Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts

2009-04-19

Rünger Nagy Frensch - J Exp Psych LMC

Do recognition and priming index a unitary knowledge base? Comment on Shanks et al. (2003).
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. Vol 35(2), Mar 2009, 572-585.

Rünger, Dennis; Nagy, Gabriel; Frensch, Peter A.

Whether sequence learning entails a single or multiple memory systems is a moot issue. Recently, D. R. Shanks, L. Wilkinson, and S. Channon (see record 2003-02055-007) advanced a single-system model that predicts a perfect correlation between true (i.e., error free) response time priming and recognition. The Shanks model is contrasted with a dual-process model that incorporates both response time priming and reportable sequence knowledge as predictors of recognition. The models were tested by applying confirmatory factor analysis to data obtained from a recognition test that was administered under both speed and accuracy conditions. The Shanks model accounted for the data in the speed condition, whereas the dual-process model provided a better fit in the accuracy condition. The results are compatible with the notion that cognitive processes were engaged differentially in recognition judgments under speed and accuracy conditions.

Lee Ng Ng - J Ed Psych 2009

The contributions of working memory and executive functioning to problem representation and solution generation in algebraic word problems.
Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 101(2), May 2009, 373-387.

Lee, Kerry; Ng, Ee Lynn; Ng, Swee Fong

Solving algebraic word problems involves multiple cognitive phases. The authors used a multitask approach to examine the extent to which working memory and executive functioning are associated with generating problem models and producing solutions. They tested 255 11-year-olds on working memory (Counting Recall, Letter Memory, and Keep Track), ability to inhibit inappropriate responses (inhibition: numeric Stroop, Stop Signal), mental flexibility (switching: Number–Letter and Plus–Minus), English literacy, and algebraic problem-solving skills (problem representation, solution generation, and other subcomponents). Working memory explained about a quarter of the variance in both representation and solution formation. Literacy explained an additional 20% of the variance in representation formation. Ability to discern quantitative relationships explained an additional 10%. The findings go beyond a demonstration of an association between working memory and problem-solving accuracy. They show that success in word problems is particularly reliant on ability to decode and assign mathematical operators to quantitative relationships, 2 phases of problem solving that also draw heavily on working memory resources.