-
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology Apr 2014The present study reports the results of a cross-cultural analysis of the role of phonetic and semantic cues in verbal learning and memory. A newly developed memory test...
The present study reports the results of a cross-cultural analysis of the role of phonetic and semantic cues in verbal learning and memory. A newly developed memory test procedure, the Bergen-Tucson Verbal Learning Test (BTVLT), expands earlier test procedures as phonetic cues are applied in addition to semantic cues in a cued recall procedure. Samples of reading disabled and typically developed adolescents from the US and from Norway were recruited as voluntary participants. The results indicate that the stimulus materials chosen for the memory test are working well in both American and in Norwegian samples, yielding acquisition results comparable to similar list learning procedures, and also yielding high internal consistency across learning trials. The procedure also reliably differentiates between reading disabled samples in both languages, and also yields cross-cultural differences that seem to reflect differences in transparency and differences in the orthography of the included languages. The BTVLT with its focus on phonetic coding is a promising supplement to established tests of verbal memory for assessment of reading and language impaired individuals.
Topics: Adolescent; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Dyslexia; Female; Humans; Learning Disabilities; Male; Memory; Neuropsychological Tests; Norway; Reading; United States; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 24601893
DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12108 -
Cognitive Research: Principles and... Dec 2021The spacing effect refers to the improvement in memory retention for materials learned in a series of sessions, as opposed to massing learning in a single session. It...
The spacing effect refers to the improvement in memory retention for materials learned in a series of sessions, as opposed to massing learning in a single session. It has been extensively studied in the domain of verbal learning using word lists. Less evidence is available for connected discourse or tasks requiring the complex coordination of verbal and other domains. In particular, the effect of spacing on the retention of words and music in song has yet to be determined. In this study, university students were taught an unaccompanied two-verse song based on traditional materials to a criterion of 95% correct memory for sung words. Subsequent training sessions were either massed or spaced by two days or one week and tested at a retention interval of three weeks. Performances were evaluated for number of correct and incorrect syllables, number of correctly and incorrectly pitched notes, degree notes were off-pitch, and number of hesitations while singing. The data revealed strong evidence for a spacing effect for song between the massed and spaced conditions at a retention interval of three weeks, and evidence of no difference between the two spaced conditions. These findings suggest that the ongoing cues offered by surface features in the song are strong enough to enable verbatim recall across spaced conditions, as long as the spacing interval reaches a critical threshold.
Topics: Cues; Humans; Learning; Memory; Mental Recall; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34894323
DOI: 10.1186/s41235-021-00345-7 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2021Physical exercise during adolescence, a critical developmental window, can facilitate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and astrogliogenesis in Cornu Ammonis...
Physical exercise during adolescence, a critical developmental window, can facilitate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and astrogliogenesis in Cornu Ammonis (CA) hippocampal subfields of rats, and which have been associated with improved hippocampal dependent memory performance. Recent translational studies in humans also suggest that aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume and better spatial memory during adolescence. However, associations between fitness, hippocampal subfield morphology, and learning capabilities in human adolescents remain largely unknown. Employing a translational study design in 34 adolescent males, we explored the relationship between aerobic fitness, hippocampal subfield volumes, and both spatial and verbal memory. Aerobic fitness, assessed by peak oxygen utilization on a high-intensity exercise test (VO peak), was positively associated with the volumetric enlargement of the hippocampal head, and the CA1 head region specifically. Larger CA1 volumes were also associated with spatial learning on a Virtual Morris Water Maze task and verbal learning on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, but not recall memory. In line with previous animal work, the current findings lend support for the long-axis specialization of the hippocampus in the areas of exercise and learning during adolescence.
Topics: Adolescent; CA1 Region, Hippocampal; Cardiorespiratory Fitness; Exercise Test; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Oxygen Consumption; Spatial Learning; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 33927247
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88452-9 -
Translational Psychiatry Jun 2017The S allele of the functional 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has previously been associated with reductions in memory function. Given the change in function of the serotonergic...
The S allele of the functional 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has previously been associated with reductions in memory function. Given the change in function of the serotonergic system in older adults, and the functional consequences of memory decline in this age group, further investigation into the impact of 5-HTTLPR in healthy older adults is required. This investigation examined the effect of 5-HTTLPR variants (S carriers versus L/L homozygotes) on verbal and visual episodic memory in 438 healthy older adults participating in the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project (age range 50-79 years, M=60.35, s.d.=6.75). Direct effects of 5-HTTLPR on memory processes, in addition to indirect effects through interaction with age and gender, were assessed. Although no direct effects of 5-HTTLPR on memory processes were identified, our results indicated that gender significantly moderated the impact that 5-HTTLPR variants exerted on the relationship between age and verbal episodic memory function as assessed by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. No significant direct or indirect effects were identified in relation to visual memory performance. Overall, this investigation found evidence to suggest that 5-HTTLPR genotype affects the association of age and verbal episodic memory for males and females differently, with the predicted negative effect of S carriage present in males but not females. Such findings indicate a gender-dependent role for 5-HTTLPR in the verbal episodic memory system of healthy older adults.
Topics: Aged; Alleles; Female; Genetic Association Studies; Genotype; Humans; Male; Memory, Episodic; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Sex Factors; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28585929
DOI: 10.1038/tp.2017.107 -
American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease... 2009An emotional memory advantage has been found across the life span where recall is better for emotional (as opposed to neutral) stimuli. Our goal was to design... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
An emotional memory advantage has been found across the life span where recall is better for emotional (as opposed to neutral) stimuli. Our goal was to design emotionally valent word lists for easy use by practitioners and to test whether demented and healthy elderly participants showed an emotional memory advantage with these lists. Three new word lists (a positive, a negative, and a neutral list) were constructed. Thirty-eight controls, 37 with mild cognitive impairment and 20 Alzheimer's dementia participants' free recall was tested. Unsurprisingly, controls had better recall overall. Emotionally valent words were recalled better in comparison to neutral words in all 3 groups. No recall advantage for positive versus negative words emerged. Learning differed among the groups with the Alzheimer's dementia participants showing flatter learning curves. The results tentatively suggest that emotional memory may stay intact longer but that learning of such lists becomes more difficult as dementia progresses.
Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Dementia; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 19171949
DOI: 10.1177/1533317508330561 -
Schizophrenia Research May 2011Genetic studies of schizophrenia focus increasingly on putative endophenotypes because their genetic etiology may be simpler than clinical diagnosis. The Consortium on...
Group and site differences on the California Verbal Learning Test in persons with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives: findings from the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS).
Genetic studies of schizophrenia focus increasingly on putative endophenotypes because their genetic etiology may be simpler than clinical diagnosis. The Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS), a multisite family study, aims to identify the genetic basis of several endophenotypes including verbal declarative memory (VDM), a neurocognitive function that shows robust impairment in schizophrenia. We present data on one type of measure of VDM, the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT-II), in schizophrenia probands (n=305), their full biological siblings (n=449) and parents (n=232), and in community comparison subjects (CCS; n=509) across seven sites. Probands performed more poorly on each of five CVLT-II measures compared to related sibling and parent groups and CCS. Siblings and parents performed significantly worse than CCS on one measure (Discriminability), but with smaller effect sizes and less impairment than observed previously. The results raise questions about the homogeneity of VDM as an endophenotype, about methodological issues related to sampling, and about psychometric issues that impact the utility of the CVLT for detecting VDM deficits in nonpsychotic relatives of persons with schizophrenia.
Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Endophenotypes; Female; Humans; Learning Disabilities; Male; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychometrics; Schizophrenia; Siblings; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 21288694
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2011.01.005 -
Epilepsia Feb 2017Learning and memory are essential for academic success and everyday functioning, but the pattern of memory skills and its relationship to executive functioning in...
OBJECTIVE
Learning and memory are essential for academic success and everyday functioning, but the pattern of memory skills and its relationship to executive functioning in children with focal epilepsy is not fully delineated. We address a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between memory and executive functioning in a pediatric focal epilepsy population.
METHODS
Seventy children with focal epilepsy and 70 typically developing children matched on age, intellectual functioning, and gender underwent neuropsychological assessment, including measures of intelligence (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence [WASI]/Differential Ability Scales [DAS]), as well as visual Children's Memory Scale (CMS Dot Locations) and verbal episodic memory (Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning [WRAML] Story Memory and California Verbal Learning Test for Children [CVLT-C]). Executive functioning was measured directly (WISC-IV Digit Span Backward; Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition (CELF-IV) Recalling Sentences) and by parent report (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function [BRIEF]).
RESULTS
Children with focal epilepsy had lower delayed free-recall scores than controls across visual and verbal memory tasks (p = 0.02; partial η = 0.12). In contrast, recognition memory performance was similar for patients and controls (p = 0.36; partial η = 0.03). Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated difficulties in working memory (p = 0.02; partial η = 0.08) and planning/organization (p = 0.02) compared to controls. Working memory predicted 9-19% of the variance in delayed free recall for verbal and visual memory; organization predicted 9-10% of the variance in verbal memory. Patients with both left and right focal epilepsy demonstrated more difficulty on verbal versus visual tasks (p = 0.002). Memory performance did not differ by location of seizure foci (temporal vs. extratemporal, frontal vs. extrafrontal).
SIGNIFICANCE
Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated memory ability within age-level expectations, but delayed free recall was inefficient compared to typically developing controls. Memory difficulties were not related to general cognitive impairment or seizure localization. Executive functioning accounted for significant variance in memory performance, suggesting that poor executive control negatively influences memory retrieval.
Topics: Adolescent; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Cognition Disorders; Electroencephalography; Epilepsies, Partial; Executive Function; Female; Functional Laterality; Humans; Intelligence; Male; Memory Disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Statistics, Nonparametric; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28111742
DOI: 10.1111/epi.13637 -
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Jul 2018Paired-associate learning (PAL) tasks measure the ability to form a novel association between a stimulus and a response. Performance on such tasks is strongly associated...
Paired-associate learning (PAL) tasks measure the ability to form a novel association between a stimulus and a response. Performance on such tasks is strongly associated with reading ability, and there is increasing evidence that verbal task demands may be critical in explaining this relationship. The current study investigated the relationships between different forms of PAL and reading ability. A total of 97 children aged 8-10 years completed a battery of reading assessments and six different PAL tasks (phoneme-phoneme, visual-phoneme, nonverbal-nonverbal, visual-nonverbal, nonword-nonword, and visual-nonword) involving both familiar phonemes and unfamiliar nonwords. A latent variable path model showed that PAL ability is captured by two correlated latent variables: auditory-articulatory and visual-articulatory. The auditory-articulatory latent variable was the stronger predictor of reading ability, providing support for a verbal account of the PAL-reading relationship.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Child; Female; Humans; Male; Paired-Associate Learning; Photic Stimulation; Reading
PubMed: 29499432
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.004 -
Cognitive Psychology Aug 2020To acquire language, infants must learn how to identify words and linguistic structure in speech. Statistical learning has been suggested to assist both of these tasks....
To acquire language, infants must learn how to identify words and linguistic structure in speech. Statistical learning has been suggested to assist both of these tasks. However, infants' capacity to use statistics to discover words and structure together remains unclear. Further, it is not yet known how infants' statistical learning ability relates to their language development. We trained 17-month-old infants on an artificial language comprising non-adjacent dependencies, and examined their looking times on tasks assessing sensitivity to words and structure using an eye-tracked head-turn-preference paradigm. We measured infants' vocabulary size using a Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) concurrently and at 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 30 months to relate performance to language development. Infants could segment the words from speech, demonstrated by a significant difference in looking times to words versus part-words. Infants' segmentation performance was significantly related to their vocabulary size (receptive and expressive) both currently, and over time (receptive until 24 months, expressive until 30 months), but was not related to the rate of vocabulary growth. The data also suggest infants may have developed sensitivity to generalised structure, indicating similar statistical learning mechanisms may contribute to the discovery of words and structure in speech, but this was not related to vocabulary size.
Topics: Female; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Male; Phonetics; Speech; Speech Perception; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 32197131
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2020.101291 -
Psychiatria Danubina Jun 2019Depressive mood, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and behavioral disturbances have been traditionally recognized as leading symptoms of mental disorders. However,...
Depressive mood, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and behavioral disturbances have been traditionally recognized as leading symptoms of mental disorders. However, cognitive symptoms went under-recognized or declined. Today there is robust evidence that cognitive dysfunction is present in the majority of mental disorders and is also related to impairments in the functioning of the persons with mental illness. It is proposed that aberrant brain neuronal network connectivity, arising from interplay of genetic, epigenetic, developmental and environmental factors, is responsible for cognitive decline. In schizophrenia, dysfunctions in working memory, attention, processing speed, visual and verbal learning with substantial deficit in reasoning, planning, abstract thinking and problem solving have been extensively documented. Social cognition - the ability to correctly process information and use it to generate appropriate response in situations, is also impaired. The correlation of cognitive impairment with functional outcome and employment, independent living and social functioning has emphasized the need for development of the treatments specific to cognition. It is considered that brain neuroplasticity allows for re-modulating and compensating the impairment process which could give opportunity to improve cognitive functions. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive clinical assessment and follow-up of cognitive decline in mental illness. Implementation of specific treatment strategies addressing cognitive decline in mental illness, like new drugs, distinct cognitive-behavioural therapy, psychoeducation, social skills training and remediation strategies should be strongly indorsed targeting recovery and reduction of disability due to mental illness.
Topics: Cognition; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Schizophrenia; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31158113
DOI: No ID Found