Recall Procedure Research Articles

Mechanizm odwoływania członka Izby Gmin w ustroju konstytucyjnym Zjednoczonego Królestwa

The article deals with a new legal institution recall of member of parliament that was established in 2015 in the UK. The aim of this institution is to give voters of a constituency a right to force a by-election, if they are unhappy with their MP. They can use it, however, only if certain conditions are fulfilled. According to the bill it becomes possible to initiate the recall procedure when a member of parliament: 1) is convicted by a UK court of an offence and receives a custodial sentence not more than 12 months, 2) is suspended by the House of Commons for more than 10 sitting days or more than 14 calendar days, 3) is convicted of an offence described in Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. These three restrictive provisions indicate that the recall procedure was not drafted as a mechanism of political accountability of deputies. The real intention of lawmaker was, as may be assumed, protection of ethical standards in the parliamentary life of the UK. As a matter of fact, with recall procedure voters can get rid of a member of parliament who broke some ethic elementary rules while holding his/her mandate. Analyzing the content of the new regulations and their ratio legis, the author tries to answer a question what role the new institution can play in functioning the constitutional system of the UK and following in its political life as well. His general conclusion is that even though we consider the new rules as a kind of revolutionary move in legal dimension (like for example the adjustment of the parliamentary mandate characteristics), we cannot expect any revolution in practice.

Assessing the impact of anger state on the three Attentional Networks with the ANT-I.

Anger is a negative and highly aroused emotion. Previous research has revealed that a high level of arousal can induce the participant in a physical preparation and self-awareness. The aim of this research was to study the influence of anger on the attentional network using the Attention Network Test-Interactions (ANT-I). This test has been developed in order to assess 3 attentional networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Here, participants were induced in anger using the autobiographic recall procedure or in a neutral mood before the realization of the ANT-I. As expected, the results showed a better alerting score for the angry group. The possible origin of this alerting gain related to the high level of arousal is discussed. The results obtained should enlighten the interaction between emotion and the functioning of the attentional system. They also may be relevant for applied fields related to anger.

The effect of metacognitive self on confirmation bias revealed in relation to community and competence

Abstract The main goal of our study was to investigate the role of insight into one’s own biases (metacognitive self) in the process of hypothesis validation in accordance to the two fundamental social perception domains (community and competence) on the example of confirmation bias. The study was conducted on a group of 593 participants with the use of a confirmation bias procedure, a free recall procedure and the Metacognitive Self scale. We manipulated with the domain and the value of information given to the respondents. We suspected that individuals with a high metacognitive self, in opposition to low metacognitive self ones, would not process the given information according to the two fundamental social perception domains. The results verified the existence of an interaction effect of the metacognitive self (MCS) and the domain of the information given about a perceived person on the susceptibility to follow the confirmation bias. Contrary to the low metacognitive self individuals, who show a higher tendency for the confirmation bias within the competence than the community domain, persons with a high insight into their own biases express the same level of confirmation bias in no respect to the domain of the information. The value of the information has no significant influence.

Nutrient Adequacy of Foods Eaten by Students Attending Boarding and Day Secondary Schools in Owo

The nutrient adequacy of foods eaten by students attending boarding and day secondary schools in Owo municipal was assessed. The study was carried out among two day secondary schools and two secondary schools with boarding facilities. A total of 200 students were systematically selected from the class register. The 24-hour dietary recall procedure was used to assess food consumption and nutrients intake. The nutrient intake of the student shows that the intake of energy was 98% of RDA while that of protein was above RDA 123%. However, vitamin A, E, B6 folic Acid and vitamin C were found to be lower than RDA as intakes were 38%, 21%, 62%, 55% and 23% respectively. Also mineral intake shows that there is low consumption of calcium 43% while Iron intake exceeded RDA 127%. However, there was no significant difference in the energy intake of the day and boarding student while intake of vitamin C was higher among day students. Access to low cost healthy local foods especially fruits and vegetables in school and at home should be encouraged.

The Role of Memory Traces Quality in Directed Forgetting: A Comparison of Young and Older Participants.

A reduced directed-forgetting (DF) effect in normal aging has frequently been observed with the item method. These results were interpreted as age-related difficulties in inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information. However, since the performance of older adults is usually lower on items to remember, the age effect on DF abilities could also be interpreted as reflecting memory problems. Consequently, the present study aimed at investigating the influence of memory traces quality on the magnitude of the DF effects in normal aging. We predicted that increasing the quality of memory traces (by increasing presentation times at encoding) would be associated with attenuated DF effects in older participants due to the increased difficulty of inhibiting highly activated memory traces. A classical item-method DF paradigm was administered to 48 young and 48 older participants under short and long encoding conditions. Memory performance for information to memorize and to suppress was assessed with recall and recognition procedures, as well as with a Remember/Know/Guess (RKG) paradigm. The results indicated that, when memory traces are equated between groups, DF effects observed with the recall, recognition and RKG procedures are of similar amplitude in both groups (all ps>0.05). This suggests that the decreased DF effect previously observed in older adults might not actually depend on their inhibitory abilities but may rather reflect quantitative and qualitative differences in episodic memory functioning.

Development and pilot testing of 24-hour multiple-pass recall to assess dietary intake of toddlers of Somali- and Iraqi-born mothers living in Norway.

The aim of this study was to develop, test, and evaluate a 24-h recall procedure to assess the dietary intake of toddlers of Somali- and Iraqi-born mothers living in Norway. A protocol for a 24-h multiple-pass recall procedure, registration forms, and visual tools (a picture library for food identification and portion size estimation) was developed and tested in 12 mothers from Somalia and Iraq with children aged 10–21 months. Five female field workers were recruited and trained to conduct the interviews. Evaluation data for the 24-h recall procedure were collected from both the mothers and the field workers. Nutrient intake was calculated using a Norwegian dietary calculation system. Each child’s estimated energy intake was compared with its estimated energy requirement. Both the mothers and the field workers found the method feasible and the visual tools useful. The estimated energy intake corresponded well with the estimated energy requirement for most of the children (within mean ± 2 SD, except for three). The pilot study identified the need for additional foods in the picture library and some crucial aspects in training and supervising the field workers to reduce sources of error in the data collection.

Intensifying attachment-related sadness and decreasing anger intensity among individuals suffering from unresolved anger: The role of relational reframe followed by empty-chair interventions

This study examined whether two therapy interventions – relational reframe followed by empty chair – were associated with increases in sadness intensity and decreases in anger intensity among a sample of 61 undergraduate students suffering from unresolved anger toward an attachment figure (e.g. parent, sibling, and past-romantic partner). Participants underwent a single analog therapy session comprised of three interventions delivered in sequence: empathic focus on their anger; relational reframe; and empty-chair enactment. Participants retrospectively reported on the intensity of their attachment-related anger and sadness during the session using an interpersonal process recall procedure. Results showed that over the course of the relational reframe and empty-chair intervention sequence, sadness intensity increased and anger intensity decreased. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A cross‐cultural comparison of verbal learning and memory functions in reading disabled American and Norwegian adolescents

The present study reports the results of a cross-cultural analysis of the role of phonetic and semantic cues in verbal learning and memory. A newly developed memory test procedure, the Bergen-Tucson Verbal Learning Test (BTVLT), expands earlier test procedures as phonetic cues are applied in addition to semantic cues in a cued recall procedure. Samples of reading disabled and typically developed adolescents from the US and from Norway were recruited as voluntary participants. The results indicate that the stimulus materials chosen for the memory test are working well in both American and in Norwegian samples, yielding acquisition results comparable to similar list learning procedures, and also yielding high internal consistency across learning trials. The procedure also reliably differentiates between reading disabled samples in both languages, and also yields cross-cultural differences that seem to reflect differences in transparency and differences in the orthography of the included languages. The BTVLT with its focus on phonetic coding is a promising supplement to established tests of verbal memory for assessment of reading and language impaired individuals.

Why does saccade execution increase episodic memory retrieval? A test of the top-down attentional control hypothesis

Making repetitive saccadic eye movements has been found to increase subsequent episodic memory retrieval and also to increase subsequent top-down attentional control. We theorise that these effects are related such that saccade-induced changes in attentional processing facilitate memory retrieval. We tested this idea by examining the effect of saccade execution on retrieval conditions that differed in relative ease of consciously accessing episodic memories. Based on recent theories of episodic retrieval, we reasoned that there is a larger role for top-down attention when memories are more difficult to access. Consequently, we expected saccade execution to have a greater facilitative effect on retrieval when memories were more difficult to access. We obtained the expected result in a recall procedure in Experiment 1 and in a recognition procedure in Experiment 2. We also examined an individual difference factor—consistency of handedness—as a possible moderator of saccade execution effects on retrieval. We discuss how our top-down attentional control hypothesis can be extended to explain beneficial effects of saccade execution on other types of cognition, as well as negative effects on retrieval in some cases.

Investigating What Second Language Learners Do and Monitor under Careful Online Planning Conditions

Abstract: This study used quantitative analyses complemented by the retrospective data obtained through a stimulated recall procedure to address three interrelated issues: (a) whether second language learners use online planning opportunities to carefully plan their speech to enhance the quality of the language they produce, (b) what kinds of self-repair behaviour the pressured and careful online planning conditions are likely to induce speakers to make, and (c) the way careful online planning affects EFL learners’ oral L2 performance as measured in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Thirty intermediate EFL learners were asked to perform an oral narrative task under careful and pressured online planning conditions. Results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that L2 learners use the planning time to monitor their speech for grammatical accuracy, to retrieve and monitor the appropriate lexical items, and to plan the message they will communicate. In addition, it was found that careful online planning conditions induce learners to execute more error repairs and fewer appropriacy and different-information repairs compared to the pressured online planning condition. An analysis in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency measures testified to the positive effects of careful online planning on L2 oral performance.

What’s Recalled Depends on the Nature of the Recall Procedure

According to the mnemic neglect model, people process non-threatening feedback more deeply than threatening feedback. Tests of the model rely on behavior recall as the primary dependent variable. Similar to other research programs in social psychology, little attention has been paid to determining the optimal recall procedure for testing the model and replicating its predicted findings. Four experiments reveal that the results of mnemic neglect studies are significantly affected by recall period length and how recalled behaviors are reported. A few basic principles (e.g., output interference, output primacy as an index of accessibility) can account for these findings. The lessons learned apply not just to mnemic neglect research, but to any investigation of social-cognitive processes utilizing free recall measures.

Sleep and metabolism: you sleep what you eat?

Sleep is generated by the brain, but sleep certainly does not only impact brain function. Several epidemiological studies and interventional studies have provided evidence for an association between sleep parameters and sleep duration, and outcomes such as body mass index and cardiovascular risk factors. However, how strong and clinically significant are these associations, and what happens to sleep if we change energy balance? Are there associations between what we eat and how we sleep? These questions are addressed in several papers concerning the interactions of sleep and metabolism in the first issue of the Journal of Sleep Research in 2014. In a prospective population-based cohort study in 1481 children, Berentzen and colleagues analysed the association between school-week sleep measures such as sleep duration and sleep timing, sleep quality as derived from indicators of nocturnal awakenings and daytime functioning, and cardiometabolic markers (Berentzen et al., 2014). The latter included anthropometry measurements (height, weight, etc.) as well as total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), which is an indicator of the average blood glucose levels in the preceding months. The main findings of the study are that there are associations between sleep measures and some metabolic measures, and primarily so in girls, and not in boys. The associations observed in the girls were in the expected direction. Thus, longer sleep was associated with lower body mass index and smaller waist circumference and going to sleep late and rising early was associated with higher cholesterol. Importantly, and as pointed out by the authors, the effect sizes were relatively small, and the clinical significance of the associations is questioned by the authors. Profound sex differences are also reported in a study of anthropometric and metabolic markers as predictors of severity of obstructive sleep apnea (Mazzuca et al., 2014). These two studies, together with the well-documented sex differences in lipid metabolism (Sugiyama and Agellon, 2012) and sleep and circadian rhythms (Mong et al., 2011), highlight the importance of considering sex differences in studies in which the associations between sleep and metabolic markers are considered. If there are important interactions between sleep and metabolism it may be expected that not only how much we eat but also what we eat influences our sleep. Gradner and colleagues address this question in an analysis of the intake of specific dietary nutrients and aspects of sleep in a representative sample of adults (n = 4548) in the United States (Grandner et al., 2014). The aspects of sleep assessed included difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep as well as non-restorative sleep and daytime sleepiness. Diet and nutrient data were based on a 24-h recall procedure. A number of dietary components/nutrients were identified as contributing to the variance explained for the various sleep variables, i.e. difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, etc. These include well-known contributors to a healthy diet, such as selenium, alpha carotene, calcium and vitamin D. How these associations will hold up in subsequent studies and whether associations will also be observed for objectively assessed sleep remains to be investigated. Nevertheless, the study provides a starting-point for other studies in this important area, for which there is also a substantial interest in the general population. We are often asked: ‘is it true that what you eat in the evening affects your sleep?’. The closely related question, ‘does it matter when we eat?’, is addressed in a study on the effects of intermittent fasting, such as occurs during Ramadan. In this study, food and water intake was restricted to the hours of darkness, while the sleep schedule and caloric intake were controlled (Bahammam et al., 2014). It is reported that whereas total sleep time and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep were not significantly affected, a reduction in REM% was observed. The authors offer several explanations for this effect of a change in the ‘circadian’ pattern of food and water intake on sleep, and this study provides initial evidence that the timing of food and water intake also affects sleep in humans. Overall, these studies highlight the interactions between sleep, metabolism and circadian rhythmicity, an area of research in which, at a basic level, considerable progress has been made in the identification of the molecular elements contributing to these interactions (Bass, 2012).

Creating associative memory distortions - a Polish adaptation of the DRM paradigm

Abstract One of the most widely applied techniques used to examine associative memory errors is the Deese-Roediger- McDermott (DRM) paradigm. The aim of the present studies was to demonstrate a Polish version of the DRM paradigm and to test the characteristics of memory illusions evoked by this procedure for both recall and recognition. A normative study was conducted to prepare Polish stimuli material sharing similar characteristics as the lists in the English language version. Subsequently, the lists were applied to examine the effect of prior recall on recognition, as well as the influence of retention interval on recall. The results revealed that the Polish version of the DRM paradigm induced a robust effect of false recall and recognition. Moreover, it was revealed that immediate recall of a single list led to a higher rate of both correct and false recall and that prior recall positively influenced recognition, leading to a higher rate of hits.

Salt and fluid restriction is effective in patients with chronic heart failure

European and American guidelines have recommended salt and fluid restriction for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) despite scarce scientific evidence. Therefore, we investigated the effects of salt and fluid restriction in patients with CHF. Ninety-seven stable patients in NYHA class II-IV, on optimal medication, with previous signs of fluid retention, treated with either >40 mg (NYHA III-IV) or >80 mg (NYHA II-IV) of furosemide daily were randomized to either individualized salt and fluid restriction or information given by the nurse-led heart failure clinics, e.g. be aware not to drink too much and use salt with caution, and followed for 12 weeks. Fluid was restricted to 1.5 L and salt to 5 g daily, and individualized dietary advice and support was given. The 24 h dietary recall procedure, urine collection on three consecutive days, and para-aminobenzoic acid 80 mg t.i.d. was used to assess adherence to diet and completeness of urine collection. The primary endpoint was a composite variable consisting of NYHA class, hospitalization, weight, peripheral oedema, quality of life (QoL), thirst, and diuretics. Results After 12 weeks, significantly more patients in the intervention than in the control group improved on the composite endpoint (51% vs. 16%; P < 0.001), mostly owing to improved NYHA class and leg oedema. No negative effects were seen on thirst, appetite, or QoL. Individualized salt and fluid restriction can improve signs and symptoms of CHF with no negative effects on thirst, appetite, or QoL in patients with moderate to severe CHF and previous signs of fluid retention.

The Influence of Childhood Aerobic Fitness on Learning and Memory

IntroductionThere is a growing trend of inactivity among children, which may not only result in poorer physical health, but also poorer cognitive health. Previous research has shown that lower fitness has been related to decreased cognitive function for tasks requiring perception, memory, and cognitive control as well as lower academic achievement.PurposeTo investigate the relationship between aerobic fitness, learning, and memory on a task that involved remembering names and locations on a fictitious map. Different learning strategies and recall procedures were employed to better understand fitness effects on learning novel material.MethodsForty-eight 9–10 year old children (n = 24 high fit; HF and n = 24 low fit; LF) performed a task requiring them to learn the names of specific regions on a map, under two learning conditions in which they only studied (SO) versus a condition in which they were tested during study (TS). The retention day occurred one day after initial learning and involved two different recall conditions: free recall and cued recall.ResultsThere were no differences in performance at initial learning between higher fit and lower fit participants. However, during the retention session higher fit children outperformed lower fit children, particularly when the initial learning strategy involved relatively poor recall performance (i.e., study only versus test-study strategy).ConclusionsWe interpret these novel data to suggest that fitness can boost learning and memory of children and that these fitness-associated performance benefits are largest in conditions in which initial learning is the most challenging. Such data have important implications for both educational practice and policy.

Communicated Perspective-Taking During Stories of Marital Stress: Spouses' Perceptions of One Another's Perspective-Taking Behaviors

Perspective-taking has important connections to social and relational functioning, making it an important skill for marital adjustment (Long & Andrews, 1990). The current study investigated the types of behaviors indicative of communicated perspective-taking from the participant perspective as couples told stories of stressful relational events. Using a stimulated recall procedure, 68 husband and wife pairs jointly told the story of a stressful relational experience and then separately viewed their videotaped interaction and evaluated their spouses' perspective-taking behaviors. Agreement, attentiveness, relevant contributions, coordination, positive tone, and freedom represented the categories of behaviors spouses judged to reflect perspective-taking. In contrast, disagreement, inattentiveness, irrelevant contributions, lack of coordination, negative tone, and constraint all emerged as categories of behaviors lacking in perspective-taking. Findings also indicated that disagreement, attentiveness, inattentiveness, negative tone, coordination, lack of coordination, and constraint were significantly related to general judgments of perspective-taking for husbands. For wives, on the other hand, disagreement, inattentiveness, irrelevant contributions, and constraint were the only significant negative correlates of general perspective-taking judgments.

Conditions for positive and negative recencies in running memory-span recognition

A positive recency effect in a running-span recognition procedure was obtained in Experiment 1 for hits and for intratrial false alarms. In running recall procedures, recency does not fit well with an active updating hypothesis. In Experiment 2, in which the beginning of the target set was marked with a cue upon presentation, the recency effects disappeared. In Experiments 3 and 4 participants were forced to maintain 2 items in memory until the last one was presented for recognition. These three items were the target set. When the last item presentation was uncertain—because of the variable length list—an unexpected negative recency effect appeared. An explanation for this change from positive to negative recency is offered based on the sharing of attentional resources put forward by others for similar procedures.

Impairment of an Electroconvulsive Stimulus on Reconsolidation of Memories Established by Conditioning

The deduced memory consolidation and reconsolidation phases are sensitive to similar amnesic and memory-enhancing treatment. Electroconvulsive stimulus has been well known to impair memory consolidation. Therefore, we hypothesized that electroconvulsive stimulus might disrupt reconsolidation for conditioning-established memories. Delivery of a 200-msec electroconvulsive stimulus (500 V, 25 mA) between mouse pinnas immediately after recall of the cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) impaired the reconsolidation and subsequent expression of this memory. In contrast, the electroconvulsive stimulus (500 V, 25 mA, lasting for 200 ms) did not affect subsequent cocaine-induced CPP performance when the recall procedure was omitted. Systemic pentobarbital injection immediately after the CPP test did not affect subsequent cocaine-induced CPP. Interestingly, several regimens of electroconvulsive stimulus given immediately after the recall of cocaine-induced CPP did not affect subsequent CPP performance when mice were anesthetized by pentobarbital throughout the ECS regimens. Finally, delivery of the ECS (500 V, 25 mA, lasting for 200 ms) immediately after the reactivation of passive avoidance (PA) and food-induced CPP impaired subsequent performance of these memories in the retest. Taken together, we conclude that a short-lasting electroconvulsive stimulus can deteriorate the reconsolidation of various forms of memory established by conditioning.

Examination of food reward and energy intake under laboratory and free-living conditions in a trait binge eating subtype of obesity

Background/Aims: Trait binge eating has been proposed as a “hedonic subtype” of obesity characterized by enhanced food liking and wanting, and a preference for high-fat sweet foods in the laboratory. The current study examined the influence of trait binge eating in overweight or obese women on eating behavior under laboratory and free-living conditions over a 48-h period.Methods: In a matched pairs design, 24 overweight or obese females (BMI: 30.30 ± 2.60 kg/m2; Age: 25.42 ± 3.65 years) with high or low scores on the Binge Eating Scale (BSE) were divided into one of two groups; Obese Binge (O-B) and Obese Non-binge (O-NB). Energy intake was assessed using combined laboratory energy intake measures and 24-h dietary recall procedures. Liking and wanting were assessed using the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ).Results: There was a significant association between overall energy consumed, and energy consumed from snack foods under laboratory and free-living conditions. O-B exhibited a greater preference for sweet snack foods in their laboratory and free-living eating behavior. These findings were supported by greater laboratory-based measures of wanting and craving for this food type in O-B. In addition, O-B consumed significantly more energy than their estimated daily energy requirements in the laboratory suggesting that they over-consumed compared to O-NB.Conclusions: The measurement concordance between laboratory and free-living based energy intake supports the validity of laboratory-based test meal methodologies Variation in trait binge eating was associated with increased craving and wanting for high-fat sweet foods and overconsumption in the laboratory. These findings support the use of trait binge eating as a common hedonic subtype of obesity and extend the relevance of this subtype to habitual patterns of energy intake.

Effects of the Adequacy of Learning Strategies in Self-Regulated Learning Settings: A Video-Based Microanalytical Lab Study

So far, the quality of learning strategies has been considered primarily within the framework of the “description paradigm” by investigating the relationship between the use frequency of macrostrategies and achievement. The ADEQUA study is approaching the quality of learning strategic actions in a more finely grained fashion by rating the adequacy of discrete learning strategies at the microanalytical level. Specifically, the study scrutinizes the strategies used by secondary-level students of English as a foreign language while reading an English text in a self-regulated, cooperative learning environment. The strategies they used in overcoming comprehension difficulties were identified and rated on the basis of the students’ videotaped task performance as well as a stimulated recall procedure. In regression models, the adequacy of strategic actions is of major predictive power with considerable effect sizes for students’ achievement. The hypothesis-testing approach adopted here (i.e., to assess the adequacy of every discrete strategy used by means of highly inferential ratings), appears to be promising.