Jonathan M. Golding

Superordinate goal inferences: Are they automatically generated during comprehension?

Long, Golding, and Graesser (1992) and Long, Golding, Graesser, and Clark (1990) have reported evidence that readers spontaneously generate superordinate goal inferences as they read action statements in stories when they have sufficient time to do so (i.e., a long delay between presentation of the inference‐eliciting sentence and the test probe). The purpose of the present study was to determine whether readers generate these inferences under relatively demanding time constraints. We used a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) procedure, a 250‐ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), and a lexical decision task to test the prediction that superordinate goal inferences are more likely to be automatically generated during comprehension than are subordinate goal inferences. In addition, we had subjects answer simple comprehension questions in order to assess their memory for episodes in the stories. The data indicated that subjects who scored well on the comprehension test exhibited a pattern of decision late...

Adaptive forgetting in animals

An argument is presented for the possibility that some cases of forgetting in animals are adaptive. In contrast to research on human memory, the idea of adaptive forgetting has not received much attention in research with animals. This paper reviews the status of adaptive forgetting in humans and then outlines an argument for adaptive forgetting in animals. The discussion includes theoretical presuppositions concerning forgetting, a review of selective phenomena indicative of adaptive forgetting in animals, a description of a possible mechanism (retrievability) for this kind of forgetting, and examination of the implications of this analysis for psychological and neurobiological approaches to memory processing.

A test of the on-line status of goal-related inferences

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the on-line status of goal-related inferences. We combined a question-answering procedure and on-line measures of inference generation to test the prediction that superordinate goal inferences have a higher likelihood of being generated on-line during comprehension than do subordinate goal inferences. In Experiment 1, a lexical decision task revealed that superordinate goal inferences were encoded on-line as part of the readers text representation even though these inferences were not true “bridging” inferences. In Experiment 2, we replicated this outcome in a word naming task. In Experiment 3, we established that the findings were not due to semantic associations between the target words and the lexical items in the text. The pattern of results was consistent with a global-coherence model of inference generation in which the reader generates causal connections that link each episode in a text from beginning to end.

Methodological Issues In Evaluating The Occurrence of Inferences

Publisher Summary Two central questions in the study of inferences are (1) which types of inferences do readers/listeners routinely draw and (2) when do they draw them—on-line during comprehension or only later during retrieval when they are being queried about the text. Two techniques have been used for assessing inferences on-line. One is to intersperse throughout the text various questions that tap the readers developing representation of the text to see if it contains information about unspecified information, such as why events have happened and what is going to happen next. The other on-line technique for assessing the occurrence of inferences is less invasive and, consequently, more popular among researchers. Activation is assessed on-line either during or immediately following an inference version of a text versus a control version. Researchers avoid using recognition, even with a deadline procedure, because there is no way to eliminate the possibility of this with recognition. Although the on-line assessment of activation levels of inference concepts avoids some of the criticisms of other measures of inferencing—such as cued recall and on-line question answering—it too has methodological problems. This chapter examines these problems and discusses their theoretical significance and their tentative solutions.

The believability of repressed memories

Two experiments investigated how mock jurors react to a case involving a repressed memory of child sexual assault. Subjects read a fictional civil trial (Experiment 1) or criminal trial (Experiment 2) summary involving the sexual assault of a 6-year-old female. The summary was presented in one of three conditions: (a)child condition: the alleged victim reported her memory of the assault in the same year that the assault occurred; (b)repressed condition: the alleged victim reported the assault 20 years later, after remembering it for the first time; or (c)no-repressed condition: the alleged victim reported the assault 20 years later, but the memory of the assault had been present for the 20 years. Although the testimony of the alleged victim was believed to some extent in all conditions, the alleged victim in the child condition was believed at the highest level, and this was associated with more decisions against the defendant. The results are discussed in terms of how delayed reporting of child sexual assault crimes is associated with lower believability of the alleged victim.

Causal connectives increase inference generation

The influence of interclause connectives on inference generation was examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants supplied lexical decisions on inference words following the word‐by‐word presentation of sentences containing the connective because and when the clauses were presented as two independent sentences (i.e., no connective). The results indicated that the causal knowledge‐based inferences were generated in the connective condition, but not in the no‐connective condition. Experiment 2 examined whether this finding would generalize to an additive connective (i.e., and). This experiment replicated the results of Experiment 1 for because, but there was little evidence that and had elicited inferences. In Experiment 3, the temporal connective after was examined. The results indicated that after did not produce causal‐based inferences, suggesting that the effect of because was not due to temporal cuing. The pattern of results across the experiments indicate that readers incorporate causa...

Directed Forgetting in Older Adults Using the Item and List Methods

ABSTRACT Four experiments investigated age-group differences in directed forgetting. Experiments 1A and 1B used the item method with recall (1A) and recognition (1B). Both of these experiments showed evidence of directed forgetting for both younger and older adults. The list method was used in Experiments 2A (recall) and 2B (recognition). For these experiments, there was directed forgetting when recall, but not recognition, was the dependent measure. Again, these results were found for younger and older adults. These results are discussed in terms of how different presentation types lead to the use of different theoretical mechanisms of directed forgetting (e.g., differential encoding, retrieval inhibition). Thus, it appears that both older and younger adults engage in adaptive memory strategies.

The impact of DNA evidence in a child sexual assault trial.

Two experiments investigated the impact of DNA evidence in a child sexual assault (CSA) case involving a 6-year-old alleged victim. In Experiment 1, participants read criminal trial summaries of CSA cases in which only DNA evidence was presented, only the alleged child victims testimony was presented, or both forms of evidence were presented. When DNA evidence was presented, there were more guilty verdicts and greater belief of the alleged victim than when only the alleged victim testified. In Experiment 2, DNA evidence was countered by an alibi witness testifying as to the defendants whereabouts at the time of the alleged assault. The alibi witness reduced the influence of DNA evidence compared with when DNA evidence was presented without this witness. These results are discussed in terms of the comparative strengths of DNA evidence versus the testimony of the alleged victim.

The process of answering direction-giving questions when someone is lost on a university campus: The role of pragmatics

Two experiments investigated how college students answered direction-giving questions when a confederate asked for directions to a destination on a university campus. The experiments applied the QUEST model (Graesser and Franklin, 1990) to direction giving, emphasizing the pragmatic component of the model that focuses on establishing common ground and dealing with the questioners goals. The two experiments had different articulations of the direction-giving question (i.e. ‘How do you get to destination X?’ versus ‘Where is destination X?’), and a different destination. The answers generated by subjects supported both aspects of the pragmatic component.

The Believability of Hearsay Testimony in a Child Sexual Assault Trial

Two experiments investigated how mock jurors react to hearsay testimony in a case involving child sexual assault. Participants read a fictional criminal trial summary involving the sexual assault of a 4-(Experiment 2 only), 6-, or 14-year-old female. The summaries were presented in one of four conditions: (a) child condition—the alleged victim testified; (b) hearsay condition—the alleged victim did not testify, but an adult hearsay witness did testify; (c) multiple condition (Experiment 1 only)—both the alleged victim and the adult hearsay witness testified; and (d) no-witness condition—neither the alleged victim nor the hearsay witness testified. The hearsay testimony was believed to a considerable degree, and this testimony led to an increase in the perceived guilt of the defendant. Moreover, these results were comparable to those of conditions in which the alleged victim testified. The results are discussed in terms of the psychosocial factors affecting the perception of hearsay testimony in a child sexual assault trial.