Despite substantial improvements to memory precision in childhood, the neural mechanisms underlying these changes remain unclear. Here, 40 children (7-9 years; 22 females, 18 males; majority White) and 42 adults (24-35 years; 22 females, 20 males; majority White) modulated their approaches to memory formation--focusing on the specific details to…

Practical examinations are commonly implemented to assess student knowledge of human gross anatomy. The in-person timed cadaveric practical is a classic assessment tool; however, several new approaches, like online or oral practical assessments, have become increasingly popular in recent years due to time, space, and/or financial constraints.…

Since the Middle Ages, Augustine and the wealth of his writings have had an enormous impact on Western philosophical thinking. His approach to time and memory, which he sets out in his eleventh book of the "Confessions," is one of the most important sources for research about the philosophy of time. Augustine describes time as a…

The animacy effect refers to the memory advantage of words denoting animate beings over words denoting inanimate objects. Remembering animate beings may serve important evolutionary functions, but the cognitive mechanism underlying the animacy effect has remained elusive. According to the richness-of-encoding account, animate words stimulate…

Contextual shifts are crucial for episodic memory, setting event boundaries during event segmentation. While lab research provides insights, it often lacks the complexity of real-world experiences. We addressed this gap by examining perceptual and conceptual boundaries using virtual reality (VR). Participants acted as salespeople, interacting with…

Spatial navigation relies on extracting environmental information to determine where to go. To support navigation behavior, navigational aids, such as maps, compasses, or global positioning systems (GPSs), offer access to easily extractible information, but do these aids enhance spatial memory? Here, we propose the hypothesis that navigation aids…

In today's digital world, understanding refresh-rate implications on visual perception and energy consumption is crucial. While high refresh rates enhance motion perception and user experience, they also increase energy usage, prompting the need for adaptive solutions like variable refresh rates. This study examines whether users notice or are…

We examined potentially selective offloading decisions when the external store has a limited capacity and how the surprising unavailability of offloaded information influences subsequent offloading decision-making and memory. In three experiments, learners were presented with to-be-remembered words paired with point values counting towards their…

Numerous studies have found better memory for multimodal than unimodal stimuli. In these studies, however, multimodal stimuli consist not only of multiple modalities, but also of more varied information than unimodal. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated encoding variability as an explanation for the multisensory benefit. Written words…

Evidence implicating theta rhythms in declarative memory encoding and retrieval, together with the notion that both retrieval and consolidation involve memory reinstatement or replay, suggests that post-learning theta rhythm modulation can promote early consolidation of newly formed memories. Building on earlier work employing theta neurofeedback,…

Generated information is better recognized and recalled than information that is read. This generation effect has been replicated several times for different types of material, including texts. Perhaps the most influential demonstration is by McDaniel, Einstein, Dunay, and Cobb ("Journal of Memory and Language," 1986, 25(6), 645-656;…

Prioritizing what information to learn based on value is a critical developmental skill. Across two studies, value-based memory was assessed predominately in White children aged 6- to 7-years-old and 9- to 10-years-old using a nationwide sample collected between 2020 and 2023. Children learned cue-target associations worth varying point values.…

Current views posit that forming and retrieving memories of ongoing events influences action control. However, the organizational structure of these memories, or event files, remains unclear. The "hierarchical coding view" posits a hierarchical structure, wherein task sets occupy a high level of the hierarchy. Here, the contents of an…

It is said that our species use mnemonics -- that "magic of memorization" -- to engrave an enormous amount of information in the brain. Yet, it is unclear how mnemonics affect memory and what the neural underpinnings are. In this electroencephalography study, we examined the hypotheses whether mnemonic training improved…

The concepts of technical feeling, perception, awareness, experience, consciousness and memory play a prominent role in those analogical moments within the technical aspect deriving from the sensitive dimension of our experience. These notions involve subjective technical sensitivities and feelings, belonging to the factual side of the technical…