The ability to think logically is a hallmark of human intelligence, yet our innate inferential abilities are marked by implicit biases that often lead to illogical inference. For example, given AB ("if A then B"), people frequently but fallaciously infer the inverse, BA. This mode of inference, called symmetry, is logically invalid because,…

Using a new method for studying the development of false-memory formation, we examined developmental differences in the rates at which 6-, 7-, 9-, 10-, and 18-year-olds made two types of memory errors: backward causal-inference errors (i.e. falsely remembering having viewed the non-viewed cause of a previously viewed effect), and gap-filling…

The aim of this study was to provide evidence for knowledge of the syntax governing the verbal form of large numbers in preschoolers long before they are able to count up to these numbers. We reasoned that if such knowledge exists, it should facilitate the maintenance in short-term memory of lists of lexical primitives that constitute a number…

Memory for future actions, or "prospective memory" (PM), often involves remembering to do things "for others". The present article explores the motivational mechanisms underlying memory for pro-social intentions through the manipulation of the social relevance of goals and presence of material rewards during an activity-based PM task. Results…

This article explores the interrelationship between memory and tradition in the work of religious education with particular attention to three questions: how memory serves the construction of the personal narrative called self and orients the self to the future; how body memory as articulated in habit and ritual becomes the foundation for social…

In two experiments, we investigated the robustness and automaticity of adults' and children's generation of false memories by using a levels-of-processing paradigm (Experiment 1) and a divided attention paradigm (Experiment 2). The first experiment revealed that when information was encoded at a shallow level, true recognition rates decreased for…

This research examined whether the impact of overheard rumors on children's memory for their experiences varies as a function of social processes. The results of two experiments revealed that the very same errant rumor had different consequences for children's recollections depending on the degree and type of social interactions they had with…

Because of their extensive experience with death and dying, hospice volunteers may be more successful at engaging in meaning-making regarding their death-related experiences than their low point life experiences (e.g., job loss). Consequently, their memories of death-related experiences will manifest more meaning-making strategies (e.g.,…

The titrating-delay matching-to-sample (TDMTS) procedure offers researchers an additional behavioral task thought to capture some important features of remembering. In this procedure, the delay between sample offset and comparison onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Specifically, correct matches increase the delay and…

In 5 experiments, the authors examined the influence of associative information in list-method directed forgetting, using the extralist cuing procedure (Nelson & McEvoy, 2005). Targets were studied in the absence of cues, but during retrieval, related cues were used to test their memory. Experiment 1 manipulated the degree of resonant…

The sentences we process in normal conversation tend to refer to information that we are familiar with rather than abstract, unrelated information. This allows for the use of knowledge stores to help facilitate comprehension processes. In many sentence comprehension studies, the stimuli are designed such that the use of world knowledge is limited.…

In order to gain insight into the nature of human spatial representations, the current study examined how those representations are affected by blind rotation. Evidence was sought on the possibility that whereas certain environmental aspects may be updated independently of one another, other aspects may be grouped (or chunked) together and updated…

Dual-process theory hypothesizes that recognition memory depends on 2 distinguishable memory signals. Recollection reflects conscious recovery of detailed information about the learning episode. Familiarity reflects a memory signal that is not accompanied by a vivid conscious experience but nonetheless enables participants to distinguish recently…

Two experiments examined 3 variables affecting accuracy, response time, and reports of strategy use in a binary classification skill task. In Experiment 1, higher rule cue salience, allowing faster rule application, produced higher aggregate rule use than lower rule cue salience. After participants were pretrained on the relevant classification…

Musical memory was tested in Alzheimer patients and in healthy older adults using long-term and short-term memory tasks. Long-term memory (LTM) was tested with a recognition procedure using unfamiliar melodies. Short-term memory (STM) was evaluated with same/different judgment tasks on short series of notes. Musical memory was compared to verbal…