Search

Analogical reasoning entails both one-to-one alignment and relational transfer. Yet the relative reliance on one processover the other may depend in part on the extent to which role-based relational reasoning is available. We systematicallymanipulated two theoretically important item characteristics that impact the extent of role-based relational reasoning insolving semantically distant verbal analogies: (1) the analogical relation (composition vs. category coordinate), and (2)the format of the analogy stem (i.e., two vs. three terms). For the categorical analogies (WATERMELON : PINEAPPLE:: VELVET : SILK), stem format had no effect. Whereas for the composition analogies (WATERMELON : SALAD ::VELVET : DRESS), participants were faster to solve the 3-term than the 2-term analogies, thereby indicating a facilitativeeffect of role-based alignment (e.g., both watermelon and velvet as materials of their respective objects). Thus, resultssupport analogical models positing the detection and use of relational roles (Holyoak, 2012).

Creativity is often considered a static trait, but recent work has shown that a creative state can be induced through explicitinstruction to be creative. A two-term verbal analogy generation task (e.g., GLOVE : HAND :: : ) that includeda randomized instruction to Answer Creatively vs. Answer Quickly was used to explore the impact of state creativity,and convergent and divergent thinking upon the creativity (i.e., semantic distance) of the generated analogies. Resultsconfirm that instruction to Answer Creatively yielded more semantically distant analogies. Additionally, the magnitudeof improvement between instructional conditions was predicted by performance in the Quickly condition. Participantsproducing less creative analogies in the Quickly condition benefited substantially, whereas participants producing morecreative analogies benefited less. Convergent and divergent thinking predicted more creative analogies in the Quicklycondition but not in the Creatively condition.

Mediated priming refers to the faster word recognition of a target (e.g., milk) following presentation of a prime (e.g., pasture) that is related indirectly via a connecting "mediator" (e.g., cow). Association strength may be an important factor in whether mediated priming occurs prospectively (with target activation prior to its presentation) or retrospectively. Mediated priming effects were compared for items having a strong (e.g., iceberg--cold--hot) versus weak (e.g., camel--desert--hot) mediator-target association. Priming obtained for both strong and weak mediator-target association conditions in lexical decision tasks (LDTs) conducive to retrospective processing, but only for the stronger items in more automatic LDTs. Results extend recent findings of mediated priming via retrospective processing (e.g., Jones, 2010), and further suggest that a strong mediator-target association is necessary in order for mediated priming to occur prospectively by spreading activation. (Contains 5 tables.)

Mediated priming refers to the activation of a target (e.g., "stripes") by a prime (e.g., "lion") that is related indirectly via a connecting mediator (e.g., tiger). In previous mediated priming studies (e.g., McNamara & Altarriba, 1988), the mediator was associatively related to the prime. In contrast, pure mediated priming (e.g., "spoon" [right arrow] "can") lacks a strong association between prime and mediator (e.g., "spoon" [right arrow] soup) and between mediator and target (e.g., soup [right arrow] "can"). This study establishes the existence of pure mediated priming and assesses which semantic priming model (spreading activation, compound-cue, or semantic matching) accounts for the results. Pure mediated priming occurred in 3 experiments across double and standard lexical decision tasks. However, such priming did not occur in a continuous lexical decision task, which precludes strategic processing. Overall, results indicate that a modified retrospective semantic matching model provides the best theoretical explanation of pure mediated priming. (Contains 1 footnote, 1 table and 2 figures.)

Research and theorizing on executive function (EF) in childhood has been disproportionately focused on preschool age children. This review paper outlines the importance of examining EF throughout childhood, and even across the lifespan. First, examining EF in older children can address the question of whether EF is a unitary construct. The relations among the EF components, particularly as they are recruited for complex tasks, appear to change over the course of development. Second, much of the development of EF, especially working memory, shifting, and planning, occurs after age 5. Third, important applications of EF research concern the role of school-age children's EF in various aspects of school performance, as well as social functioning and emotional control. Future research needs to examine a more complete developmental span, from early childhood through late adulthood, in order to address developmental issues adequately.

Lexical priming, whereby a prime word facilitates recognition of a related target word (e.g., "nurse" [right arrrow] "doctor"), is typically attributed to association strength, semantic similarity, or compound familiarity. Here, the authors demonstrate a novel type of lexical priming that occurs among unassociated, dissimilar, and unfamiliar concepts (e.g., "horse" [right arrow] "doctor"). Specifically, integrative priming occurs when a prime word can be easily integrated with a target word to create a unitary representation. Across several manipulations of timing (stimulus onset asynchrony) and list context (relatedness proportion), lexical decisions for the target word were facilitated when it could be integrated with the prime word. Moreover, integrative priming was dissociated from both associative priming and semantic priming but was comparable in terms of both prevalence (across participants) and magnitude (within participants). This observation of integrative priming challenges present models of lexical priming, such as spreading activation, distributed representation, expectancy, episodic retrieval, and compound cue models. The authors suggest that integrative priming may be explained by a role activation model of relational integration. (Contains 4 footnotes, 4 tables, and 3 figures.)

Relation priming is a phenomenon in which comprehension of a word pair (e.g., COPPER HORSE) is facilitated by the prior presentation of another word pair (e.g., GLASS EYE) that instantiates the same conceptual relation (i.e., "composed of"). We investigated whether relation priming is contingent on lexical similarity. Study 1 revealed that relational similarity, but not lexical similarity, reliably predicted noun phrase comprehension across several previously published experiments. Study 2 demonstrated relation priming between lexically dissimilar phrases (e.g., STEEL SCISSORS [right arrow] STRAW HAT). Thus, across both studies, lexical similarity failed to explain relation priming. Rather, comprehension of a target phrase was a function of its relational similarity to the prime phrase. Results are inconsistent with models in which conceptual relations are bound to the particular concepts that instantiate them, and suggest instead that conceptual relations are independent representational units that can be utilized by various and dissimilar concepts.

Bowdle and Gentner (2005) proposed a reconciliation of the comparison and categorization models of metaphor comprehension. Their career of metaphor model posits that, as a metaphorical term becomes more conventional, its mode of processing shifts from comparison to categorization. However, other recent studies (Chiappe, Kennedy, & Chiappe, 2003; Jones & Estes, 2005) suggest instead that aptness may mediate metaphorical processing. We empirically contrasted conventionality and aptness to examine their roles in metaphor comprehension. Aptness predicted the preference for metaphors over similes (Experiment 1), the speed and ease of metaphor comprehension (Experiment 2), and the category membership of metaphorical terms (Experiment 3). Conventionality did not reliably predict any of these aspects of metaphorical processing. Thus, results supported the categorization model, and failed to support the career of metaphor.

Two experiments assessed whether conceptual relations (e.g., contains: COOKIE JAR) facilitate the retrieval of concepts (e.g., COOKIE and JAR) from long-term memory. The CARIN modcl of nominal combination asserts that conceptual relations are represented with and selected from the modifier noun (COOKIE). Thus, the model predicts that relational integration will facilitate memory for modifiers but not for head nouns (JAR). In Experiment 1, concepts were studied in pairs and were then tested individually. Recognition accuracy was higher for modifiers than for head nouns. In Experiment 2, the studied concepts (e.g., COOKIE JAR) were tested in the context of a new pair that instantiated either the same relation (e.g., COOKIE plate) or a different relation (e.g., COOKIE crumb). Recognition was again better for modifiers than for head nouns, but only when the same conceptual relation was instantiated at both study and test. Thus, results indicate that conceptual relations (a) facilitate recognition memory, and (b) are associated more strongly with the modifier than with the head noun. Keywords: Conceptual combination; Associative recognition; Conceptual relations.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2005.01.016 Byline: Lara L. Jones, Zachary Estes Abstract: The class-inclusion model claims that metaphors (e.g., That exam is a filter) are comprehended by inclusion of the topic (or subject) as a member of an attributive category named after and exemplified by the vehicle (or predicate). In three experiments, participants rated the extent to which a topic concept (e.g., exam) was a member of a vehicle category (e.g., filters). To test the scope of the class-inclusion model, both conventional and novel metaphors were included in Experiments 1 and 2, and both high and low apt metaphors were included in Experiment 3. Class inclusion was higher following metaphorical primes than following either literal primes (Experiment 1) or no primes (Experiments 2 and 3). Moreover, this metaphor-induced categorization occurred equally for conventional and novel metaphors, but occurred to a greater extent for the high apt than for the low apt metaphors. Thus, aptness rather than conventionality mediated categorization in metaphor comprehension. Author Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Article Note: (footnote) [star] We are grateful to Sam Glucksberg, Adam Goodie, Rich Marsh, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. We thank Cindy Sifonis for her helpful comments during an early discussion of this idea, as well as Julie Ahern, Sabrina Simmons, and Catherine Wood for their assistance in data collection. This research was presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society (Minneapolis, MN).