Need probability affects retention: a direct demonstration.

Recent memory theory has emphasized the concept of need probability--that is, the probability that a given piece of learned information will be tested at some point in the future. It has been proposed that, in real-world situations, need probability declines over time and that the memory-loss rate is calibrated to match the progressive reduction in need probability (J.R. Anderson & Schooler, 1991). The present experiments were designed to examine the influence of the slope of the need-probability curve on the slope of the retention curve. On each of several trials, subjects memorized a list of digits, then retained the digits in memory for 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sec. Some trials ended with a recall test; other trials ended with the message, "no test." In Experiment 1, the likelihood of encountering a memory test (i.e., the need probability) was made to either increase or decrease as the retention interval increased; in Experiment 2, need probability either was flat (invariant across retention intervals) or decreased as the retention interval increased. The results indicated that the shape of the need-probability curve influenced the slope of the retention curve (Experiment 1) and that the effect became larger as the experimental session progressed (Experiment 2). The findings support the notion that memory adapts to need probabilities and that the rate of forgetting is influenced by the slope of the need-probability curve. In addition, all of the forgetting curves approximated a power function, suggesting that need probability influences the slope but not the form of forgetting.

Inhibitory consequences of memory selection.

When subjects select a prime from a visual display while leaving a distractor prime unselected, response time (RT) or response accuracy to a subsequent probe may be impeded if the distractor prime and probe are identical, or if they are related to one another. This phenomenon, negative priming (NP), has obvious implications for understanding perceptual selection. However, it is not known whether NP results from other kinds of selection processes. The present studies were designed to investigate whether NP occurs when primes are selected from working memory rather than from a visual display. In the two experiments, the subjects memorized two primes, selected one prime for further processing, and classified the contents of a probe display. Significant NP occurred in both Experiments. In Experiment 2, however, NP occurred only under easy-selection conditions; the effect was reversed under difficult-selection conditions. The findings indicate a role for NP in memory processing, but contrast with the results from perceptual selection studies showing greater NP under difficult-selection than under easy-selection conditions. The present finding suggests a complex and perhaps strategy-dependent relationship between memory selection difficulty and NP.

[Individual multistage psychofilm treatment in a group of chronic alcoholic patients]. / Psicofilm-terapia multifasica individuale e di gruppo dell'alcoolismo cronico

A short account of chronic alcoholism as a social and individual disease, and of the difficulties associated with its treatment, particularly as far as disaddiction is concerned, is followed by the description of a new method of psychotherapy, using psychofilms for the application of group hypnosis therapy covering a wide spectrum, based on reflexological premisses associated with behaviour therapy, backed up by techniques leading to reinforcement of the Ego. The method thus enables a polycentric approach to be made to the disturbances of the diseases and certain aspects of the patients' personality. Four stages in psychofilm management are described: conscious awareness, hypnotic induction, reinforcement of the Ego, and behaviour therapy. It is shown that films enable constant intervention on the part of the hypnotist to be dispensed with. A wide range of patients can be dealt with by applying standard techniques that are effective against various aspects of the psychopathological state in chronic alcoholism.