Perceptual Versus Conceptual Value-Directed Strategic Processing in Younger and Older Adults

Value-directed strategic processing involves selectively attending to and processing information deemed more important while ignoring or inhibiting less important information. What we selectively attend to can be driven by the value we ascribe to the information, often based on stimulus factors such as perceptual features that make the information stand out, or conceptual features that make it easy to group information. The current study investigated whether behavioral measures of value-directed strategic processing are differentially affected when value is defined by perceptual versus conceptual features, and how normal cognitive aging impacts processing. Cognitively normal younger (N = 16; mean age: 22.1 ± 2.9 years) and older adults (N = 16; mean age: 66.9 ± 7.3 years) completed two value-directed strategic processing tasks, where value was defined by either perceptual (i.e., uppercase and lowercase letters; Letter Case task) or conceptual (i.e., animals and household items; Categories task) features. Both groups had higher recall on the Categories task compared to the Letter Case task, and higher recall for high- than low-value words. However, older adults recalled fewer total words than younger adults, but the groups did not differ across task types. These findings indicate that manipulating perceptual and/or conceptual features to define value can be used to study value-directed strategic processing in younger and older adults. Furthermore, grouping information based on conceptual features may be more effective for promoting subsequent recall in both younger and older adults.

Are You Taking the Fastest Route to the RESTAURANT?

Most words in books and digital media are written in lowercase. The primacy of this format has been brought out by different experiments showing that common words are identified faster in lowercase (e.g., molecule) than in uppercase (MOLECULE). However, there are common words that are usually written in uppercase (street signs, billboards; e.g., STOP, PHARMACY). We conducted a lexical decision experiment to examine whether the usual letter-case configuration (uppercase vs. lowercase) of common words modulates word identification times. To this aim, we selected 78 molecule-type words and 78 PHARMACY-type words that were presented in lowercase or uppercase. For molecule-type words, the lowercase format elicited faster responses than the uppercase format, whereas this effect was absent for PHARMACY-type words. This pattern of results suggests that the usual letter configuration of common words plays an important role during visual word processing.

Preference of Students on the Format of Options in a Multiple-Choice Test

Schools in the Philippines, especially those that are offering teacher education programs, are advised to construct examinations that are Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)-like test items. This is because “if any aspect of a test is unfamiliar to candidates, they are likely to perform less well than they would do otherwise on subsequently taking a parallel version, for example.” Using the education students of Leyte Normal University, Southern Leyte State University-Tomas Oppus Campus, and Visayas State University, this study determined the students’ preference on the arrangements/format of options in a multiple-choice test through a survey questionnaire. Moreover, it tried to find out the reasons behind the preferences. Mean, frequency and Chi-square tests were used in the analysis of data. Results revealed that the cascading arrangement is the most preferred arrangement of options and the one-line horizontal arrangement is the least preferred arrangement of options in a multiple-choice test. The reasons identified were organized and easy to read, less confusing and easier to distinguish and vertically arranged thus require less eye movement. Moreover, the reasons for the lower case preference were it is usual and commonly used in a multiple-choice test, clear and gives less eye and mental pressure and easier to read and write.And lastly, the relationship between the students’ preference of the arrangement of options in a multiplechoice test and the letter case options were tested using the Chi-square test. Hence, it is argued that in constructing a multiple-choice test, one has to consider using the cascading arrangement.