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We used the timing of serial recall in several situations to reveal important aspects of recall groupings that participants construct and the reasons those groupings occur. We examined the timing of responses in the recall of digit strings within two published experiments. Cowan, Saults, Elliott, and Moreno (2002) examined memory for nine-item lists in a way that deconfounded the presentation modality, input versus output serial position (using a varied starting point of recall), memory load from items not yet recalled (using whole vs. partial recall), and the presence or absence of the temporal grouping of the lists into triads. Accuracy was strikingly different in the two modalities, with grouping drastically changing recall of acoustic lists but with little difference between grouped versus ungrouped visual lists. Despite the modality difference in recall, the present timing results show that participants imposed a similar grouped structure in recall for both modalities. When errors were made, the original grouping structure still was maintained in the output timing. Cowan et al. (2005, Experiment 1) presented ungrouped acoustic lists of varying lengths in a span task. In this case, there was never a grouping structure presented to the participant and the accuracy data did not reveal evidence of grouping, but we show clear grouping in the timing structure. This grouping structure varied with both the list length and an individual's span. Timing in both experiments shows that a grouping structure is imposed on responses in a manner that is dependent on several factors not present in the stimuli.

A recent Registered Replication Report (RRR) of the development of verbal rehearsal during serial recall revealed that children verbalized at younger ages than previously thought, but did not identify sources of individual differences. Here, we use mediation analysis to reanalyze data from the 934 children ranging from 5 to 10 years old from the RRR for that purpose. From ages 5 to 7, the time taken for a child to label pictures (i.e. isolated naming speed) predicted the child's spontaneous use of labels during a visually presented serial reconstruction task, despite no need for spoken responses. For 6- and 7-year-olds, isolated naming speed also predicted recall. The degree to which verbalization mediated the relation between isolated naming speed and recall changed across development. All relations dissipated by age 10. The same general pattern was observed in an exploratory analysis of delayed recall for which greater demands are placed on rehearsal for item maintenance. Overall, our findings suggest that spontaneous phonological recoding during a standard short-term memory task emerges around age 5, increases in efficiency during the early elementary school years, and is sufficiently automatic by age 10 to support immediate serial recall in most children. Moreover, the findings highlight the need to distinguish between phonological recoding and rehearsal in developmental studies of short-term memory.

What factors affect listeners' perception of the emotions conveyed by music? Ali and Peynircioğlu conducted a series of experiments in which listeners rated emotional judgments of the melodies and lyrics of songs. Here, we present a pre-registered replication and extension of their study with newly adapted stimuli, including several covariates using the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). Using a within-subjects design, we asked participants (n = 104) to rate the emotions they perceived to be conveyed by unfamiliar happy, sad, calm, and angry songs, with and without lyrics, to model the extent to which each factor contributed to participants' ratings. The results we obtained in our replication contradicted those of the original study, for several variables. The results of our extension, revealing a significant effect of the emotional engagement subscale of the Gold-MSI, indicate that emotion perception can and should be divorced from aspects of musical training. Taken together, the findings of our replication and extension highlight the value of replicating frequently cited studies in music psychology literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe weather events have mental health consequences for survivors that may change over time. We assessed post-flood mental health longitudinally in three groups of mostly middle-aged and older adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences. Predictors of central interest were age, perceived social support, state hope (including agency and pathways), recovery stressors, and prior lifetime trauma. Criterion variables included symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and worry. Analyses of variance yielded significant Disaster Exposure Group x Wave interactions for depression and PTSD symptoms. Those with flooded homes and properties had elevated symptoms at Wave 1 which were reduced at Wave 2. Older age was associated with fewer symptoms of depression, PTSD, and worry. Recovery stressors and lifetime trauma predicted more PTSD symptoms. Greater agency predicted less PTSD and depression symptoms, whereas pathways predicted less worry. These data show that mental health symptoms may decrease over time for those directly impacted by severe flooding. State hope appears to contribute to better mental health after exposure to a devastating flood. Implications for understanding the dynamic relationships among risk variables and positive factors that promote post-disaster mental health in the years after a flood are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent efforts have been made to elucidate the commonly observed link between working memory and reasoning ability. The results have been inconsistent, with some work suggesting that the emphasis placed on retrieval from secondary memory by working memory tests is the driving force behind this association (Mogle, Lovett, Stawski, & Sliwinski, 2008), whereas other research suggests retrieval from secondary memory is only partly responsible for the observed link between working memory and reasoning (Unsworth & Engle, 2006, 2007). In the present study, we investigated the relationship between processing speed, working memory, secondary memory, primary memory, and fluid intelligence. Although our findings show that all constructs are significantly correlated with fluid intelligence, working memory--but not secondary memory--accounts for significant unique variance in fluid intelligence. Our data support predictions made by Unsworth and Engle (2006, 2007) and suggest that the combined need for maintenance and retrieval processes present in working memory tests makes them special in their prediction of higher order cognition. (Contains 2 figures, 2 footnotes and 2 tables.)

The working memory (WM) construct is conceptualized similarly across domains of psychology, yet the methods used to measure WM function vary widely. The present study examined the relationship between WM measures used in the laboratory and those used in applied settings. A large sample of undergraduates completed three laboratory-based WM measures (operation span, listening span, and n-back), as well as the WM subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and the Wechsler Memory Scale-III. Performance on all of the WM subtests of the clinical batteries shared positive correlations with the lab measures; however, the Arithmetic and Spatial Span subtests shared lower correlations than the other WM tests. Factor analyses revealed that a factor comprising scores from the three lab WM measures and the clinical subtest, Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS), provided the best measurement of WM. Additionally, a latent variable approach was taken using fluid intelligence as a criterion construct to further discriminate between the WM tests. The results revealed that the lab measures, along with the LNS task, were the best predictors of fluid abilities. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)

This study investigated the effects of irrelevant sounds on the serial recall performance of visually presented digits in a sample of children diagnosed with (central) auditory processing disorders [(C)APD] and age- and span-matched control groups. The irrelevant sounds used were samples of tones and speech. Memory performance was significantly disrupted in the presence of irrelevant sounds in all three groups of children. While irrelevant speech was more disruptive than irrelevant tones in the two control groups, children diagnosed with (C)APD did not show larger disruption from irrelevant speech compared to irrelevant tones. Children diagnosed with (C)APD appear to process speech differently from their typically developing peers, and this may be remediated with auditory training procedures and the placement of these children in smaller classes.

Examined persistence of sensory memory by studying developmental differences in recall of attended and ignored lists of digits for second-graders, fifth-graders, and adults. Found developmental increase in the persistence of memory only for the final item in an ignored list, which is the item for which sensory memory is thought to be the most vivid at short retention intervals. (Author/KB)

This study examined ability of first and fourth graders and adults to recall digits they heard while they were carrying out a visual task. Results suggested that each individual has a core memory capacity limit that can be observed in circumstances in which it cannot be supplemented by mnemonic strategies. The capacity limit increases with age during childhood. (Author/KB)

The Digit Span test is a widely used working memory measure. However, when using standardized scoring procedures, previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent relationships between Digit Span subtests and working memory measures frequently used in cognitive psychology experiments. Partial scoring involves awarding credit for all digits recalled in the correct serial location, whereas traditional scoring involves only awarding credit for a trial if all digits are recalled in the correct serial location. The current study compared the traditional all-or-nothing scoring method and the partial scoring method on Digit Span with other working memory measures and with measures of general fluid intelligence. The results showed that when differences were found, partial scoring was associated with stronger relationships with Digit Span Backwards but weaker relationships with Digit Span Forward and Sequencing compared with traditional scoring. These results support previous findings identifying differences between the Digit Span subtests and the utility of examining traditional scoring procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]