Remembered Meal Satisfaction, Satiety, and Later Snack Food Intake: A Laboratory Study

It is well established that the satiety providing effects of food can influence meal size and a disparate area of research suggests that memory regarding recent eating informs food intake. Here we examined whether remembered meal satisfaction (encompassing memory for meal liking and satiety) can be manipulated in the laboratory and whether this influences later food intake. Participants (N = 128, body mass index mean = 23.46kg/m2, standard deviation = 4.70) consumed a fixed lunch and then rehearsed the satisfying or dissatisfying aspects of the meal, or a neutral experience (control), in order to manipulate memory for meal satisfaction. Three hours later participants completed a bogus taste-test to measure food intake and meal memory measures. There was no evidence that memory for general satisfaction with the meal was affected by the rehearsal condition. However, in the dissatisfying rehearsal condition, participants remembered being less satisfied with the satiety-providing effects of the lunch meal than in the satisfying and neutral rehearsal conditions. Snack food consumption did not differ across conditions and there was a small negative correlation between how satiating participants remembered their earlier meal to be and later snack food intake (r = −0.16, p = 0.07). The present study did not produce evidence that memory relating to meal satiety affects later food intake but further research is warranted.

Does Articulatory Rehearsal Help Immediate Serial Recall?

Articulatory rehearsal is assumed to benefit verbal working memory. Yet, there is no experimental evidence supporting a causal link between rehearsal and serial-order memory, which is one of the hallmarks of working memory functioning. Across four experiments, we tested the hypothesis that rehearsal improves working memory by asking participants to rehearse overtly and by instructing different rehearsal schedules. In Experiments 1a, 1b, and 2, we compared an instructed cumulative-rehearsal condition against a free-rehearsal condition. The instruction increased the prevalence of cumulative rehearsal, but recall performance remained unchanged or decreased compared to the free-rehearsal baseline. Experiment 2 also tested the impact of a fixed rehearsal instruction; this condition yielded substantial performance costs compared to the baseline. Experiment 3 tested whether rehearsals (according to an experimenter-controlled protocol) are beneficial compared to a matched articulatory suppression condition that blocked rehearsals of the memoranda. Again, rehearsing the memoranda yielded no benefit compared to articulatory suppression. In sum, our results are incompatible with the notion that rehearsal is beneficial to working memory.

Examining the benefits of combining two learning strategies on recall of functional information in persons with multiple sclerosis

Background: Forgetfulness occurs commonly in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but few treatments alleviate this problem. Objective: This study examined the combined effect of two cognitive rehabilitation strategies to improve learning and memory in MS: self-generation and spaced learning. The hypothesis was that the combination of spaced learning and self-generation would yield better learning and memory recall performance than spaced learning alone. Method: Using a within groups design, 20 participants with MS and 18 healthy controls (HC) were presented with three tasks (learning names, appointment, and object location), each in three learning conditions (Massed, Spaced Learning, and combination of spaced and generated information). Participants were required to recall the information they learned in each of these conditions immediately and 30 min following the initial presentation. Results: The combination of spaced learning and self-generation yielded better recall than did spaced learning alone. In turn, spaced learning resulted in better recall than the massed rehearsal condition. Conclusions: These findings reveal that the combination of these two learning strategies may possess utility as a cognitive rehabilitation strategy.

Vividness of Image and Retrieval Time

The relationship between vividness of image and information-retrieval time was examined. In an integrated-image condition the retrieval time for a vivid-image set was shorter than the retrieval time for a dim-image set; on the other hand, there was no difference in retrieval time between vivid- and dim-image sets in a verbal-rehearsal condition. Since the retrieval time difference between the two sets in the integrated-image group was not an artifact of image-construction time or presentation position, it was concluded that vividness of image affected information-retrieval time in the integrated-image group. The results were explained in terms of a picture-metaphor hypothesis of imagery.

Effects of Rehearsal Instructions on the Primacy Effect in Free Recall

The effects of rehearsal on the primacy effect in the serial position curve were investigated. Subjects were instructed to either rehearse or not rehearse previous list items presented at the rate of 1 word/0.5 sec., 1 word/sec., and 1 word/2 sec. The differential rehearsal hypothesis predicted that primacy effects would be observed only in the rehearsal condition. An alternative explanation of the primacy effect in terms of the 1933 von Restorff effect and rehearsal predicted a primacy effect in both the rehearsal and nonrehearsal conditions, with a larger primacy effect in the former. Primacy effects were observed in all conditions but were not significantly larger in the rehearsal condition. The results supported the explanation which included the von Restorff effect.

The Effects of Elaboration and Rehearsal on Long-Term Retention of Shape Names by Kindergarteners

Two promising instructional paradigms are elaboration and overt rehearsal. In a study with both theoretical and curriculum-development implications, these two instructional paradigms were compared for facilitation of kindergarteners’ retention of shape names. Elaboration refers to the association of two unconnected stimuli (a shape name and a common object) in a meaningful context (a familiar story). Induced overt rehearsal involves repetition of the shape names. A third condition, which held other elements of instruction constant, served as control. The results indicated that superior long-term retention was produced in the elaboration condition if the effects of initial acquisition (short-term retention) were statistically removed. A similar result was obtained for intermediate-term retention. Analysis of short-term data suggested acquisition was complexly affected by experimental condition, IQ, and task. In general, elaboration promoted better long-term retention even though some IQ groups learned more initially in the rehearsal condition.