominance and communication control scores and PACE (ask, check and express) utterances, measured by RIAS. Number of medication themes, dialogue and initiative measured by MEDICODE.
Main outcome measures
Recall of CD, lifestyle treatment and medication information.
Results
Frequency of lifestyle discussions varied by topic. Patients recalled 43% (alcohol), 52% (diet) to 70% (exercise) of discussions. Two and a half of six possible medication themes were broached per medication discussion. Less than one was recalled. Discussing more themes, greater dialogue and patient initiative were significant predictors of improved medication information recall.
Discussion
Critical treatment information is infrequently exchanged. Active patient engagement and explicit conversations about medications are associated with improved treatment information recall in off‐target CD patients followed in PC.
Conclusion
Providers cannot take for granted that long‐term off‐target CD patients recall information. They need to encourage patient participation to improve recall of treatment information.
Memories for emotion-laden stimuli are remembered more accurately than those for neutral stimuli. Although this enhancement reflects stimulus-driven modulation of memory by emotions, functional neuroimaging evidence of the interacting mechanisms between emotions generated by intentional processes, such as semantic elaboration, and memory is scarce. The present fMRI study investigated how encoding-related activation is modulated by emotions generated during the process of semantic elaboration. During encoding with fMRI, healthy young adults viewed neutral (target) pictures either passively or with semantic elaboration. In semantic elaboration, participants imagined background stories related to the pictures. Encoding trials with semantic elaboration were subdivided into conditions in which participants imagined negative, positive, or neutral stories. One week later, memories for target pictures were tested. In behavioral results, memories for target pictures were significantly enhanced by semantic elaboration, compared to passive viewing, and the memory enhancement was more remarkable when negative or positive stories were imagined. fMRI results demonstrated that activations in the left inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) were greater during the encoding of target pictures with semantic elaboration than those with passive viewing, and that these activations further increased during encoding with semantic elaboration of emotional stories than of neutral stories. Functional connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus and dmPFC/hippocampus during encoding significantly predicted retrieval accuracies of memories encoded with self-generated emotional stories. These findings suggest that networks including the left inferior frontal region, dmPFC, and hippocampus could contribute to the modulation of memories encoded with the emotion generation.
Both from a pedagogical and a psychological point of view, but also from sociology, we are aware of the fact that learning is a permanently successful process, taking into consideration that learning in the school environment does not bear significant practical differences from learning in our normal, social lives. Since the 18th century already, educational theories have been developed, accepting teaching methods focusing on learning processes, in accordance with human’s brain functions and aiming not for an individual, but a social aspect of learning, enhancing the individual’s self- efficacy in society. Neurodidactics investigates these two parameters, in an effort to introduce brain research scientific results into courses, forging at the same time the frameworks and prerequisites used to establish knowledge that was correctly structured and integrated in a context of emotional motivation. The neurodidactics’ aim is to encourage and support the management and process of learning, in a stress-free, reliable, social learning context. The following analysis of these theories should assist teachers in understanding and explaining their students’ experiences and behaviors, which should always be related to the students’ brain functions and physical-mental functions, as part of a learning group.
This paper explores the political and social forces that have led to the well-documented narrowing of the curriculum, squeezing out arts programming in schools. While not intended to be an exhaustive literature review, this work highlights important findings that correlate arts learning with biological changes as well as cognitive and academic advantages. Further, it explores how the arts may be the key to promoting twenty-first century skills of creative thinking and problem- solving. From this review, we hope that educators and policymakers will reconsider how arts education and arts-integrated learning can influence educational practices and policies.
Self-generated information is often better remembered than non-self-generated information. This effect has been robust for item memory (i.e., the content of information) across many different experiments, but inconsistent for context memory (e.g., memory for the extraneous details of information, such as source). Previous studies examining the generation effect, however, have often applied constraints on the generation task possibly limiting the memory benefit from self-generation. In three experiments, we compared item and context memory for a lower-constraint generation task (i.e., free response to a cue word) relative to higher-constraint generation tasks (Exp. 1 & 2: scramble; Exp. 3: word fragment). Results showed that participants had better item and context memory in the lower-constraint compared to higher-constraint generation tasks. Overall, these experiments suggest that that the mnemonic benefits of self-generation depend on the level of task constraint. This study further advances the idea that self-generation is a powerful mnemonic that leads to enriched memory representations for both the item and context, especially when fewer generation constraints are imposed.
The contradiction between the worked example effect that occurs when learners presented with more instructional guidance learn more than learners presented with less guidance and the generation effect that occurs when the reverse result is obtained can be resolved by the suggestion that the worked example effect is obtained using materials high in element interactivity, whereas simpler, low element interactivity materials result in the generation effect. A 2 (guidance: low vs. high) × 2 (element interactivity: low vs. high) × 2 (expertise: low vs. high) experiment investigated this hypothesis with high school trigonometry learners. On an immediate test, high guidance reflecting a worked example effect was found for novices, but a generation effect was obtained for more knowledgeable learners. In contrast, on a delayed test, a three-way interaction between guidance, element interactivity and expertise was found. This interaction was caused by a worked example effect for material high in element interactivity and a generation effect for material low in element interactivity for novices while for more knowledgeable learners, a generation effect was obtained for both low and high element interactivity materials. These results suggest firstly, that both the worked example and generation effects may be more likely on delayed than immediate tests and secondly, that the worked example effect relies on high element interactivity material while the generation effect relies on low element interactivity material.
When designing a definite referring expression, speakers take into account both the local context and certain aspects of the historical context, including whether similar referents have been mentioned in the past. When a similar item has been mentioned previously, speakers tend to elaborate their referring expression in order to differentiate the two items, a phenomenon called lexical differentiation. The present research examines the locus of the lexical differentiation effect and its relationship with memory for the discourse. In three experiments, we demonstrate that speakers differentiate to distinguish current from past referents; there was no evidence that speakers differentiate in order to avoid giving two items the same label. Post-task memory tests also revealed a high level of memory for the discourse history, a finding that is inconsistent with the view that failures of memory underlie low differentiation rates. Instead, memory for the discourse history, while necessary, is not sufficient for speakers to design language with respect to the historical context. Speakers must additionally view the discourse history as relevant to design language with respect to this broader context. Finally, measures of memory for past referents point to asymmetries between speakers and listeners in their memory for the discourse, with speakers typically remembering the discourse history better.
A key determinant of success for novice programmers is the extent to which they practice writing code. In a typical introductory programming course, students are given numerous projects, assignments and lab exercises to work through to develop their confidence and skill. In general, designing and preparing suitable problems for these tasks requires a great deal of time and draws heavily on the experience of the instructor. However, for certain small scale problems, students may be quite capable of inventing their own exercises. In fact, research across various disciplines indicates this can be a useful learning activity in itself.
We explored this idea in an introductory computing course (n > 180) by conducting a randomized, controlled experiment in which a group of students invented programming exercises prior to an exam. Although the created exercises were used by all students in the course for practice, the group that invented them performed significantly better on the exam. Further to this, students perceived the process of inventing exercises as contributing to their learning in the course. We discuss the conditions under which similar approaches may also be successful, and we investigate the quality and difficulty of the student-invented exercises.
When a word is generated from a semantic cue, coincident orthographic visualization of that word may cause priming on a subsequent perceptual identification test. A task was introduced that required subjects to visualize the orthographic pattern of auditorily presented words. When used at study, this task produced a pattern of priming similar to that produced by a generate study task. When used at test, equal priming on the orthographic task was produced by read and generate study tasks but not by a generate study task that failed to invite orthographic visualization. Priming on perceptually based word identification tests that results from a generate study episode may be largely due to orthographic recoding of the target rather than to conceptual processing.
This article deals with memory compensation in the levels-of-processing framework and aging. Precisely, the aim of this study was to determine if a mathematical memory model, namely MINERVA 2, could: 1. simulate the depth-of-processing and elaboration effects, as well as their interaction; 2. take in consideration the memory decline observed in aging; and 3. help to analyse the compensatory phenomenons considering the Backman and Dixon's model of compensation (e.g., 1992). First, the usual findings of the field were obtained in an experiment. Thereafter, the experimentation was simulated using MINERVA 2 and the simulation results indicate that the model can correctly simulate and explain the experimental data. These results are discussed referring to the adequacy between the subject and task characteristics described in the Backman and Dixon's model of compensation.
Wilhelm Wundt, whose name is rarely associated with the scientific study of memory, conducted a number of memory experiments that appear to have escaped the awareness of modern cognitive psychologists. Aspects of Wundt's system are reviewed, particularly with respect to his experimental work on memory. Wundt investigated phenomena that would fall under the modern headings of iconic memory, short-term memory, and the enactment and generation effects, but this research has been neglected. Revisiting the Wundtian perspective may provide insight into some of the reasons behind the historical course of memory research and in general into the progress of science in psychology.
Cryptomnesia, or inadvertent plagiarism, was experimentally examined in three investigations. Subjects were required to generate category exemplars, alternating with 3 other subjects in Experiments 1 and 2 or with a standardized, written list in Experiment 3. After this generation stage, subjects attempted to recall those items which they had just generated and an equal number of completely new items from each category. Plagiarism of others' generated responses occurred in all three tasks (generation, recall own, and recall new) in each experiment, despite instructions to avoid such intrusions. The amount of plagiarism was greater under more complex generation sequences and for items produced from orthorgraphic relative to semantic categories. The most likely source of plagiarized responses was the person who had responded just before the subject in the generation sequence. Directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The authors assessed the extent to which a generative prereading activity known as Story Impressions (SI), or composing a guess from clues, influences passage recall relative to a more passive prereading activity of reading a Content Preview (CP). The results from 74 eighth-grade students indicated the CP groups equaled the reading-only control groups in recall of the major phrases of the narrative as well as other passage information. As expected, the SI groups significantly exceeded the CP groups and the control groups on both aspects of passage recall. The authors argued that the SI method could be effective because it induced the three fundamental processes that constitute reading comprehension (M. A. Gernsbacher, 1990) and the concomitant generative learning effect (M. C. Wittrock, 1989).
Discussion as a mechanism for learning has been emphasized in both curriculum standards and psychological theories. However, US students get few opportunities to explain their mathematical thinking during classroom instruction. This project is aimed at answering three related questions about the role of discussion in elementary student learning.
1) Are there fewer student explanations in the US than in higher achieving East Asian locales? What predicts the prevalence of student explanations and do those predictors vary across countries? A machine-learning system was developed and validated for identifying explanations using transcripts of 232 mathematics classes in Japan, Hong Kong, and United States. Results suggest that Japan and Hong Kong lessons feature more student explanations than US lessons do. In all countries, lessons with a higher proportion of student talk showed more explanation; in Hong Kong and Japan (but not in the US), teachers??? requests for procedures and reasoning, as well as their language modeling of contradicting opinions predicted increased student explanations. One reason for this difference may be that teachers in the East Asian settings were more stringent in what they accepted as an adequate explanation.
2) Do US students differ from their Chinese peers in the quality of their mathematical explanations? Chinese and US elementary students were interviewed about mathematical equivalence. Results indicated US students underperformed their Chinese peers in the accuracy and mathematical richness of students??? explanations.
3) Do students process peer explanations differently than those of adults? US elementary students watched matched mathematical explanations from children vs. adults. The ones who watched peer-produced explanations were more likely to recognize the insufficiency of explanations and provide elaborated reasoning. Moreover, difference in processing moderated the learning gain from pre- to post-tests of their understanding of mathematical equivalence.
Overall, the current study showed that although US students are providing and hearing both fewer and lower quality explanations, they may still benefit from hearing peers??? less fluent or flawed explanations. Teachers play a crucial role in directing student explanations, but this role goes beyond the questions they ask to the way in which they socialize students about what is an acceptable explanation.
Previous studies of unconscious plagiarism have asked participants to recall their own ideas from a previous group-problem solving session, and have typically reported that people mistakenly include a partner’s responses when trying to recall their own. To date, there has been little research looking at the propensity to include one’s own responses when trying to recall a partner’s previous contribution to the group. Experiment 1 demonstrated that people make both kinds of source-error during recall, but source errors are more common in the recall-partner task. This pattern was replicated in Experiments 2a and 2b with source-errors and intrusions increasing over a delay. Experiment 3 used an extended version of each recall task, in which participants reported all items that came to mind, whilst indicating which responses were goal-relevant. The tendency for source-errors to occur more for the recall-partner task was shown to be a function of both idea availability and output monitoring, whereas the tendency for source-errors to increase over a delay was shown to be due solely to output monitoring. Thus, unconscious plagiarism errors are one instantiation of the more general problem of source-specified recall, which is influenced jointly by processes at generation and output monitoring.
Objective: Previous research has demonstrated that self-referential strategies can be applied to improve memory in various memory-impaired populations. However, little is known regarding the relative effectiveness of self-referential strategies in schizophrenia patients. The main aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new self-referential strategy known as self- imagination, in comparison to traditional self-referential strategies, and non-self-referential strategies on a free recall task.
Method: Twenty schizophrenia patients and twenty healthy matched controls intentionally en-coded words under five instructions: superficial processing, semantic processing, semantic self-referential processing, episodic self-referential processing, and semantic self-imagining. Other measures included depression, psychotic symptoms, cognitive measures and demographical vari-ables.
Results: The findings revealed a self-imagination effect (SIE) in memory as self-imagining resulted in better performance in memory retrieval than semantic and superficial encoding in schizophrenia patients. The memory boost for self-referenced information in comparison to se-mantic processing was not found for other self-referential strategies. In addition no relationship between both clinical or cognitive variables and free recall performances was found. In the control group, the self-imagination condition did not result in better performance. The three self-referential strategies yielded better free recall than both superficial and semantic encoding.
Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the clinical utility of self-imagining as a mnemonic strategy in schizophrenia patients. Implementation of self-referential strategies in memory rehabilitation for schizophrenia patients is discussed.
Incremental rehearsal (IR) is an intervention with demonstrated effectiveness in increasing retention of information, yet little is known about how specific intervention components contribute to the intervention's effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to further the theoretical understanding of the intervention by comparing the effects of opportunities to respond (OTR) and generation demand on retention of multiplication combinations. Using a between subject 2 × 2 factorial design, 103 4th and 5th grade students were taught seven multiplication combinations using one of four versions of IR that orthogonally varied OTR (high versus low) and generation demands (high versus low). A two-way ANOVA revealed main effects for OTR, generation demands, and an interaction of the two factors. The effect of generation demands was large (d = 1.31), whereas the overall effect of OTR was moderate (d = 0.66). Critically, the two factors interacted, with the largest learning gains observed when OTR and generation demands were both high. The results of this study suggest that generation demand is an important factor in the effectiveness of rehearsal interventions.
Background:
Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers are a significant burden on the US health care system that can be prevented through adolescent HPV vaccination. Despite guidelines recommending vaccination, coverage among US adolescents is suboptimal particularly among underserved patients (uninsured, low income, racial, and ethnic minorities) seen in safety-net health care settings. Many parents are ambivalent about the vaccine and delay making a decision or talking with a provider about it. Self-persuasion-generating one's own arguments for a health behavior-may be particularly effective for parents who are undecided or not motivated to make a vaccine decision.
Objective:
Through a 3-stage mixed-methods protocol, we will identify an optimal and feasible self-persuasion intervention strategy to promote adolescent HPV vaccination in safety-net clinics.
Methods:
In Stage 1, we will define content for a tablet-based self-persuasion app by characterizing (1) parents' self-generated arguments through cognitive interviews conducted with parents (n=50) of patients and (2) parent-provider HPV vaccine discussions through audio recordings of clinic visits (n=50). In Stage 2, we will compare the effects of the four self-persuasion intervention conditions that vary by cognitive processing level (parents verbalize vs listen to arguments) and choice of argument topics (parents choose vs are assigned topics) on parental vaccine intentions in a 2 × 2 factorial design randomized controlled trial (n=160). This proof-of-concept trial design will identify which intervention condition is optimal by quantitatively examining basic self-persuasion mechanisms (cognitive processing and choice) and qualitatively exploring parent experiences with intervention tasks. In Stage 3, we will conduct a pilot trial (n=90) in the safety-net clinics to assess feasibility of the optimal intervention condition identified in Stage 2. We will also assess its impact on parent-provider discussions.
Results:
This paper describes the study protocol and activities to date. Currently, we have developed the initial prototype of the tablet app for English- and Spanish-speaking populations, and completed Stage 1 data collection.
Conclusions:
Our systematic collaboration between basic and applied behavioral scientists accelerates translation of promising basic psychological research into innovative interventions suitable for underserved, safety-net populations. At project's end, we plan to have a feasible and acceptable self-persuasion intervention that can affect key cancer disparities in the United States through prevention of HPV-related cancers.
Trial registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02537756 and http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02535845 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6e5XcOGXz and http://www.webcitation.org/6e5XfHoic, respectively).
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.