Stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR) is a fundamental mechanism driving behavior automatization. In five experiments, we investigated the modulatory role of affective consequences (AC) on SRBR effects to test whether binding/retrieval can explain instrumental learning (i.e., the "law of effect"). SRBR effects were assessed in a…

Curiosity can be a powerful motivator to learn and retain new information. Evidence shows that high states of curiosity elicited by a specific source (i.e., a trivia question) can promote memory for incidental stimuli (non-target) presented close in time. The spreading effect of curiosity states on memory for other information has potential for…

Previous studies have shown that fixations on familiar stimuli tend to be longer than on unfamiliar stimuli, theorized to be a result of retrieval of information from memory. We hypothesize that extended fixations are due to a lesser need to explore an already familiar stimulus. Participant's gaze was tracked as they tried to encode or retrieve a…

Perception and perceptual memory play crucial roles in fear generalization, yet their dynamic interaction remains understudied. This research (N = 80) explored their relationship through a classical differential conditioning experiment. Results revealed that while fear context perception fluctuates over time with a drift effect, perceptual memory…

Conditioned stimuli (CS) have multiple psychological functions that can potentially contribute to their effect on memory formation. It is generally believed that CS-induced memory modulation is primarily due to conditioned emotional responses, however, well-learned CSs not only generate the appropriate behavioral and physiological reactions…

Individuals with homonymous visual field loss (HVFL) fail to perceive visual information that falls within the blind portions of their visual field. This places additional burden on memory to represent information in their blind visual field, which may make visual changes in the scene more difficult to detect. Failing to detect changes could have…

Infants who receive better counting input at home tend to become toddlers with better number knowledge in preschool. However, for many children, in-person counting experience is not always available, despite educational media becoming increasingly prevalent. Might virtual counting experience benefit the young mind? Using a novel online looking…

Perception is driven not only by current stimulation but also by previous sensory experience, which may serve as a perceptual prior for stimulus processing. A possible mechanism underlying this phenomenon is formalized in the internal reference model, which assumes that humans rely on an internal reference that updates continuously by integrating…

Perception is not an independent, in-the-moment event. Instead, perceiving involves integrating prior expectations with current observations. How does this ability develop from infancy through adulthood? We examined how prior visual experience shapes visual perception in infants, children, and adults. Using an identical task across age groups, we…

Recent studies demonstrate that eyes-closed rest benefits memory consolidation, perhaps due to reduced attention to environmental stimuli. Here, we asked whether focusing attention to "internal" thoughts and feelings after learning similarly blocks memory consolidation. Verbal memory was tested following an eyes-closed consolidation…

We explored a two-stage recognition memory paradigm in which people first make single-item "studied"/"not studied" decisions and then have a chance to correct their errors in forced-choice trials. Each forced-choice trial included one studied word ("target") and one nonstudied word ("lure") that received the…

A classic issue in the cognitive psychology of human category learning has involved the contrast between exemplar and prototype models. However, experimental tests to distinguish the models have relied almost solely on use of artificially-constructed categories composed of simplified stimuli. Here we contrast the predictions from the models in a…

An adaptive memory system should prioritize information surrounding a powerful learning event that may prove useful for predicting future meaningful events. The behavioral tagging hypothesis provides a mechanistic framework to interpret how weak experiences persist as durable memories through temporal association with a strong experience. Memories…

Memory is expressed in multiple functionally and anatomically distinct systems that interact over the course of learning and during the retrieval of information about the world. One method to determine the kind of memory representation (episodic and/or procedural) guiding behavior is to look at the expression of expectations (i.e., predictions) in…

Echocardiographers can detect abnormalities accurately and rapidly from dynamic images. This is likely due to the application of cue-based associations resident in memory, a process known as cue utilization. This study investigated whether cue utilization is associated with the ability to apply within-domain capabilities (dynamic) to more degraded…