Applied Cognitive Psychology最新文献

Many criminals have distinctive facial features such as tattoos, yet the potential impact on eyewitness memory has received little research attention. Does such a feature harm memory for the face at encoding, and can police do anything about this when constructing the lineup? Does it matter whether the feature is on the interior (e.g., tattoo on face) or exterior (e.g., tattoo on neck)? These are the kinds of questions that we investigated by randomly assigning a large nationwide sample of online participants to conditions within an experimental design in which we manipulated target exposure time, presence (and location) of a distinctive feature, and whether it is replicated or removed from lineup members. Results indicate that a distinctive feature harms memory for the face regardless of location, but replicating the feature in the lineup may attenuate this effect. Fortunately, high confidence was indicative of high accuracy regardless of our manipulations.

Previous research has shown that people sometimes come to believe in misinformation presented in the form of fake news, and even form false memories for the fabricated events described. This study aimed to investigate the effects of analytical reasoning, attitudes to complementary and alternative medicine, bullshit receptivity, and previous experience with cancer on the formation of false memory and false belief for cancer related misinformation. Participants (N = 466) were exposed to four fake news stories and four true news stories relating to cancer treatment and services. Male gender, low analytical reasoning, receptivity to bullshit, and endorsement of complementary and alternative medicine were all significant predictors of belief in cancer misinformation, while participants with poor analytical reasoning or higher receptivity to bullshit reported more false memories for fake news stories. These results indicate that reflexive, intuitive thinking styles contribute to susceptibility to cancer misinformation, suggesting a potential target for public health interventions.

In this study, we explored how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the functions of autobiographical memory and future projection over time. Between May and June 2020, we asked people (N = 286) to recall or imagine personal events from four time periods: past before the pandemic, past during the pandemic, future during the pandemic, and future after the pandemic ends. Participants rated self, social, directive, predictive, and emotion regulation functions, and the phenomenological characteristics of these events. We found that ratings for all functions decreased for the pandemic and increased for the future. Overall, this study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic created a breaking point, with memories being less functional at the beginning of the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic times and the future. However, imagined events that would occur after the pandemic ended were rated most functional, suggesting that people were still optimistic about a pandemic-free future.

This study investigated the influence of cognitive interference on the detectability of concealed information in a reaction time (RT)-based concealed information test (CIT). The classical RT-based CIT was modified to interfere with response preparation, hypothesizing that this interference would enhance detection efficiency. A total of 120 participants were randomly assigned as “guilty” or “innocent” and were instructed to deny any knowledge related to a mock crime. The results revealed that guilty participants exhibited significantly longer RTs for probes than for irrelevant stimuli in both the classical and modified-CIT conditions (aka CIT effect). In contrast, innocent participants showed no difference in RTs between the probe and irrelevant stimuli under either condition. Furthermore, the modified-CIT yielded significantly higher detection efficiency than the classical-CIT. These findings signify promising advancements in the application of cognitive interventions in deception detection methodologies.

In the current set of experiments, we examined the effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview (CI) on memory for traffic accidents. Three online experiments were conducted among Indonesian young motorcyclists who had an accident experience. Participants were interviewed about their most memorable accident experience, either with a CI or a Standard Interview (SI) method (Experiment 1). We added the time delay as the second independent variable (less than a month versus between 6 and 10 months) in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, the interview methods were compared across two age groups (adolescents versus young adults). In all experiments, the CI led to more event-related and peripheral recall than the SI. Furthermore, this effect persisted even when the event happened a long time ago and was replicated in both age groups. Our results show empirical evidence for the effectiveness of the CI in a traffic accident context, especially in a non-WEIRD country.

Two experiments investigated the efficacy of the Self-Administered Interview (SAI) in immediate recall and minimising misinformation into later recall. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 114) viewed a reconstructed crime video and completed the SAI, Written Free Recall (WFR), or no recall for immediate recall, followed by a Delayed Recall questionnaire 1-to-2 weeks later. Experiment 2 replicated the procedure, except after the delay, participants (N = 141) were exposed to misinformation before Delayed Recall. Across both experiments, the SAI enhanced immediate memory, particularly for person details, compared to WFR. However, this initial enhancement did not lead to more correct information after the delay, although it reduced incorrect responses compared to no immediate recall. Surprisingly, neither the SAI nor the WFR reduced susceptibility to misinformation. The findings suggest completing an SAI immediately or soon after witnessing an event could enhance memory recall, reinforcing its potential utility for witnesses.

Earlier research focused on three functions of recollecting the past self, social, and directive functions, but few studies examined the characteristics of events serving these functions. Moreover, research has neglected the function of prediction, which refers to predicting the future by recollecting the past. The current study distinguished the predictive function from the directive function and aimed to characterize memories and future events serving different functions by employing function prompts as cues. In addition, the frequency of using function-cued memories for the other functions was measured. Results showed that predictive and directive function ratings of the predictive function cued events were significantly different. However, directive events served the predictive function as frequently as the directive function, indicating that the predictive function is a prerequisite for future planning conceptualized under the directive function. The results are indicative of a distinct predictive function and considerable overlap between functions of memories.

After traumatic experiences, it is common to think about alternative scenarios or outcomes of the event. This is often referred to as counterfactual thoughts (CFT), and CFT after trauma have been associated with posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR). In this study, we aimed to: (1) investigate the relationship between the vividness and frequency of CFT and PTSR, and to (2) examine the associations between exposure, peri-traumatic reactions, physical injury and the loss of someone close, and the subsequent vividness and frequency of CFT. The participants (N = 289) were survivors of a terror attack in Norway. More vivid and frequent CFT were significantly and independently related to more PTSR. Exposure during trauma was significantly associated with more vivid CFT in the unadjusted regression model. No further significant relationships were found between exposure, peri-traumatic reactions, physical injury and the loss of someone close, and the vividness and frequency of CFT. As CFT are common after trauma and potentially cause distress, clinicians should identify and validate CFT, and provide coping assistance.

Although humor is frequently used in face-to-face courses and computer-based training, there is no consensus in the literature on its effects on students' learning. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess the cognitive effects of adding humorous drawings in a computer-based course on both learning outcomes and learning behaviors (eye movements). It was assumed that humorous drawings would improve learning through the active resolution of incongruity. To isolate this effect from those of the illustrations, a nonhumorous drawings condition was also compared with the text-only condition. Eye-movement data showed that humor increased visiting duration for the drawings. Learning outcomes were not affected by the nonhumorous drawings, whereas humor had a positive effect on comprehension, though not on retention. This effect of humor was not mediated by visiting time for the slides. Our results argue in favor of the use of content-relevant cartoons to improve students' learning.