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ABSTRACT In reward-based learning and value-directed remembering, many different value structures for the to-be-remembered information have been used by researchers. I was interested in whether different scoring structures used in a value-directed remembering task impact measures of memory selectivity. Participants studied lists of words paired with point values and some lists included words paired with values ranging from 1 to 20, 1 to 10 (repeating twice), either a high value (10 points) or a low value (1 point), and either a high value (10 points), a medium value (5 points) or a low value (1 point). Results suggest that (1) in tests of free recall, if using a continuous value scale, the range of values matters in terms of selective memory, (2) analysing the selectivity index can yield different results than modelling item-level recall using point values (and the latter may be a preferable approach), (3) measures of selectivity using different value structures may lack construct validity when testing memory via recognition tests, and (4) the effect of value on memory is much larger on recall than recognition tests. Thus, I suggest that researchers carefully consider and justify the value structure used when examining selective memory for valuable information in list learning tasks.

A state-dependent learning paradigm was studied in which healthy adult volunteers studied/encoded and recalled information from short passages, neutral in their content, in one of the following conditions: (1) Pain during study-Pain during both recall sessions; (2) Pain during study-No Pain during both recall sessions; (3) No Pain during study-Pain during both recall sessions; and (4) No Pain during study-No Pain during both recall sessions. Pain was experimentally induced using the cold pressor technique. In this study, we looked at evidence for state-dependent learning when the context of learning is not emotionally driven, but neutral. The memory task consisted of encoding detailed information about short stories, then recalling as many details as possible 20 min and 48 hr later. The results indicated no occurrence of a state-dependent learning and retrieval effect in this sample: Participants in the pain-no pain and no pain-pain conditions did not significantly perform differently than participants in the pain-pain and no pain-no pain conditions. However, a main effect of the state during study/encoding was significant, suggesting that being in pain during study had a detrimental effect on performance on the memory tests regardless of the state at retrieval. These results oppose previous studies' findings and shed new light on possible implications in various research areas.

Surprise has been explored as a cognitive-emotional phenomenon that impacts many aspects of mental life from creativity to learning to decision-making. In this paper, we specifically address the role of surprise in learning and memory. Although surprise has been cast as a basic emotion since Darwin's () The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, recently more emphasis has been placed on its cognitive aspects. One such view casts surprise as a process of "sense making" or "explanation finding": metacognitive explanation-based theory proposes that people's perception of surprise is a metacognitive assessment of the cognitive work done to explain a surprising outcome. Or, to put it more simply, surprise increases with the explanatory work required to resolve it. This theory predicts that some surprises should be more surprising than others because they are harder to explain. In the current paper, this theory is extended to consider the role of surprise in learning as evidenced by memorability. This theory is tested to determine how scenarios with differentially surprising outcomes impact the memorability of those outcomes. The results show that surprising outcomes (less-known outcomes) that are more difficult to explain are recalled more accurately than less-surprising outcomes that require little (known outcomes) or no explanation (normal)., (© 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.)

The purpose of this experimental research study was to explore how modality and learning style preferences impact non-prescribing, first-year Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) students' recall of vocabulary. Independent t-test results indicated a statistically significant mean difference in short-term recall of pharmacological and psychiatric terms, with learners receiving visual text instruction recalling significantly more vocabulary than learners receiving audio text instruction. A correlation was not found between learning preferences and vocabulary recall., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Two experiments investigated directed forgetting of newly learned motor sequences. Concurrently with the list method of directed forgetting, participants successively learned two lists of motor sequences. Each sequence consisted of four consecutive finger movements. After a short distractor task, a recall test was given. Both experiments compared a forget group that was instructed to forget list-1 items with a remember group not receiving a forget instruction. We found that the instruction to forget list 1 enhanced recall of subsequently learned motor sequences. This benefit of directed forgetting occurred independently of costs for list 1. A mediation analysis showed that the encoding accuracy of list 2 was a mediator of the recall benefit, that is, the more accurate execution of motor sequences of list 2 after receiving a forget instruction for list 1 accounted for better recall of list 2. Thus, the adaptation of the list method to motor action provided more direct evidence on the effect of directed forgetting on subsequent learning. The results corroborate the assumption of a reset of encoding as a consequence of directed forgetting.

The hypotheses that memories are ordered according to time and that contiguity is central to learning have recently reemerged in the human memory literature. This article reviews some of the key empirical findings behind this revival and some of the evidence against it, and finds the evidence for temporal organization unconvincing. A central problem is that, as many memory experiments are done, they have a prospective, as well as a retrospective, component. That is, if subjects can anticipate how they will be tested, they encode the to-be-remembered material in a way that they believe will facilitate performance on the anticipated test. Experiments that avoid this confounding factor have shown little or no evidence of organization by contiguity.

The question of whether overt recall of to-be-remembered material accelerates learning is important in a wide range of real-world learning settings. In the case of verbal sequence learning, previous research has proposed that recall either is necessary for verbal sequence learning (Cohen & Johansson Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 139-143, 1967; Cunningham, Healy, & Williams Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10, 575-597, 1984), or at least contributes significantly to it (Glass, Krejci, & Goldman Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 189-199, 1989; Oberauer & Meyer Memory, 17, 774-781, 2009). In contrast, here we show that the amount of previous spoken recall does not predict learning and is not necessary for it. We suggest that previous research may have underestimated participants' learning by using suboptimal performance measures, or by using manual or written recall. However, we show that the amount of spoken recall predicted how much interference from other to-be-remembered sequences would be observed. In fact, spoken recall mediated most of the error learning observed in the task. Our data support the view that the learning of overlapping auditory-verbal sequences is driven by learning the phonological representations and not the articulatory motor responses. However, spoken recall seems to reinforce already learned representations, whether they are correct or incorrect, thus contributing to a participant identifying a specific stimulus as either "learned" or "new" during the presentation phase.

The term savings refers to faster motor adaptation upon reexposure to a previously experienced perturbation, a phenomenon thought to reflect the existence of a long-term motor memory. It is commonly assumed that sustained practice during the first perturbation exposure is necessary to create this memory. Here we sought to test this assumption by determining the minimum amount of experience necessary during initial adaptation to a visuomotor rotation to bring about savings the following day. Four groups of human subjects experienced 2, 5, 10, or 40 trials of a counterclockwise 30° cursor rotation during reaching movements on one day and were retested the following day to assay for savings. Groups that experienced five trials or more of adaptation on day 1 showed clear savings on day 2. Subjects in all groups learned significantly more from the first rotation trial on day 2 than on day 1, but this learning rate advantage was maintained only in groups that had reached asymptote during the initial exposure. Additional experiments revealed that savings occurred when the magnitude, but not the direction, of the rotation differed across exposures, and when a 5-min break, rather than an overnight one, separated the first and second exposure. The overall pattern of savings we observe across conditions can be explained as rapid retrieval of the state of learning attained during the first exposure rather than as modulation of sensitivity to error. We conclude that a long-term memory for compensating for a perturbation can be rapidly acquired and rapidly retrieved., (Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.)

Humans readily learn and remember new motor skills, a process that likely underlies adaptation to changing environments. During adaptation, the brain develops new sensory-motor relationships, and if consolidation occurs, a memory of the adaptation can be retained for extended periods. Considerable evidence exists that multiple brain circuits participate in acquiring new sensory-motor memories, though the networks engaged in recalling these and whether the same brain circuits participate in their formation and recall have less clarity. To address these issues, we assessed brain activation with functional MRI while young healthy adults learned and recalled new sensory-motor skills by adapting to world-view rotations of visual feedback that guided hand movements. We found cerebellar activation related to adaptation rate, likely reflecting changes related to overall adjustments to the visual rotation. A set of parietal and frontal regions, including inferior and superior parietal lobules, premotor area, supplementary motor area and primary somatosensory cortex, exhibited non-linear learning-related activation that peaked in the middle of the adaptation phase. Activation in some of these areas, including the inferior parietal lobule, intra-parietal sulcus and somatosensory cortex, likely reflected actual learning, since the activation correlated with learning after-effects. Lastly, we identified several structures having recall-related activation, including the anterior cingulate and the posterior putamen, since the activation correlated with recall efficacy. These findings demonstrate dynamic aspects of brain activation patterns related to formation and recall of a sensory-motor skill, such that non-overlapping brain regions participate in distinctive behavioral events., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

There is clear evidence of a deficit in episodic memory for older adults compared to younger adults. Using an intertrial technique previous research has investigated whether this deficit can be attributed to a decline in encoding or consolidation. On standard memory tests, these two aspects of memory function can be measured by examining the items forgotten or acquired across multiple learning trials. The present study assessed whether age deficits in episodic memory were affected by stimulus characteristics, specifically age of acquisition (AoA). A standard intertrial design was implemented whereby participants studied word lists over several study-test trials. The stimulus characteristics of AoA were manipulated using a pure-list technique. Our findings showed that older adults demonstrate an overall recall deficit which appeared to be a consequence of both an encoding deficit and consolidation weakness. Earlier-acquired words were recalled significantly better than later-acquired words and this was apparently due to both enhanced encoding and consolidation of earlier- over later-acquired words. The key finding is that older adults show a recall advantage for earlier- compared to later-acquired words over the entire experiment to a greater degree than younger adults.

Optogenetics has accelerated the field of neuroscience by overcoming many of the spatial, genetic, and temporal limitations of previous techniques to control neural activity. The study of learning and memory has profoundly benefited from these tools mainly from their use in rodents. New insights have been made regarding the involvement of specific cell types or populations of synapses in the acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval of memories. The cellular specificity and temporal precision of optogenetic manipulations have also shown to be useful to study synaptic mechanisms supporting learning and memory including long-term synaptic plasticity. Recently, new light-sensitive molecules have been developed to control intracellular pathways or gene expression, which promise to enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanism of memory function., (© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

RECOGNITION MEMORY IS BETTER FOR VOCAL melodies than instrumental melodies. Here we examine whether this vocal advantage extends to recall. Thirtyone violinists learned four melodies (28 notes, 16 s), two produced by voice and two by violin. Their task was to listen to each melody and then immediately sing (for vocal stimuli) or play back on violin (for violin stimuli) the melody. Recall of the melody was tested in ten consecutive trials. After a brief delay (*10 min), participants were asked to perform the four melodies from memory. Each performance was scored based on the accuracy of two measures: (1) intervals and (2) contour. The results revealed an advantage for vocal over violin melodies in immediate recall of the melodic contour and, after the delay, a reverse pattern with an advantage for violin over vocal melodies. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the voice facilitates learning of melodies and further show that the vocal advantage in recall is short-lived and based on contour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common interests among cognitive psychologists is establishing ways to enhance human learning. An additional layer of complexity has been brought on by the rapid evolution of technology. Specifically, examining if the mechanisms involved in typing differ from those involved in handwriting. The literature concerning the implications of encoding modality on memory have been inconclusive. This present research examined whether encoding modality resulted in performance differences for word recall. Wammes et al.'s (2016) drawing versus handwriting methodology was utilized with the addition of a typing condition. The results replicated the drawing effect, whereby drawn words were better recalled than handwritten ones. Overall, the evidence did not suggest that the mechanisms involved in handwriting led to better free recall than those involved in typing. However, if the pen is indeed mightier than the keyboard (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014), then the effect is not explained by visual attention or sensorimotor action differences between modalities. Implications for education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies show that exercise benefits memory and some show that acute exercise prior to encoding has larger benefits than exercise after encoding. This study was designed to investigate the effects of acute exercise on memory in middle-aged and older adults (Mage = 64.71 years) and to explore the influence of the timing of the exercise on these effects. Using a within-subjects design, moderate-intensity exercise (20 min) was either not performed (control), performed before the task (exercise prior), or performed after the task (exercise post). Memory was assessed using the Rey Auditory Learning Verbal Test. For short- and long-term memory and learning, significantly more words were remembered in the exercise-prior condition than the others. For 24-hr recall, participants remembered significantly more words in the exercise-prior condition than exercise post, which was better than control. Exercise benefits memory for healthy middle-aged and older adults, with the greatest benefits when performed prior to encoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several news websites have adopted a homepage design that emphasizes the reduction of visual clutter and the limiting of prominence cues. We examine how site design affects news engagement and what people learn from the news. Across three experiments conducted in the U.S., we provide evidence that a more contemporary, visual-based, grid-like design enhances page views and learning from the articles compared to a more classic, text-based, hierarchical design. The specific articles that people recall, however, vary across the two designs. We supplement these experiments with a qualitative follow-up to explore what site design means for journalism practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wolk and Dickerson ([59]) examined neural correlates of different phases of learning and memory within patients with Alzheimer's disease using the RAVLT and other similar measures. We expected to see a similar pattern between simple attention and learning and memory phases, but also hypothesized that simple attention abilities may underlie all other cognitive performance, resulting in weaker, but consistent associations across the phases of learning and memory. Within older adult samples, declines in verbal episodic memory are a sensitive symptom of pathological aging, specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Weissberger et al., [57][57]). Keywords: Learning; recall; executive functioning; cognitive aging; medial temporal lobes; Alzheimer's disease EN Learning recall executive functioning cognitive aging medial temporal lobes Alzheimer's disease 400 417 18 03/31/22 20220501 NES 220501 Introduction Disruptions to learning and memory processes are common within neurologic and psychiatric disorders. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests that wakeful rest (a period of minimal cognitive stimulation) enhances memory in clinical populations with memory impairment. However, no study has previously examined the efficacy of this technique in stroke survivors, despite the high prevalence of post-stroke memory difficulties. We aimed to investigate whether wakeful rest enhances verbal memory in stroke survivors and healthy controls. Method: Twenty-four stroke survivors and 24 healthy controls were presented with two short stories; one story was followed by a 10-minute period of wakeful rest and the other was followed by a 10-minute visual interference task. A mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) with pairwise comparisons was used to compare participants' story retention at two time points. Results: After 15–30 minutes, stroke survivors (p =.002, d =.73), and healthy controls (p =.001, d =.76) retained more information from the story followed by wakeful rest, compared with the story followed by an interference task. While wakeful rest remained the superior condition in healthy controls after 7 days (p =.01, d =.58), the beneficial effect was not maintained in stroke survivors (p =.35, d =.19). Conclusions: Wakeful rest is a promising technique, which significantly enhanced verbal memory after 15–30 minutes in both groups; however, no significant benefit of wakeful rest was observed after 7 days in stroke survivors. Preliminary findings suggest that wakeful rest enhances early memory consolidation processes by protecting against the effects of interference after learning in stroke survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circadian system has pronounced influence on learning and memory, manifesting as marked changes in memory acquisition and recall across the day. From a mechanistic perspective, the majority of studies have investigated mammalian hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, as this system is highly tractable. The hippocampus plays a major role in learning and memory, and has the potential to integrate circadian information in many ways, including information from local, independent oscillators, and through circadian modulation of neurogenesis, synaptic remodeling, intracellular cascades, and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. These local processes are combined with input from other oscillatory systems to synergistically augment hippocampal rhythmic function. This overview presents an account of the current state of knowledge on circadian interactions with learning and memory circuitry and provides a framework for those interested in further exploring these interactions.

The hippocampus is an anatomically and functionally heterogeneous structure, but longitudinal studies of its regional development are scarce and it is not known whether protracted maturation of the hippocampus in adolescence is related to memory development. First, we investigated hippocampal subfield development using 170 longitudinally acquired brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 85 participants aged 8-21 years. Hippocampal subfield volumes were estimated by the use of automated segmentation of 7 subfields, including the cornu ammonis (CA) sectors and the dentate gyrus (DG), while longitudinal subfield volumetric change was quantified using a nonlinear registration procedure. Second, associations between subfield volumes and change and verbal learning/memory across multiple retention intervals (5 min, 30 min and 1 week) were tested. It was hypothesized that short and intermediate memory would be more closely related to CA2-3/CA4-DG and extended, remote memory to CA1. Change rates were significantly different across hippocampal subfields, but nearly all subfields showed significant volume decreases over time throughout adolescence. Several subfield volumes were larger in the right hemisphere and in males, while for change rates there were no hemisphere or sex differences. Partly in support of the hypotheses, greater volume of CA1 and CA2-3 was related to recall and retention after an extended delay, while longitudinal reduction of CA2-3 and CA4-DG was related to learning. This suggests continued regional development of the hippocampus across adolescence and that volume and volume change in specific subfields differentially predict verbal learning and memory over different retention intervals, but future high-resolution studies are called for.

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Subjective organization (SO) is the ability to structure information to help facilitate storage and retrieval. There is a paucity of research concerning how a person subjectively organizes visual information. This study investigates whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) hinders the ability to subjectively organize and recall visual symbols. The authors use an Association Rule Modeling (ARM) procedure to measure SO and explore whether the complexity of the rules generated from the ARM predicted recall of symbols. Twenty-two collegiate athletes with self-reported, repetitive, mild TBI and 22 college students without TBI participated. All participants completed a list learning task that assessed their free recall of unfamiliar symbols. ARM revealed the associative structure among the symbols in the list for each participant. Results showed that collegiate athletes with repetitive, mild TBI develop significantly fewer association rules for visual stimuli compared to college students without TBI. Furthermore, collegiate athletes with TBI produce fewer complex SO rules for the visual stimuli relative to college students without TBI. Brain injury diminishes a person's ability to subjectively organize novel visual information. ARM is a sensitive clinical measure of SO for patients with TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using lists of unrelated items as study material, recent studies have shown that selective retrieval of some studied items can impair or improve recall of the nonretrieved items, depending on whether the lag between study and selective retrieval is short or long. This study examined whether the results generalize when the items are studied together with their category labels (e.g., bird-magpie) and the category labels are reexposed as retrieval cues at test (e.g., bird-m___), a procedure often used in research on the effects of selective retrieval. Two lag conditions were employed in this study: a short 1-min lag between study and selective retrieval, and a longer 15-min lag that included mental context change tasks to enhance the lag-induced contextual drift. Experiment 1 employed lists of unrelated items in the absence of any category labels and replicated both the detrimental effect (after short lag) and the beneficial effect (after long lag) of selective retrieval. Experiment 1 was identical to Experiment 1 but provided the items' category labels during both study and retrieval, and Experiment 1 was identical to Experiment 1 but employed a categorized list. In both experiments, selective retrieval impaired recall in both lag conditions, indicating a critical role of category labels for the effects of selective retrieval. The results of the three experiments are consistent with a two-factor explanation of selective retrieval and the proposal that reexposure of category labels during retrieval can reinstate study context after longer lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The cue-utilization framework of metamemory applies to prospective memory. • An intrinsic manipulation (relatedness) affected prospective metamemory. • An extrinsic manipulation (focality) had no effect on prospective metamemory. • Metamemorial illusions can occur with prospective as well as retrospective memory. Abstract The overwhelming majority of research on metamemory examines retrospective memory – memory for past events. The metamemory of prospective memory – remembering to carry out intentions in the future – is little studied. The cue utilization account is a prominent framework for analyzing retrospective metamemory, here applied to prospective metamemory. This framework predicts that intrinsic cues (e.g., characteristics of the to-be-remembered information) readily impact metamemory whereas extrinsic cues (e.g., features of the general learning environment) have much less impact. The current study examined prospective memory using target-response word pairs. Participants were to remember to interrupt an ongoing task when a target was noticed, and then recall the associated response. Prior to the ongoing task, participants predicted (using judgments-of-learning, JOLs) whether they would notice a given target and whether they would recall the response for that target. This paradigm allows an assessment of metamemory and actual memory for the prospective component (the noticing of the target) and the retrospective component (the retrieval of the response). Four experiments found that prospective-JOLs were affected by an intrinsic cue (target-word association) but not by an extrinsic cue (target focality), as predicted by the cue-utilization account. The same results were found for the retrospective-JOLs. The results provide initial evidence that the cue-utilization framework generalizes to prospective metamemory. These results also revealed two complementary metamemorial illusions: target-response association impacts prospective-JOLs but not actual prospective memory performance, and target focality fails to impact prospective-JOLs but does affect actual prospective memory. This indicates that prospective metamemory may be subject to illusions in ways similar to retrospective metamemory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments, we examined how various learning conditions impact the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and memory search abilities. Experiment 1 employed a delayed free recall task with semantically related words to induce the buildup of proactive interference (PI) and revealed that the buildup of PI differentially impacted recall accuracy and recall latency for low-WMC and high-WMC individuals. Namely, the buildup of PI impaired recall accuracy and slowed recall latency for low-WMC individuals to a greater extent than what was observed for high-WMC individuals. To provide a circumstance in which previously learned information remains relevant over the course of learning, Experiment 2 required participants to complete a multitrial delayed free recall task with unrelated words. Results revealed that with increased practice with the same word list, WMC-related differences were eventually eliminated in interresponse times (IRTs) and recall accuracy, but not recall latency. Thus, despite still accumulating larger search sets, low-WMC individuals searched LTM as efficiently as high-WMC individuals. Collectively, these results are consistent with the notion that under normal free recall conditions, low-WMC individuals search LTM less efficiently than do high-WMC individuals because of their reliance on noisy temporal-contextual cues at retrieval. However, it appears that under conditions in which previously learned items remain relevant at recall, this tendency to rely on vague self-generated retrieval cues can actually facilitate the ability to accurately and quickly recall information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most financial accounting presentations consist of graphs and tables with subtle variations in the way that the associated text is presented. While alternative presentations of tables versus graphs have been widely researched, the impact of text proximity to a graph or table has received little attention. This study experimentally examines the effects of two instructional design formats on student’s understanding of financial accounting. Graphical presentation effectiveness was operationalised as accuracy and mental effort in answering questions of different levels of complexity. Using financial accounting instructional material presented either as a graph and separate text or text embedded in the graph, participants responded to recall and transfer questions. The results of an experiment suggest a strong relation between presentation format and understanding of financial accounting. Accounting students understand an integrated graph more than a separate graph and text. We conclude that there is value accruing from close proximity of text to the graph, but suggest additional benefits may be reaped from presenting text and diagrams in an integrated form.

Recently, we have shown that two types of initial testing (recall of a list or guessing of critical items repeated over 12 study/test cycles) improved final recognition of related and unrelated word lists relative to restudy. These benefits were eliminated, however, when test instructions were manipulated within subjects and presented after study of each list, procedures designed to minimise expectancy of a specific type of upcoming test [Huff, Balota, & Hutchison, 2016. The costs and benefits of testing and guessing on recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, 1559-1572. doi:10.1037/xlm0000269], suggesting that testing and guessing effects may be influenced by encoding strategies specific for the type of upcoming task. We follow-up these experiments by examining test-expectancy processes in guessing and testing. Testing and guessing benefits over restudy were not found when test instructions were presented either after (Experiment 1) or before (Experiment 2) a single study/task cycle was completed, nor were benefits found when instructions were presented before study/task cycles and the task was repeated three times (Experiment 3). Testing and guessing benefits emerged only when instructions were presented before a study/task cycle and the task was repeated six times (Experiments 4A and 4B). These experiments demonstrate that initial testing and guessing can produce memory benefits in recognition, but only following substantial task repetitions which likely promote task-expectancy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research in a text-based educational context has demonstrated a seemingly paradoxical disfluency effect in reading, namely that learning with hard-to-read (disfluent) materials helps learners recall more details than learning with easy-to-read (fluent) materials. Many follow-up studies using a variety of participants, learning materials, and experimental designs have been conducted to verify the effects of disfluency manipulation on recall, transfer, judgments of learning, and learning time. However, a number of them have failed to replicate this effect and the mixed findings bring into question the generality of the disfluency effect with respect to learning. In this meta-analysis, we tested the overall effect of perceptual disfluency on learning with texts, as well as moderators of this effect, based on 25 empirical articles involving 3135 participants. Results showed that overall, there was no effect of perceptual disfluency on recall (d = − 0.01) or transfer (d = 0.03), but perceptual disfluency did reduce participants’ judgments of learning (d = − 0.43) and increase learning time (d = 0.52). Tests of moderation focused on the most commonly studied dependent measure, namely recall. There was no evidence that characteristics of the participants, learning material, or experimental design moderated the effect of perceptual disfluency on recall. In general, though perceptual disfluency can be used as an effective metacognitive cue to reduce judgments of learning and increase learning time, there is not enough evidence to show that it either stimulates analytic processing or increases extraneous cognitive load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A meta-analysis of the extent, nature and pattern of memory performance in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Multiple observational studies have challenged the relative sparing of memory in bvFTD as stated in the current diagnostic criteria. Methods: We performed a meta-analytic review covering the period 1967 to February 2017 of case-control studies on episodic memory in bvFTD versus control participants (16 studies, 383 patients, 603 control participants), and patients with bvFTD versus those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (20 studies, 452 bvFTD, 874 AD). Differences between both verbal and non-verbal working memory, episodic memory learning and recall, and recognition memory were examined. Data were extracted from the papers and combined into a common metric measure of effect, Hedges’ d. Results: Patients with bvFTD show large deficits in memory performance compared to controls (Hedges’ d –1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] [–1.23, –0.95]), but perform significantly better than patients with AD (Hedges’ d 0.85; 95% CI [0.69, 1.03]). Learning and recall tests differentiate best between patients with bvFTD and AD (p<.01). There is 37–62% overlap in test scores between the two groups. Conclusions: This study points to memory disorders in patients with bvFTD, with performance at an intermediate level between controls and patients with AD. This indicates that, instead of being an exclusion criterion for bvFTD diagnosis, memory deficits should be regarded as a potential integral part of the clinical spectrum. (JINS, 2018, 24, 593–605) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of serial position and temporal distinctiveness on serial recall of simple visual stimuli. Participants observed lists of five colors presented at varying, unpredictably ordered interitem intervals, and their task was to reproduce the colors in their order of presentation by selecting colors on a continuous-response scale. To control for the possibility of verbal labeling, articulatory suppression was required in one of two experimental sessions. The predictions were derived through simulation from two computational models of serial recall: SIMPLE represents the class of temporal-distinctiveness models, whereas SOB-CS represents event-based models. According to temporal-distinctiveness models, items that are temporally isolated within a list are recalled more accurately than items that are temporally crowded. In contrast, event-based models assume that the time intervals between items do not affect recall performance per se, although free time following an item can improve memory for that item because of extended time for the encoding. The experimental and the simulated data were fit to an interference measurement model to measure the tendency to confuse items with other items nearby on the list-the locality constraint-in people as well as in the models. The continuous-reproduction performance showed a pronounced primacy effect with no recency, as well as some evidence for transpositions obeying the locality constraint. Though not entirely conclusive, this evidence favors event-based models over a role for temporal distinctiveness. There was also a strong detrimental effect of articulatory suppression, suggesting that verbal codes can be used to support serial-order memory of simple visual stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women show better performance than men on a range of episodic memory tasks. Evidence regarding a neuroanatomical localization of this effect remains ambiguous. It has been suggested that anterior temporal lobe structures are responsible for sex differences in verbal memory, yet temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and TLE surgery do not affect women’s verbal memory advantage. Instead, frontal lobe regions may be relevant for female verbal memory superiority, i.e. by enabling more efficient encoding and retrieval strategies in women. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether women’s verbal memory advantage can be found in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), and how patients with FLE and those with TLE differ with regard to sex differences in verbal memory. Fifty patients with unilateral FLE (26 women, 24 men) were compared with 183 patients with unilateral TLE (90 women, 93 men) on both verbal learning and delayed memory. We found that women showed better verbal memory than men in the TLE group, but not in the FLE group. In addition, we found that patients with TLE showed worse verbal learning than those with FLE. Our findings support the idea that women’s advantage in verbal memory may be related to frontal lobe function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]