Individual Differences in Emotional Memory: Adult Attachment and Long-Term Memory for Child Sexual Abuse

Recent changes in statutes of limitations for crimes against children permit accusations of decades-old child sexual abuse to be considered in court. These laws challenge scientists to address the accuracy of long-term memory of genital contact. To examine theoretical, clinical, and legal concerns about long-term memory accuracy, children who in the 1990s (Time 1) were 3 to 17 years old and experienced a documented child maltreatment medical examination that included genital touch were interviewed between 2012 and 2014 (Time 2), as adults, about the medical experience. Almost half of the adults reported the childhood genital contact. Child sexual abuse and greater depression in adulthood predicted greater memory accuracy. No participant falsely reported chargeable offenses that did not occur, even when such offenses had been falsely suggested in a childhood interview. Some participants erred with regard to specific and misleading questions implying less egregious acts. Ramifications for theory and application are discussed.

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Effect of Type of Task and Number of Inspectors on Performance of an Industrial Inspection-Type Task

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1518/001872095779049552 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 182-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Harold Stanislaw

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Forced Choice ◽

Sensory Memory ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Rating Task ◽

Term Memory ◽

Industrial Inspection ◽

Inspection Task ◽

Practical Implications

Two hundred forty subjects working alone and in pairs performed three different versions of a task similar to industrial inspection: a rating task and spatial and temporal two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) tasks. Performance was worse on the rating task than on the 2AFC tasks, and the spatial and temporal 2AFC tasks were performed equally well. These results could signify that performance is impaired more by demands made on long-term memory than by demands made on perception and sensory memory, or that asking subjects to compare items is fundamentally different from, and easier than, asking subjects to judge items in absolute terms. Individual differences in performance were marked, but performance was inconsistent across different versions of the inspection task. When subjects worked in pairs, performance was comparable to that obtained by requiring items to pass two inspections by individual subjects. However, a single inspection by subject pairs required less time than two inspections by individual subjects. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Individual Differences in Learning Efficiency

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0963721419869005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

pp. 607-613

Author(s):

Kathleen B. McDermott ◽

Christopher L. Zerr

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Experimental Approach ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Positive Relation ◽

Future Directions ◽

Term Memory ◽

Learning Efficiency ◽

Rate Of Learning ◽

Over Time

Most research on long-term memory uses an experimental approach whereby participants are assigned to different conditions, and condition means are the measures of interest. This approach has demonstrated repeatedly that conditions that slow the rate of learning tend to improve later retention. A neglected question is whether aggregate findings at the level of the group (i.e., slower learning tends to improve retention) translate to the level of individual people. We identify a discrepancy whereby—across people—slower learning tends to coincide with poorer memory. The positive relation between learning rate (speed of learning) and retention (amount remembered after a delay) across people is referred to as learning efficiency. A more efficient learner can acquire information faster and remember more of it over time. We discuss potential characteristics of efficient learners and consider future directions for research.

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Working Memory: Models and Applications

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.879 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Stoo Sepp ◽

Steven J. Howard ◽

Sharon Tindall-Ford ◽

Shirley Agostinho ◽

Fred Paas

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory

In 1956, Miller first reported on a capacity limitation in the amount of information the human brain can process, which was thought to be seven plus or minus two items. The system of memory used to process information for immediate use was coined “working memory” by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in 1960. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed their multistore model of memory, which theorized that the memory system was separated into short-term memory, long-term memory, and the sensory register, the latter of which temporarily holds and forwards information from sensory inputs to short term-memory for processing. Baddeley and Hitch built upon the concept of multiple stores, leading to the development of the multicomponent model of working memory in 1974, which described two stores devoted to the processing of visuospatial and auditory information, both coordinated by a central executive system. Later, Cowan’s theorizing focused on attentional factors in the effortful and effortless activation and maintenance of information in working memory. In 1988, Cowan published his model—the scope and control of attention model. In contrast, since the early 2000s Engle has investigated working memory capacity through the lens of his individual differences model, which does not seek to quantify capacity in the same way as Miller or Cowan. Instead, this model describes working memory capacity as the interplay between primary memory (working memory), the control of attention, and secondary memory (long-term memory). This affords the opportunity to focus on individual differences in working memory capacity and extend theorizing beyond storage to the manipulation of complex information. These models and advancements have made significant contributions to understandings of learning and cognition, informing educational research and practice in particular. Emerging areas of inquiry include investigating use of gestures to support working memory processing, leveraging working memory measures as a means to target instructional strategies for individual learners, and working memory training. Given that working memory is still debated, and not yet fully understood, researchers continue to investigate its nature, its role in learning and development, and its implications for educational curricula, pedagogy, and practice.

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Individual differences in positive affect moderate age-related declines in episodic long-term memory

Journal of Cognitive Psychology ◽

10.1080/20445911.2011.570254 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 768-779 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Philip A. Allen ◽

Kevin Kaut ◽

Elsa Baena ◽

Mei-Ching Lien ◽

Eric Ruthruff

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Term Memory ◽

Age Related

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Developmental and Individual Differences in Long-Term Memory Retrieval: Process and Organization

Child Development ◽

10.2307/1129236 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 52 (1) ◽

pp. 234 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Martin E. Ford ◽

Daniel P. Keating

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Memory Retrieval ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Retrieval Process ◽

Term Memory

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Correlated individual differences suggest a common mechanism underlying metacognition in visual perception and visual short-term memory

10.1101/140558 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jason Samaha ◽

Bradley R. Postle

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Visual Perception ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Stimulus Feature ◽

Relevant Stimulus ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Visual Short Term Memory

AbstractAdaptive behavior depends on the ability to accurately introspect about one’s own performance. Whether this metacognitive ability is supported by the same mechanisms across different tasks has thus far been investigated with a focus on correlating metacognitive accuracy between perception and long-term memory paradigms. Here, we investigated the relationship between metacognition of visual perception and metacognition of visual short-term memory (VSTM), a cognitive function thought to be more intimately related to visual processing. Experiments 1 and 2 required subjects to estimate the perceived or remembered orientation of a grating stimulus and rate their confidence. We observed strong positive correlations between individual differences in metacognitive accuracy between the two tasks. This relationship was not accounted for by individual differences in task performance or average confidence, and was present across two different metrics of metacognition and in both experiments. A model-based analysis of data from a third experiment showed that a cross-domain correlation only emerged when both tasks shared the same task-relevant stimulus feature. That is, metacognition for perception and VSTM were correlated when both tasks required orientation judgments, but not when the perceptual task was switched to require contrast judgments. In contrast to previous results comparing perception and long-term memory, which have largely provided evidence for domain-specific metacognitive processes, the current findings suggest that metacognition of visual perception and VSTM is supported by a domain-general metacognitive architecture, but only when both domains share the same task-relevant stimulus feature.

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