Future Recall Research Articles

Role of human premotor dorsal region in learning a conditional visuomotor task.

Conditional learning involves stimulus identification, motor response selection, response monitoring, memory encoding, and recall of the learned association. Premotor dorsal (PMd) has been implicated for conditional learning. However, the extent to which PMd might be involved in specific or all stages of conditional learning is not well understood. The novel finding of our study is that PMd appears to be involved with monitoring motor responses, a sensorimotor integration stage essential for conditional learning.

THE RECALL OF REGIONAL AND MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES, AN AMPUTED RIGHT

The recall is a fundamental right and at the same time a mechanism for citizen participation that allows determining whether to remove an elected authority (regional or municipal) from his post before the expiration of the mandate. In 2014, for political reasons, Law 30315 was passed, which modifies the revocation of elected authorities at the regional and municipal levels. Although it was argued that it was to improve this participatory mechanism, the real cause was to help a controversial mayoral authority that still went through that consultation. However, from that moment it was possible to dissuade and truncate future recall processes in the country. Although it was thought that this reform would improve management, governance and institutionality, it is observed that this has not been the case. The cases of corruption, incapacity and opacity in local management have not receded, on the contrary they have increased. The most significant is for human rights. The accessibility and effectiveness of this fundamental right for the citizen have been seriously affected. Keywords: Recall, right, mechanism, partipatory, accountability

Judgments of learning index relative confidence, not subjective probability.

The underconfidence-with-practice (UWP) effect is a common finding in calibration studies concerned with judgments of learning (JOLs) elicited on a percentage scale. The UWP pattern is present when, in a procedure consisting of multiple study-test cycles, the mean scale JOLs underestimate the mean recall performance on Cycle 2 and beyond. Although this pattern is present both for items recalled and unrecalled on the preceding cycle, to date research has concentrated mostly on the sources of UWP for the latter type of items. In the present study, we aimed to bridge this gap. In three experiments, we examined calibration on the third of three cycles. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated the typical pattern of higher recall and scale JOLs for previously recalled items than for unrecalled ones. More importantly, they also revealed that even though the UWP effect was found for items previously recalled both once and twice, its magnitude was greater for the former class of items. Experiments 2 and 3, which employed a binary betting task and a binary 0%/100% JOL task, respectively, demonstrated that people can accurately predict future recall for previously recalled items with binary decisions. In both experiments, the UWP effect was absent for both items recalled once and twice. We suggest that the sensitivity of scale JOLs, but not binary judgments, to the number of previous recall successes strengthens the claim of Hanczakowski, Zawadzka, Pasek, and Higham (Journal of Memory and Language 69:429-444, 2013) that scale JOLs reflect confidence in, rather than the subjective probability of, future recall.

Speed Matters: Relationship between Speed of Eye Movements and Modification of Aversive Autobiographical Memories.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an efficacious treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. In EMDR, patients recall a distressing memory and simultaneously make eye movements (EM). Both tasks are considered to require limited working memory (WM) resources. Because this leaves fewer resources available for memory retrieval, the memory should become less vivid and less emotional during future recall. In EMDR analogue studies, a standardized procedure has been used, in which participants receive the same dual task manipulation of 1 EM cycle per second (1 Hz). From a WM perspective, the WM taxation of the dual task might be titrated to the WM taxation of the memory image. We hypothesized that highly vivid images are more affected by high WM taxation and less vivid images are more affected by low WM taxation. In study 1, 34 participants performed a reaction time task, and rated image vividness, and difficulty of retrieving an image, during five speeds of EM and no EM. Both a high WM taxing frequency (fast EM; 1.2 Hz) and a low WM taxing frequency (slow EM; 0.8 Hz) were selected. In study 2, 72 participants recalled three highly vivid aversive autobiographical memory images (n = 36) or three less vivid images (n = 36) under each of three conditions: recall + fast EM, recall + slow EM, or recall only. Multi-level modeling revealed a consistent pattern for all outcome measures: recall + fast EM led to less emotional, less vivid and more difficult to retrieve images than recall + slow EM and recall only, and the effects of recall + slow EM felt consistently in between the effects of recall + fast EM and recall only, but only differed significantly from recall + fast EM. Crucially, image vividness did not interact with condition on the decrease of emotionality over time, which was inconsistent with the prediction. Implications for understanding the mechanisms of action in memory modification and directions for future research are discussed.

My Beautiful Hair

Abstract Introduction This is a problem-base-learning (PBL) teaching case intended for first-year medical school human gross anatomy during the course of anatomical dissection and discussion sessio...

A goal-based mechanism for delayed motor intention: considerations from motor skills, tool use and action memory.

Thinking about our behaviors for a future recall like playing a piano sonata during the next weekend (i.e., delayed motor intention) should engage at some level sensorimotor-based representations. Theoretically, such representations can be stored through both an action- and a goal-based mechanism. An action-based mechanism is related to the specific motor sequence of fingers like the key presses on the piano, and a goal-based mechanism is related to the musical tones generated by the key presses. From these considerations, the present article tries to explore whether the cognitive nature of delayed motor intention is more based on an action or goal mechanism. We reviewed empirical evidence and theoretical accounts of different domains such as motor skills, tool use, and action memory supporting the idea that such delayed motor intentions are rather represented through a goal-based mechanism. The specific role of this goal-based mechanism is to envision the future in an implementation-neutral mode to flexibly and efficiently retrieve an adapted action to environmental constraints. This goal-based account offers an interesting alternative to reshape the classical models about the representations of delayed motor intention. We also discuss how this account can be applied to practical activities in daily life situations.

Metacognitive judgments-of-learning in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

This study investigated metacognitive monitoring abilities in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in two experiments using the judgment-of-learning paradigm. Participants were asked to predict their future recall of unrelated word pairs during the learning phase. Experiment 1 compared judgments-of-learning made immediately after learning and judgments-of-learning made after a delay. We found that both groups overestimated their memory performance but that overall there were no group differences in judgment-of-learning accuracy. Additionally, both groups displayed the standard delayed judgment-of-learning effect (yielding greater judgment accuracy in delayed compared to immediate judgments), suggesting that both groups were able to use appropriate information in making their judgments-of-learning. Experiment 2 assessed whether adolescents with autism spectrum disorder could regulate their study time according to their judgments-of-learning using a self-paced learning procedure. Results showed that both groups spent more time learning items given lower judgments-of-learning. Finally, Experiment 2 showed that judgments-of-learning and study time varied according to item difficulty in both groups. As a whole, these findings demonstrate that adolescents with autism spectrum disorder can accurately gauge their memory performance while learning new word associations and use these skills to control their study time at learning.

Biomarkers and Brain Connectivity

The investigation of Alzheimer disease (AD) with neuroimaging has often focused on 2 different brain regions. Researchers using positron emission tomographic (PET) imaging of glucose metabolism with fludeoxyglucose F 18 described hypometabolism in the lateral temporoparietal cortex and especially the medial parietal cortex encompassing the precuneus and posterior cingulate.1 Investigations using magnetic resonance imaging showed that patients with AD had substantial atrophy in the medial temporal lobes (MTLs), specifically the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Considerable work has extended these findings to individuals who may be in early stages of AD as reflected by mild cognitive impairment. Although subsequently it has become clear that involvement of these anatomical areas is not modality specific (that is, medial temporal hypometabolism and medial parietal atrophy are both reported in AD), the pathological relationship of degeneration in these 2 brain regions has been difficult to understand. Imagingbiomarkershave linked these regional changes to pathology, but this has raised more questions. Amyloid PET imaginghasmade it clear that theprecuneusandposterior cingulate are the site of relatively early deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ), thecentralprotein in the AD plaque. About a third of cognitively normal older people have brainAβdeposition, andwhen present, it almost invariably occurs in this region. However, the MTL, at least in early stages, is relatively devoid of Aβ, as seen at postmortem examination and with amyloid PET imaging. Postmortem studies, however, have linked theMTL strongly to the other key pathology of AD, the neurofibrillary tangle,2 reflectingpathological formsof the tau protein. This further establishes a major mystery of AD: how areamyloidpathology in themedial parietal cortexand taupathology in the MTL related? These 2 structures are linked through their participation inaneural systemknownas thedefaultmodenetwork (DMN). Thisnetworkhasbeenstudied invivousing resting-state functional connectivitymagnetic resonance imaging. By examiningthespontaneoussynchronyof thefunctionalmagnetic resonance imaging signal, functional network connections are detectedat rest thatparallel brainnetworks that areactiveduring specific types of cognitive tasks. The DMN is a tasknegative network that is deactivatedduring externally driven cognition but becomes active during introspective processes such as future planning and memory recall. It is also of particular interest because it becomes disconnected in patients withADand in cognitively normal older peoplewhohave evidence of brain Aβ on amyloid PET imaging. Thus, probing the functional connectivity of the DMN can provide insight into relationships between2major nodesof this network, theMTL andmedial parietal cortex. Wang et al3 examined changes in the DMN in 207 cognitively normal older people who had cerebrospinal fluid obtained for themeasurement of Aβ42 andphosphorylated tau. Lower levels of CSFAβ42 arewidely reported to parallel brain deposition of Aβ seenwith PET. Thus, it is not surprising that lower CSF Aβ42 in this study was associated with disconnection of the DMN since previous PET studies revealed similar findings. Within this network, however, Aβ42 affected connectivitybetween theposterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the MTLmore thanconnectionsbetween thePCCandothernodes of the network. Biomarkers of tau are largely thought to indicate a stage later in the pathological progression of AD than Aβbecause theyare regardedas indicativeofAβ-initiatedneurodegeneration. In this study,phosphorylated taualso showed a relationshipwith connectivity such that higher levels of CSF phosphorylated tau were associated with PCC and MTL disconnection. In thesedata, the findings foreachbiomarkerwere present while controlling for the other, and the effects were not explained by age or atrophy of the relevant brain regions. Thiswork thusextendspreviousdataby showingnetworkdisconnection in asymptomatic individuals in a particularly important pathway and showing that this effect is seen for biomarkers reflecting both amyloid and neurodegenerative processes. It also provides hints about how these 2 pathological processes and anatomical regions might be related. Fromaclinical perspective, the results suggest that a relatively simple magnetic resonance imaging measure might be a reasonablebiomarker for earlyAD.Thecaveats, however, are substantial. Forexample, technical factors inassessing restingstate networks are crucial: small amounts of headmotion can produce artifacts that are difficult to detect, there are multiple approaches todata analysis, and reliability over timeand across centers has not been extensively established. Furthermore, validating this approach as a biomarker requires much stronger links todiseasephenotypes that include theprogression to AD dementia. Nevertheless, the appeal of this technique is that it can be performed on available clinical instruments, requires no particular cognitive task, and can be obtained in a fewminutes. Targeting 2brain regions for analysis—the PCC and the MTL—could be a simple and widely applicabledata-analytic approach to trackearlydisease if thedifficult technical issues, predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity can be worked out. Regardless of the clinical utility, the data presented by Wang et al3 show that changes in 2 different biomarkers reflectingdifferent aspects ofADpathological progressionaffect Related article page 1242 Opinion

Calibration of metacognitive judgments: Insights from the underconfidence-with-practice effect

Research on calibration typically compares mean judgments-of-learning (JOLs) made on a 0–100% scale with mean recall to determine whether there is overconfidence (JOL > recall), underconfidence (JOL < recall), or realism (JOL = recall). This research is founded on the assumption that JOLs directly reflect underlying representations of probability, which, if true, should mean that results from studies employing per cent JOL scales will generalize to other measures of subjective probability. We report four experiments that tested this assumption in the context of the underconfidence-with-practice (UWP) effect, the finding that JOLs underestimate recall on second and subsequent study-test cycles of multi-cycle paired-associate learning tasks (e.g., Koriat, Sheffer, & Ma’ayan, 2002). In particular, after replicating the standard UWP effect with scale JOLs in Experiment 1, we tested whether the effect would generalize to a binary JOL judgment in Experiment 2 and/or a binary betting decision in Experiment 3. In neither experiment was the UWP effect observed. Finally, to ensure that memorial and metamemorial evidence was equated for each judgment type, each item was assigned both a scale JOL and a binary betting decision in Experiment 4. UWP was observed for the 0–100% scale JOL, but not the binary betting decision. Together, the results suggest that JOLs may not directly reflect subjective probability but rather reflect an initial yes/no decision about future recall followed by a confidence rating.

The Impact of Product Recalls on Future Product Reliability and Future Accidents: Evidence from the Automobile Industry

Although the goal of a product recall program is to enhance safety, little is known about whether firms learn from product recalls. This study tests the direct effect of product recalls on future accidents and future recall frequency and their indirect effect through future product reliability in the automobile industry. The authors test the hypotheses on 459 make/year observations involving 27 automobile makers between 1995 and 2011. The findings suggest that increases in recall magnitude lead to decreases in future number of injuries and recalls. This effect, in turn, is partially mediated by future changes in product reliability. The results also suggest that the positive relationship between recall magnitude and future product reliability is (1) stronger for firms with higher shared product assets and (2) weaker for brands of higher prior quality. The findings are robust across alternate measures and alternate model specifications and offer valuable insights for managerial practice and public policy.

Is the survival-processing memory advantage due to richness of encoding?

Memory for words rated according to their relevance in a grassland survival context is exceptionally good. According to Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada's (2007) evolutionary-based explanation, natural selection processes have tuned the human memory system to prioritize the processing of fitness-relevant information. The survival-processing memory advantage has been replicated numerous times, but very little is known about the proximate mechanisms behind it. The richness-of-encoding hypothesis (Kroneisen & Erdfelder, 2011) implies that rating the usefulness of items in a survival context leads to the generation of a large number of ideas that may be used as retrieval cues at test to boost recall. In Experiment 1, the typical survival-processing recall advantage was obtained when words were rated according to their usefulness in 1 of 3 fictional contexts. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to write down any ideas that came to mind when thinking about the usefulness of the words. Consistent with the richness-of-encoding hypothesis, participants generated more ideas in the survival condition than in the fitness-irrelevant control conditions. In Experiment 3, participants generated more ideas for congruent than for incongruent words, demonstrating that the richness-of-encoding hypothesis can also account for the previously obtained congruency effect on recall (Butler, Kang, & Roediger, 2009). In both experiments the number of ideas written down predicted future recall performance well. Our results provide further evidence for the assumption that richness of encoding is an important proximate mechanism involved in memory performance in the survival-processing paradigm.

On EMDR: Eye movements during retrieval reduce subjective vividness and objective memory accessibility during future recall

In eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), patients make eye movements (EM) during trauma recall. Earlier experimental studies found that EM during recall reduces memory vividness during future recalls, and this was taken as laboratory support for the underlying mechanism of EMDR. However, reduced vividness was assessed with self-reports that may be affected by demand characteristics. We tested whether recall+EM also reduces memory vividness on a behavioural reaction time (RT) task. Undergraduates (N=32) encoded two pictures, recalled them, and rated their vividness. In the EM group, one of the pictures was recalled again while making EM. In the no-EM group one of the pictures was recalled without EM. Then fragments from both the recalled and non-recalled pictures, and new fragments were presented and participants rated whether these were (or were not) seen before. Both pictures were rated again for vividness. In the EM group, self-rated vividness of the recalled+EM picture decreased, relative to the non-recalled picture. In the no-EM group there was no difference between the recalled versus non-recalled picture. The RT task showed the same pattern. Reduction of memory vividness due to recall+EM is also evident from non-self-report data.

Are feeling-of-knowing and judgment-of-learning different? Evidence from older adults

This study aims to assess age differences between Judgments-of-learning (JOLs) and Feeling-of-knowing (FOKs) as they are typically studied. The novel contribution of the present study is a comparison between these two metacognitive judgments in a within subject design. Young and older adults were tested on their JOL accuracy and were asked to predict future recall during learning. All participants were also asked to predict future recognition of unrecalled items (FOK judgments). Results showed that although older adults had similar low levels of memory performance in the JOL task and in the FOK task, metacognitive impairments were only found on the resolution of FOKs. Furthermore, an analysis of covariance showed that age differences on memory performance explained the age effect observed on the FOK, thus supporting the memory constraint hypothesis (Hertzog et al., 2010). Results are discussed in relation to contemporary models of memory.

Metamemory judgments and study time allocation in young and older adults: Dissociative effects of a generation task.

This study explored age-related differences in the use of metacognitive judgment to allocate extra study time according to the perceived difficulty of a learning task. The task difficulty was varied by manipulating the encoding condition which entailed either generating or reading paired associates. Perceived difficulty was measured by the global prediction rating, whereby participants predicted that they would recall fewer words in the learning task they considered hardest. Participants were first asked to predict their own future recall performance and then learned paired associates in their own time, and finally performed a cued-recall test for each encoding condition. Our results replicated earlier findings that generation improves the memory performance of both young and older adults. However, both groups thought that generation would be more difficult than reading and predicted that they would recall fewer words under that condition. The young adults allocated different amounts of study time to the two tasks, whereas the older adults allocated the same time. This was interpreted as an age-related impairment in self-initiated coordination of metacognitive judgment and the control processes required for effective allocation of study time.

Does Easily Learned Mean Easily Remembered?

Because numerous studies have shown that feelings of encoding fluency are positively correlated with judgments of learning, a single dominant heuristic, easily learned = easily remembered (ELER), has been posited to explain how people interpret encoding fluency when assessing their own memory. However, the inferences people draw from feelings of encoding fluency may vary with their beliefs about why information is easy or effortful to encode. We conducted two experiments in which participants studied word lists and then predicted their future recall of those items. Results revealed that subjects who viewed intelligence as fixed, and who tended to interpret effortful encoding as indicating that they had reached the limits of their ability, used the ELER heuristic to make judgments of learning. However, subjects who viewed intelligence as malleable, and who tended to interpret effortful encoding as indicating greater engagement in learning, did not use the ELER heuristic and at times predicted greater memory for items that they found more effortful to learn.

An investigation of increases in metamemory confidence across multiple study trials

We employed a list-learning methodology to investigate whether discrepancies between mean judgements of learning (JOLs) and recall in a multiple study–recall context reflects a metacognitive failure in applying the knowledge that repeated study benefits recall. In Experiment 1 one group of participants was explicitly informed that repetition enhances recall, whereas a second group was told that repetition was not beneficial for future recall. Although JOLs in the former condition were significantly higher, this difference was evident even in the first study phase, prior to any repetition taking place. In Experiment 2 we investigated whether the modest increases in JOLs that are typically observed over multiple study trials reflects instead an attribution of enhanced fluency, rather than metacognitive understanding per se.

Repeated partial eyewitness questioning causes confidence inflation but not retrieval‐induced forgetting

AbstractDuring a crime investigation eyewitnesses are often interviewed more than once. Repeated post‐event questioning offers an opportunity for retrieval practice. Practicing retrieval of a subset of memories may suppress access to related memories, a phenomenon known as retrieval‐induced forgetting. In this short report we investigated the generalization of retrieval‐induced forgetting to episodic eyewitness memory of a complex event. The results indicated that repeated retrieval improves future recall of practiced information, but does not induce forgetting of related information. Retrieval practice, however, did result in higher confidence ratings, both for correct and incorrect answers. The practical consequence of this study is that repeated questioning should be avoided if possible. Not because it may induce retrieval‐induced forgetting, but because it may lead to confidence inflation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Does ADHD in Adults Affect the Relative Accuracy of Metamemory Judgments?

Objective: Prior research suggests that individuals with ADHD overestimate their performance across domains despite performing more poorly in these domains. The authors introduce measures of accuracy from the larger realm of judgment and decision making—namely, relative accuracy and calibration—to the study of self-evaluative judgment accuracy in adults with ADHD. Method: Twenty-eight adults with ADHD and 28 matched controls participate in a computer-administered paired-associate learning task and predict their future recall using immediate and delayed judgments of learning (JOLs). Retrospective confidence judgments are also collected. Results: Groups perform equally in terms of judgment magnitude and absolute judgment accuracy as measured by discrepancy scores and calibration curves. Both groups benefit equally from making their JOL at a delay, and the group with ADHD show higher relative accuracy for delayed judgments. Conclusion: Results suggest that under certain circumstances, adults with ADHD can make accurate judgments about their future memory.

Effects of Pretend Imagery on Learning Dance in Preschool Children

Play is important in child development and learning. The intent of this study was to assess the effects of play, using physical movement and pretend imagery, on learning dance. Four preschool dance classes, encompassing 32 children ages 3–6, were randomly divided into pretend imagery groups and traditional teaching groups. The classes were videotaped over 3 weeks and rated for speed of learning new motor skills, future recall of the skills, attentiveness to the task, and enjoyment during the task. As hypothesized, results found that children in the pretend imagery group had significantly better visual fixation on the instructor, engagement in and enjoyment during the task, and needed less prompting and time to recall and a shorter amount of time to learn the skill than children in the traditional teaching group. There is little research in this area of learning and play, but the results of this study suggest more is warranted.

Regulatory Oversight or Lack of Foresight? Implications for Product Recall Policies and Procedures

The regulatory effectiveness, the impact on industry and consumers of product withdrawal and the associated wider issues relating to crisis management represent an under-researched area. The authors describe the mid-2003 government-ordered withdrawal of almost 2,000 complementary and alternative medicines, across multiple brand names, in Australia and New Zealand. The report is based on an examination of the media coverage of the event and on interviews with key informants in manufacturing and retailing and the regulatory system. This massive, multi-brand recall provides an opportunity to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of a cross-border withdrawal from regulatory and consumer policy perspectives and makes recommendations for the management of future recall events.