Shock-induced amnesia received considerable attention after Cerletti popularized electroconvulsive shock therapy in the late 1930s. Yet, often overlooked is the fact that Benjamin Franklin recognized that passing electricity through the head could affect memory for the traumatic event. Franklin described his findings on himself and others in…

Comparative theory testing is a useful method for assessing the value of a new theoretical account such as the memory bias account of optimistic time predictions. However, such comparisons can be misleading when they do not carefully consider the domain limitations of the respective theories. M. M. Roy, N. J. S. Christenfeld, and C. R. M. McKenzie…

People chronically underestimate how long tasks will take. In their original article, the present authors (M. M. Roy, N. J. S. Christenfeld, & C. R. M. McKenzie) suggested a simple, broadly applicable explanation: Biased predictions result from biased memories. In their comment article, D. Griffin and R. Buehler suggested that in many domains in…

In the Appearance/Reality (AR) task some 3- and 4-year-old children make perseverative errors: they choose the same word for the appearance and the function of a deceptive object. Are these errors specific to the AR task, or signs of a general question-answering problem? Preschoolers completed five tasks: AR; simple successive forced-choice…

Although we are far from a universally accepted pattern of impaired function at altitude, there is evidence indicating motor, perceptual, memory and behavioural deficits in adults. Even relatively low altitudes (2500 m) may delay reaction time, and impair motor function. Extreme altitude exposure (greater than 5000 m) may result in more pronounced…

In the analysis of memory it is commonly observed that, even after a memory is apparently forgotten, its latent presence can still be revealed in a subsequent learning task. Although well established on a behavioral level, the mechanisms underlying latent memory are not well understood. To begin to explore these mechanisms, we have used "Aplysia,"…

This review briefly traces some of the history of the phenomenon of what has come to be called "reconsolidation." The early findings of retrograde amnesia for an old but reactivated memory led to several interesting but largely behaviorally oriented studies. With only a few sporadic exceptions, research in the area languished until about 2000,…

Neural integration of glutamate- and dopamine-coded signals within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a fundamental process governing cellular plasticity underlying reward-related learning. Intra-NAc core blockade of NMDA or D1 receptors in rats impairs instrumental learning (lever-pressing for sugar pellets), but it is not known during which phase of…

Extensive evidence indicates that the insular cortex (IC), also termed gustatory cortex, is critically involved in conditioned taste aversion and taste recognition memory. Although most studies of the involvement of the IC in memory have investigated taste, there is some evidence that the IC is involved in memory that is not based on taste. In…

Past research using a deferred imitation task has shown that 6-month-olds remember a 3-part action sequence for only 1 day. The concept of a time window suggests that there is a limited period within which additional information can be integrated with a prior memory. Its width tracks the forgetting function of the memory. This study asked if…

Four experiments are reported that reevaluate P. M. Merikle and E. M. Reingold's (1991) demonstration of unconscious memory: the greater sensitivity to familiarity (repetition) of an indirect (implicit) memory task than of a comparable direct (explicit) task. At study, participants named the cued member of a pair of visually presented words. At…

When market changes alter what product attributes are deemed important, consumers may intentionally try to forget old product information in an attempt to remember new product information. In Experiment 1, the authors demonstrated that intentional forgetting of this nature temporarily inhibits retrieval of old product information and leads to a…

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between working memory capacity and L2 reading comprehension of both linear texts and hypertexts. Three different instruments were used to measure comprehension (recall, comprehension questions and perception of contradictions) and the Reading Span Test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980) was…

The Number Sets Test was developed to assess the speed and accuracy with which children can identify and process quantities represented by Arabic numerals and object sets. The utility of this test for predicting mathematics achievement and risk for mathematical learning disability (MLD) was assessed for a sample of 223 children. A signal detection…

Teachers should emphasize the educational importance of understanding, but not at the expense of overlooking the importance of memorization skills. Currently, mainstream educational theory embraces such attributes as insight, creativity, inquiry learning, and self expression. But such emphases lead to a bias and under-appreciation of the role of…