Multisensory Connections of Novel Linguistic Stimuli in Japanese as a Native Language and Referential Tastes

Previous findings have shown essential connections between linguistic and gustatory stimuli for people with autism or lexical gustatory synesthesia. We examined the associative learning of novel linguistic forms in Japanese as a native language and tastes (candies and chocolates) for healthy people. Healthy subjects performed four phases: (a) evaluation phase of gustatory features; (b) learning phases of novel linguistic form and gustatory stimulus pairs (G) or novel word forms (W); (c) recognition memory phases linked with G and W; and (d) free recall phase for G and W. In the recognition memory phases, the performance scores of W were higher than those of G, while there was no significant difference between response times of G and W. Additionally, no difference between recall performances in G and W was also shown. A subjective evaluation of gustatory features (sweetness) negatively correlated with the recall score for linguistic forms connected to the gustatory feature, whereas the accuracy rates of the recognition memory phase in G positively correlated with those of the free recall phase in G. Although learning of novel linguistic forms is more efficient than learning of the relationships between novel linguistic forms and tastes, gustatory features influence the free recall performances of linguistic forms linked with the tastes. These results may contribute to future applications to word learning not just for patients, but also healthy people.

Rapport building and witness memory: Actions may ‘speak’ louder than words

Building rapport during police interviews is argued as important for improving on the completeness and accuracy of information provided by witnesses and victims. However, little experimental research has clearly operationalised rapport and investigated the impact of rapport behaviours on episodic memory. Eighty adults watched a video of a mock crime event and 24-hours later were randomly allocated to an interview condition where verbal and/or behavioural (non-verbal) rapport techniques were manipulated. Memorial performance measures revealed significantly more correct information, without a concomitant increase in errors, was elicited when behavioural rapport was present, a superiority effect found in both the free and probed recall phase of interviews. The presence of verbal rapport was found to reduce recall accuracy in the free recall phase of interviews. Post-interview feedback revealed significant multivariate effects for the presence of behavioural (only) rapport and combined (behavioural + verbal) rapport. Participants rated their interview experience far more positively when these types of rapport were present compared to when verbal (only) rapport or no rapport was present. These findings add weight to the importance of rapport in supporting eyewitness cognition, highlighting the potential consequences of impoverished social behaviours for building rapport during dyadic interactions, suggesting ‘doing’ rather than simply ‘saying’ may be more beneficial.

Validation of Pictograms for Safer Handling of Medications: Comprehension and Recall among Pharmacy Students

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p><strong>Background</strong>: Medication preparation and administration are higher-risk steps in the medication management process. Therefore, medication management strategies, such as warnings and education about medication safety, are essential in preventing errors and improving the safe handling of medications by health care workers.</p><p><strong>Objectives</strong>: To validate comprehension of 9 pictograms designed to improve medication safety, and to assess long term recall of these pictograms in a sample of pharmacy students.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: First- and second-year pharmacy students were recruited as participants. The study was divided into 2 phases: comprehension (Phase 1) and long-term recall (Phase 2). In Phase 1, a slideshow of the 9 pictograms was presented to participants, who were asked to write the meaning of and required action for each pictogram. The intended meaning of each pictogram was then presented to the participants. Four weeks later, long-term recall was assessed in Phase 2 of the study using the same method. The meaning and required action that participants provided for each pictogram were reviewed by 3 independent raters. A pictogram was considered to be validated in the pharmacy student population if at least 67% of participants identified the correct meaning or required action during the recall phase.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>: A total of 101 pharmacy students participated in Phase 1 and 67 in Phase 2. In Phase 1, 4 pictograms met the 67% threshold for comprehension. In Phase 2, after training, 7 of the 9 pictograms were validated.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: Given the results obtained with pharmacy students, redesign may be necessary for 2 of the pictograms. The use of validated medication safety pictograms on medication labels and other identifiers may prevent errors during medication handling and administration; this is an important avenue of investigation for future studies.</p><p>RÉSUMÉ</p><p><strong>Contexte</strong> : La préparation et l’administration des médicaments sont des étapes à risque plus élevé dans le processus de gestion des médicaments. Or, les stratégies de gestion des médicaments, dont les mises en garde et les informations sur la sécurité des médicaments, sont essentielles à la prévention des erreurs et à une manipulation plus sécuritaire des médicaments par les travailleurs de la santé.</p><p><strong>Objectifs</strong> : Valider la compréhension de neuf pictogrammes conçus pour accroître la sécurité des médicaments et vérifier si ces pictogrammes s’inscrivent dans la mémoire à long terme des étudiants en pharmacie.</p><p><strong>Méthodes</strong> :<strong> </strong>On a recruté des participants auprès des étudiants de première et de deuxième année en pharmacie. L’étude était composée de deux phases : compréhension (phase 1) et mémoire à long terme (phase 2). Dans la phase 1, un diaporama de neuf pictogrammes a été présenté aux participants à qui l’on a demandé d’interpréter chaque pictogramme et la mesure qu’il impose. On a ensuite présenté aux participants la signification qu’on voulait donner à chaque pictogramme. Quatre semaines plus tard durant la phase 2, un test de mémoire à long terme employant la méthode de la phase 1 a été effectué. Les réponses des participants quant à la signification et à la mesure à prendre pour chaque pictogramme ont été analysées par trois évaluateurs indépendants. Un pictogramme était considéré comme validé dans la population des étudiants en pharmacie si un minimum de 67 % des participants se souvenait de la signification adéquate et de la mesure à prendre recherchée pendant la phase de test de mémoire à long terme.</p><p><strong>Résultats</strong> : Au total, 101 étudiants en pharmacie ont participé à la phase 1 et 67 à la phase 2. Dans la phase 1, quatre pictogrammes ont atteint le seuil de 67 % pour la compréhension. Dans la phase 2, après une formation, 7 pictogrammes sur 9 ont été validés.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong> : Compte tenu des résultats obtenus auprès des étudiants en pharmacie, deux des pictogrammes pourraient être appelés à retourner à la planche à dessin. L’ajout de pictogrammes validés de sécurité des médicaments sur les étiquettes et autres marques d’identification de médicaments pourrait éviter des erreurs pendant la manipulation et l’administration de médicaments. Il s’agit là d’une piste de recherche importante pour de futures études.<br /><br /></p><p> </p>

Noise Facilitation in Associative Memories of Exponential Capacity

Recent advances in associative memory design through structured pattern sets and graph-based inference algorithms have allowed reliable learning and recall of an exponential number of patterns that satisfy certain subspace constraints. Although these designs correct external errors in recall, they assume neurons that compute noiselessly, in contrast to the highly variable neurons in brain regions thought to operate associatively, such as hippocampus and olfactory cortex. Here we consider associative memories with boundedly noisy internal computations and analytically characterize performance. As long as the internal noise level is below a specified threshold, the error probability in the recall phase can be made exceedingly small. More surprising, we show that internal noise improves the performance of the recall phase while the pattern retrieval capacity remains intact: the number of stored patterns does not reduce with noise (up to a threshold). Computational experiments lend additional support to our theoretical analysis. This work suggests a functional benefit to noisy neurons in biological neuronal networks.

AN IMPROVED ARCHITECTURE FOR COMPETITIVE AND COOPERATIVE NEURONS (CCNS) IN NEURAL NETWORKS

In neural networks, the associative memory is one in which applying some input pattern leads to the response of a corresponding stored pattern. During the learning phase the memory is fed with a number of input vectors and in the recall phase when some known input is presented to it, the network recalls and reproduces the output vector. Here, we improve and increase the storing ability of the memory model proposed in [1]. We show that there are certain instances where their algorithm can not produce the desired performance by retrieving exactly the correct vector. That is, in their algorithm, a number of output vectors can become activated from the stimulus of an input vector while the desired output is just a single vector. Our proposed solution overcomes this and uniquely determines the output vector as some input vector is applied. Thus we provide a more general scenario of this neural network memory model consisting of Competitive Cooperative Neurons (CCNs).

False Memories in the DRM Paradigm

Prior research using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm has shown that participants are more likely to report the critical lures when long lists are presented. In this experiment, we evaluated two potential explanations for this list-length effect. Ten-year-old children and adults studied 7- or 14-word lists. After recalling each list, participants were then asked to report any other words that they had thought about, but had not reported, during the recall phase. We found that long lists were more likely to activate the critical lure and that short lists did not facilitate source monitoring. On the basis of our findings, we conclude that, for both age groups, the list-length effect was due primarily to list-related differences in activation of the critical lure.

Gender differences in memory for object and word locations

It has been hypothesized that gender differences in visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) are larger in tasks requiring active elaboration of the material. In the present study we explored this issue by using an object relocation task, with both verbal and visual stimuli. The involvement of active processes was manipulated through the type of transformation required on the stimulus and through the introduction of different kinds of interference. In the three experiments reported, participants were shown either words or cartoon object icons in different locations and had to relocate them in either the same format or in the opposite one (object icons could be transformed into words and vice versa). Males outperformed females in the most demanding conditions, in which object icons and words were presented together in the encoding phase, and both had to be transformed in the recall phase; or when more demanding interferences were used. Our data suggest that the retention strategy was similar for the two groups and that the gender effect is related to a selective female difficulty associated with the increase in active VSWM processing. These findings further support the hypothesized distinction between the passive and active components of VSWM and illustrate the role that this distinction might play in accounting for individual differences.