Information perseveration in recognition memory: Examining the scope of sequential dependencies.

Models of recognition memory often assume that decisions are made independently from each other. Yet there is growing evidence that consecutive recognition responses show sequential dependencies, whereby making one response increases the probability of repeating that response from one trial to the next trial. Across six experiments, we replicated this response-related carryover effect using word and nonword stimuli and further demonstrated that the content of the previous trial-both perceptual and conceptual-can also bias the response to the current test probe, with both perceptual (orthographic) and conceptual (semantic) similarity boosting the probability of consecutive "old" responses. Finally, a manipulation of attentional engagement in Experiments 3a and 3b provided little evidence these carryover effects on recognition decisions are merely a product of lapses in attention. Taken together, the current study reinforces prior findings that recognition decisions are not made independently, and that multiple forms of information perseverate across consecutive trials.

Probing the effect of perceptual (dis)fluency on metacognitive judgments.

Despite research showing that perceptually fluent stimuli (i.e., stimuli that are easier to process) are given higher judgment of learning (JOL) ratings than perceptually disfluent stimuli, it remains unknown whether the influence of perceptual fluency on JOLs is driven by the fluent or disfluent items. Moreover, it is unclear whether this difference hinges on relative differences in fluency. The current study addressed these unanswered questions by employing (Fiacconi et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 46:926-944, 2020), Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46[5], 926-944) letter set priming procedure. In this procedure, participants are first exposed to words containing only a subset of letters. Following this exposure, JOLs to new words composed of the same letters (i.e., fluent), and new words composed of nonexposed letters (i.e., disfluent) are compared with isolate the contribution of perceptual fluency. Because this procedure does not rely on parametric variations in perceptual features, we can directly assess the potential benefit and/or cost of fluent and disfluent items, respectively, by including neutral baseline conditions. Moreover, implementing both a mixed- and pure-list design allowed us to assess the comparative nature of perceptual fluency on JOLs. Counter to previous assumptions, our results are the first to demonstrate that perceptual disfluency decreases JOLs. Moreover, we found that the influence of perceptual disfluency on JOLs hinges on the relative differences in fluency between items even in the absence of a belief about the mnemonic impact of the fluency manipulation. These findings have important implications as they provide evidence that the difficulty, rather than ease, of information form the basis of individuals metacognitive judgments.

On the cost and benefits of restudying: exploring the list strength effect in self-guided learning.

Across five experiments we examined whether restudying a self-selected subset of items impairs memory for the remaining non-restudied items, and enhances memory for the restudied items. This question was inspired by research on the list strength effect, in which re-presentation of only a subset of items from a list impairs recall for items presented only once, and enhances memory for items presented twice. We found that following initial encoding of all items, honouring participants' restudy selections did indeed impair recall for the non-restudied items relative to when no items were restudied. Additionally, we found that memory for the subset of restudied items was enhanced relative to when all items were restudied. These findings expand previous research on the LSE to self-regulated learning and provide important new insights on how some learning strategies may in part be detrimental, but also beneficial, to future memory performance.

Examining the effect of expected test format and test difficulty on the frequency and mnemonic costs of mind wandering.

Mind wandering, generally defined as task-unrelated thought, has been shown to constitute between 30% and 50% of individuals' thoughts during almost every activity in which they are engaged. Critically, however, previous research has shown that the demands of a given task can lead to either the up- or down-regulation of mind wandering and that engagement in mind wandering may be differentially detrimental to future memory performance depending on learning conditions. The goal of the current research was to gain a better understanding of how the circumstances surrounding a learning episode affect the frequency with which individuals engage in off-task thought, and the extent to which these differences differentially affect memory performance across different test formats. Specifically, while prior work has manipulated the conditions of encoding, we focused on the anticipated characteristics of the retrieval task, thereby examining whether the anticipation of later demands imposed by the expected test format/difficulty would influence the frequency or performance costs of mind wandering during encoding. Across three experiments, we demonstrate that the anticipation of future test demands, as modelled by expected test format/difficulty, does not affect rates of mind wandering. However, the costs associated with mind wandering do appear to scale with the difficulty of the test. These findings provide important new insights into the impact of off-task thought on future memory performance and constrain our understanding of the strategic regulation of inattention in the context of learning and memory.

Reexamining the sources of variance in recognition confidence: A reply to Kantner and Dobbins (2019).

Recently, Kantner and Dobbins (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26(4), 1317-1324, 2019) reported a reanalysis of a series of previously published data sets in which they examined the sources of variation in recognition memory confidence ratings. Although between-subject differences in mean levels of confidence tended to account for the majority of variance in confidence ratings for both "old" and "new" decisions, the contribution of overall subject-level variation to confidence ratings for "new" decisions was noticeably and consistently larger. Here, I report a series of quantitative simulations along with a reanalysis of the original data to demonstrate that the relatively greater subject-level variation in mean confidence seen for "new" as compared with "old" recognition decisions largely reflects statistical constraints imposed by (a) the range limits of the ordinal scale used to measure confidence, and (b) the stronger relation between memory accuracy and confidence in "old" decisions. Therefore, any observed difference in the extent of subject-level variation in mean confidence between "old" and "new" recognition decisions need not imply a meaningful psychological distinction. These findings point out what in my view is an important statistical constraint that should be considered by researchers interested in understanding the bases of variation in memory confidence.

Parent and child self- and co-regulation during pediatric venipuncture: Exploring heart rate variability and the effects of a mindfulness intervention.

Needle procedures are common throughout childhood and often elicit distress in children and parents. Heart rate variability (HRV), as an index of emotion regulation, can inform both self-regulatory and co-regulatory processes. Mindfulness may serve to regulate distress; however, no research has studied mindfulness or parent and child regulatory responding concurrently during venipuncture. Stemming from a randomized controlled trial investigating a mindfulness intervention, this study sought to describe regulatory responding (via HRV) throughout pediatric venipuncture and the role of cognitive-affective factors (mindfulness, parent anxiety, catastrophizing) in 61 parent-child dyads (7-12 years). We examined (1) patterns of parent and child HRV throughout venipuncture and whether a brief, randomly assigned audio-guided mindfulness versus control exercise affected this pattern and (2) the extent to which changes in parent and child HRV were synchronized throughout venipuncture, and whether parent catastrophizing and anxiety moderated this association. HRV differed as a function of procedural phase. Practicing the mindfulness versus control exercise did not consistently affect HRV in dyads. Positive synchrony was observed during the end of the intervention in dyads with high parental catastrophizing. Otherwise, a pattern of nonsynchrony emerged. Results provide foundational knowledge regarding children's internal (self) and external (parent) regulation mechanisms. RCT registration: NCT03941717.

Another look at the contribution of motoric fluency to metacognitive monitoring.

Recent evidence indicates that fluent motor interactions with studied information can increase confidence in how well that information will be later remembered, as measured by judgements of learning (JOLs). However, it remains unclear whether such metacognitive assessments are based on experienced motoric fluency or on explicit, analytic beliefs regarding the mnemonic impact of the experimental manipulations used to enhance fluency. Here, we introduce a new approach to examine the extent to which experience-based processes alone underlie this effect by manipulating motoric fluency outside of participants' awareness. Across two experiments, we examined typing speed for both real-word and nonword verbal stimuli following a training phase in which participants typed items consisting of a restricted subset of letters. Despite faster typing times (i.e., greater motoric fluency) for new items comprised of the same subset of letters used during training, we found no evidence that these items were perceived as more memorable. For real words, linear mixed-effect model analyses at the item level relating typing speed and JOLs also revealed no evidence that motoric fluency increased perceived memorability. Similar analyses conducted for nonwords did, however, reveal a modest positive relation between these constructs. Together, these findings suggest that the contribution of motoric fluency to metacognitive monitoring in the absence of analytic beliefs is minimal. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the effect of list composition on monitoring and control processes in metamemory.

According to the widely accepted cue-utilization view, judgments of learning (JOLs) are thought to be comparative in nature, such that they are sensitive to the relative differences between stimuli. Here, we report the results of three experiments that both support and extend this tenet of the cue-utilization view by examining the impact of relative differences on metacognitive control strategies, including study-time allocation and re-study selection. By presenting word pairs of medium-difficulty intermixed with either easy or difficult word pairs we manipulated list composition to assess the impact of the relative difference between items on individuals' JOLs (Experiments 1 and 2a), study-time allocation (Experiment 1), and re-study selection (Experiments 2a and 2b). First, our manipulation of list composition demonstrated that stimuli of equal difficulty are judged to be more or less memorable depending on the context in which they are presented, thereby confirming previous findings that JOLs are sensitive to the relative differences among items. Second, with regard to metacognitive control strategies, our results indicated that list composition may not impact all control strategies in the same fashion. Specifically, the relative differences between items did not appear to influence the amount of study time allocated to a given item, but did affect which items were selected for re-study. These findings have important applied implications, and may assist in the development of more effective guidance on how to best engage in self-regulated learning.

Does word frequency influence judgments of learning (JOLs)? A meta-analytic review.

Although decades of research have identified robust effects of word frequency (WF) on memory performance, the comparatively smaller body of research examining the impact of WF on judgments of learning (JOLs) has yielded inconsistent findings. The purpose of this brief meta-analytic review is to synthesize the existing literature examining WF effects on JOLs with the aim of clarifying the extent to which such judgments are influenced by WF, and to identify some potential moderators of this effect. In analysing 17 experiments across 6 published and 1 unpublished studies, a small, but reliable effect of WF on JOLs was found (g = .23), with high frequency (HF) words afforded higher JOLs than low frequency (LF) words. There was, however, extensive heterogeneity among the effect sizes, implying that the WF effect on JOLs is subject to the influence of potentially many different moderator variables. The potential implications of this finding for understanding the sources of information that guide JOLs are discussed. In addition, speculation as to potential moderators contributing to the observed heterogeneity is offered, and emphasis is placed on the importance of considering item-level variability when items are nested within the conditions to be contrasted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

No role for activated long-term memory in attentional control settings.

Visual spatial attentional capture is contingent on an observer's goals, or attentional control settings. Recent research has demonstrated that observers can adopt attentional control settings based on numerous visual objects represented in episodic long-term memory (LTM). But why do LTM representations that comprise an attentional control set bias attentional capture, when other LTM representations do not? In the present study, we tested the activated LTM account-that LTM representations form an attentional control set if, and only if, they are represented in activated LTM-by mixing a working memory task to test for representation in activated LTM, with a spatial blink task to test for the state of participants' attentional control settings. In Experiments 1 and 2, inducing participants to represent complex visual objects in activated LTM did not result in those objects forming an attentional control set. In Experiment 3, we found a dissociation between activated LTM and attentional control settings; objects that were represented in activated LTM produced greater intrusion effects (indicating representation in activated LTM) than objects that were part of an attentional control set, yet smaller capture effects. These results do not support the activated LTM account. We conclude that representation in activated LTM is not the factor that determines which LTM representations comprise an attentional control set, and discuss the implications of these findings for research on attentional templates and hybrid visual and memory search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Isolating the contribution of perceptual fluency to judgments of learning (JOLs): Evidence for reactivity in measuring the influence of fluency.

Judgments of learning (JOLs) refer to explicit predictions regarding the likelihood of remembering newly acquired information on a later test of memory. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in understanding the processes that underlie such judgments. Recent theorizing on this matter has characterized JOLs as inferential in nature-that is, they are derived from the implicit utilization of a variety of different cues of which only some are diagnostic of future memory performance. The present series of experiments examine the potential role for one such cue, namely, perceptual fluency (i.e., the subjective ease of perceiving a stimulus) in guiding JOLs. Using a novel methodological approach adapted from Masson (1986), we demonstrate across 6 experiments that perceptual fluency per se can indeed inform predictions of future memory performance, but that its influence depends on the specific task requirements at the time JOLs are solicited. We discuss these results in relation to experience- versus theory-based contributions to metamemory judgments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Coordinating the interaction between past and present: Visual working memory for feature bindings overwritten by subsequent action to matching features.

The object-file framework forwarded by Kaheman, Treisman, and Gibbs (1992) has been enormously influential in our understanding of how the visual system links together prior visual content with a current input. Although this framework was initially developed to account for the perceptual benefits associated with feature conjunction repetitions, the present series of experiments examines how the core processes of this framework may also help explain behavior in tasks that require explicit remembering of visual information over the short term. Building off our previous work (Fiacconi & Milliken, 2012, 2013), here we introduce a procedure that affords the opportunity to examine the contributions of object-file review processes to both speeded performance and visual short-term memory (VWM) within the same task. Across two experiments we demonstrate a novel coupling between memory accuracy and speeded performance, such that the conditions that promote faster performance also tend to produce better memory, and vice versa. These findings are discussed in relation to the object-file framework and suggest that the object-file review processes known to guide behavior in speeded performance tasks may also have important mnemonic consequences. Together, these findings unite two lines of research to which Anne Treisman made indelible contributions.

Response inhibition immediately elicits negative affect and devalues associated stimuli: Evidence from facial electromyography.

Response inhibition negatively impacts the emotional and motivational significance of associated stimuli. Current accounts question whether this stimulus devaluation effect occurs immediately via negative affect elicited by inhibition, or only occurs later via a misattribution of decreased fluency as unpleasantness in the context of an explicit affective-evaluation task. Using facial electromyography, we recorded indirect physiological markers of affective response during a response-inhibition (Go/No-go) task to test opposing predictions arising from the immediate-affect and delayed-misattribution hypotheses. Engagement of the corrugator supercilli-a muscle closely associated with negative affect-was greater during periods when response inhibition was applied (No-go trials) than when not applied (Go trials). Moreover, corrugator engagement during response-inhibition predicted the magnitude of stimulus devaluation measured behaviorally in subsequent subjective ratings (How cheerful?), with greater engagement during No-go trials that contained abstract-art stimuli later rated negatively than during trials that contained items later rated positively. These results support the immediate-affect hypothesis and converge with prior neuroimaging evidence to suggest that the negative impact of inhibition promptly alters the coding of stimulus value. In contrast, none of the delayed-misattribution based predictions were confirmed.

A role for visceral feedback and interoception in feelings-of-knowing.

Guided by the framework that autonomic feedback shapes emotional experience and other feeling states, we asked whether feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments may be influenced by visceral information through interoception. Participants performed a FOK task for previously studied face-name pairs while changes in cardiovascular and facial muscle activity were recorded. Previously studied face cues for which the corresponding name could not be recalled elicited an increased cardiac rate relative to novel face cues. Critically, the relationship between this pattern of cardiovascular activity and FOK ratings was moderated by interoception, such that for individuals with high interoceptive sensitivity, relative increases in cardiac rate for old items were associated with larger corresponding differences in FOK. Consistent with a link between familiarity and positive affect, we also found that old items elicited less frowning, as reflected in muscle activity recorded from the corrugator muscle. These results provide psychophysiological evidence that visceral signals contribute to experiential metamemory processes.

Using facial electromyography to detect preserved emotional processing in disorders of consciousness: A proof-of-principle study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether emotional functioning can be observed in patients who are behaviourally non-responsive using peripheral markers of emotional functioning. METHOD: We tested two patients, both diagnosed as being in a vegetative state (VS) following hypoxia secondary to cardiac arrest. Thirty-seven healthy participants with no history of neurological illness served as a control group. The activity of two facial muscles (zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii) was measured using facial electromyography (EMG) to probe for patterned responses that differentiate between auditorily presented joke and non-joke stimuli in VS patients. RESULTS: One of the two VS patients we tested demonstrated greater zygomatic and reduced corrugator activity in response to jokes compared with non-jokes. Critically, these responses followed the pattern and temporal profile of muscle activity observed in our healthy control sample. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their behaviorally non-responsive profile, some patients diagnosed as VS appear to retain some aspects of emotional experience. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings represent, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that a patient diagnosed as VS can exhibit intact emotional responses to humor as assessed by facial EMG. Therefore, our approach may constitute a feasible bedside tool capable of providing novel insight into the mental and emotional lives of patients who are behaviourally non-responsive.

Knowing by heart: Visceral feedback shapes recognition memory judgments.

Although theories of emotion have long noted the importance of afferent feedback from the autonomic nervous system in generating feelings, there is a growing appreciation that this feedback may also play a role in shaping cognitive experiences. At present, little is known about its functional role in memory judgments. In the current study, we examined whether afferent cardiovascular feedback shapes recognition-memory decisions and experiences when previously encountered faces are being discriminated from novel ones. To investigate this possibility, we capitalized on the natural variation in baroreceptor mediated cardiovascular feedback that is associated with the cardiac cycle, synchronizing the brief presentation of memory probes during retrieval with individual heartbeats. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that faces presented during cardiac systole (i.e., when visceral feedback is maximal) were more likely endorsed as "old" than those presented during cardiac diastole (i.e., when afferent feedback is minimal). This pattern was present for targets and lures, and held for faces with fearful or neutral expressions. Combining this manipulation with a remember/know procedure, Experiment 3 showed that the influence of afferent cardiovascular feedback is specific to trials on which participants report a feeling of familiarity without successful recollection of pertinent contextual detail. By revealing an influence of baroreceptor mediated cardiovascular feedback on familiarity, the current findings identify the functional role of a specific autonomic channel, previously implicated in emotion, in feeling states that pertain to memory experience.

Using Psychophysiological Measures to Examine the Temporal Profile of Verbal Humor Elicitation.

Despite its pervasiveness in popular culture, there remains much to be learned about the psychological and physiological processes that underlie our experience of humor. In the present study, we examined the temporal profile of verbal humor elicitation using psychophysiological measures of heart rate (HR) and facial electromyography (EMG). Consistent with recent prior research on cardiovascular changes to perceived humor, we found that HR acceleration was greater for jokes relative to non-jokes, and was positively related to the level of perceived humor elicited by these jokes. In addition, activity recorded from the zygomaticus major muscle that controls smiling was found to be greater for jokes relative to non-jokes. To link these physiological changes to the psychological processes that govern humor comprehension, we took the initial inflection point of the zygomatic EMG response as a marker for the onset of humor comprehension, and used this marker to probe the pattern of cardiovascular activity at this time-point. We estimated the onset of the humor response to occur during the initial HR deceleration phase, and found that jokes relative to non-jokes elicited a decreased HR response at this time-point. This result questions the previously forwarded notion that the psychological "moment of insight" that signals the start of the humor response is always associated with heightened cardiovascular activity. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to possible differences in the cognitive processes required to comprehend different forms of humor. At a broader level, our results also demonstrate the advantages of combining different psychophysiological measures to examine psychological phenomena, and illustrate how one such measure can constrain the interpretation of others.

Psychophysiological evidence for the role of emotion in adaptive memory.

Studies demonstrating a mnemonic benefit for encoding words in a survival scenario have revived interest in how human memory is shaped by evolutionary pressures. Prior work on the survival-processing advantage has largely examined cognitive factors as potential proximate mechanisms. The current study, by contrast, focused on the role of perceived threat. Guided by the idea that a survival scenario implies threat, we combined measures of heart rate (HR) with affective ratings to probe the potential presence of fear bradycardia as a marker of freezing--a parasympathetically dominated HR deceleration that reflects the initial stage of the defensive engagement. We replicated the mnemonic advantage in behavior and found that the survival scenario was rated higher in perceived negative arousal than a commonly used control scenario. Critically, words encountered in the survival scenario were associated with more extensive HR deceleration, and this effect was directly related to subsequent recall performance. Our findings point to a role for the involvement of neurobiological fear responses in producing the survival processing advantage, as well as potential links between autonomic changes and cognitive processing in adaptive memory.

Nature and extent of person recognition impairments associated with Capgras syndrome in Lewy body dementia.

Patients with Capgras syndrome (CS) adopt the delusional belief that persons well-known to them have been replaced by an imposter. Several current theoretical models of CS attribute such misidentification problems to deficits in covert recognition processes related to the generation of appropriate affective autonomic signals. These models assume intact overt recognition processes for the imposter and, more broadly, for other individuals. As such, it has been suggested that CS could reflect the "mirror-image" of prosopagnosia. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether overt person recognition abilities are indeed always spared in CS. Furthermore, we examined whether CS might be associated with any impairments in overt affective judgments of facial expressions. We pursued these goals by studying a patient with Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) who showed clear signs of CS, and by comparing him to another patient with DLB who did not experience CS, as well as to a group of healthy control participants. Clinical magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) atrophy that appeared to be uniquely associated with the presence CS. We assessed overt person recognition with three fame recognition tasks, using faces, voices, and names as cues. We also included measures of confidence and probed pertinent semantic knowledge. In addition, participants rated the intensity of fearful facial expressions. We found that CS was associated with overt person recognition deficits when probed with faces and voices, but not with names. Critically, these deficits were not present in the DLB patient without CS. In addition, CS was associated with impairments in overt judgments of affect intensity. Taken together, our findings cast doubt on the traditional view that CS is the mirror-image of prosopagnosia and that it spares overt recognition abilities. These findings can still be accommodated by models of CS that emphasize deficits in autonomic responding, to the extent that the potential role of interoceptive awareness in overt judgments is taken into account.

Parallel effects of processing fluency and positive affect on familiarity-based recognition decisions for faces.

According to attribution models of familiarity assessment, people can use a heuristic in recognition-memory decisions, in which they attribute the subjective ease of processing of a memory probe to a prior encounter with the stimulus in question. Research in social cognition suggests that experienced positive affect may be the proximal cue that signals fluency in various experimental contexts. In the present study, we compared the effects of positive affect and fluency on recognition-memory judgments for faces with neutral emotional expression. We predicted that if positive affect is indeed the critical cue that signals processing fluency at retrieval, then its manipulation should produce effects that closely mirror those produced by manipulations of processing fluency. In two experiments, we employed a masked-priming procedure in combination with a Remember-Know (RK) paradigm that aimed to separate familiarity- from recollection-based memory decisions. In addition, participants performed a prime-discrimination task that allowed us to take inter-individual differences in prime awareness into account. We found highly similar effects of our priming manipulations of processing fluency and of positive affect. In both cases, the critical effect was specific to familiarity-based recognition responses. Moreover, in both experiments it was reflected in a shift toward a more liberal response bias, rather than in changed discrimination. Finally, in both experiments, the effect was found to be related to prime awareness; it was present only in participants who reported a lack of such awareness on the prime-discrimination task. These findings add to a growing body of evidence that points not only to a role of fluency, but also of positive affect in familiarity assessment. As such they are consistent with the idea that fluency itself may be hedonically marked.