Joshua D. Landau

Keeping up with the Joneses: Students' Perceptions of Academically Dishonest Behavior.

To understand undergraduate perceptions of academic dishonesty and honor codes, our participants estimated the likelihood that they, their friends, and the average college student would plagiarize or cheat on tests. Undergraduates reported that the average college student was most likely to cheat, their friends would be less likely to cheat, and they themselves would be the least likely to cheat. They did not believe that an honor code would have a large effect on their cheating behaviors, but it would reduce the cheating behaviors of their friends and the average student. We discuss these results in the context of social norms research.

Source monitoring in a generative task

Following exposure to experimenter-provided examples of space creatures, people tend to conform to the features contained in the examples when creating their own novel space creatures. In three experiments, we manipulated factors known to affect source-monitoring accuracy to determine how these manipulations would influence conformity to experimenter-provided examples. In Experiment 1 we altered peoples cognitive agenda by means of the instructions given before the drawing task. In Experiment 2 we examined how time pressure would affect the level of conformity, and in Experiment 3 we manipulated the availability of the creatures during the drawing task by making them available to half the participants. Conformity decreased when extended source-monitoring processes were engaged and increased when these processes were disrupted. The results from the three experiments were consistent with the principles of the source-monitoring framework.

Eliminating the memory blocking effect.

Six experiments investigated the memory blocking effect (MBE) in which exposure to orthographically similar words (e.g., BALLOON) impairs ones ability to complete a similar fragment (e.g., BAL_ON_, solution is BALCONY). Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that blocking is not observed after a 72-hour delay; however, repetition priming was observed after the same delay. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that presenting unrelated semantic information during the fragment completion test eliminates blocking. Experiment 5 demonstrated that the MBE persists despite directed-forgetting instructions, and Experiments 5 and 6 demonstrated that activating both the solutions and blocking words for a particular fragment at study eliminates blocking. Collectively, the data demonstrate that reading orthographically similar primes automatically triggers retrieval of the blocking word and an executive control process works to manage this interference. A working framework that describes how an executive control mechanism could govern memory retrieval in the memory-blocking paradigm is presented to stimulate development of more advanced theoretical models that can explain blocking.

Do explicit memory manipulations affect the memory blocking effect

The memory blocking effect (MBE) occurs when people are prevented from completing word fragments because they studied orthographically similar words. Across 3 experiments, we investigated how manipulations that influence explicit memory tasks would influence the MBE. Although a significant MBE was observed in all 3 experiments, manipulating depth of processing (Experiment 1), time to complete the fragments (Experiment 2), and awareness of the MBE (Experiment 3) did not change the magnitude of the MBE. We discuss these results in the context of a suppression mechanism involved in retrieval-induced forgetting.

Manipulations that disrupt generative processes decrease conformity to examples: evidence from two paradigms.

Participants in six experiments viewed experimenter‐provided examples of space creatures (Experiments 1–3) or nonwords (Experiments 4–5b) and then created their own novel space creatures or nonwords. Consistent with previous research, people borrowed many of the features found in the examples despite instructions to avoid using any aspects of the experimenters examples. However, requiring people to include a designated shape in their space creatures or a designated letter in their nonwords attenuated this effect. Additionally, the type of shape or letter (conventional versus unconventional) also affected conformity. These results suggest that the strategies that people use to create novel products can affect the level of conformity and also highlight the importance of adopting unconventional, or at the very least, new strategies when creating new products.

Event-related potential (ERP) correlates of memory blocking and priming during a word fragment test.

Exposure to orthographically similar words impairs the ability to complete word fragments (e.g., Smith and Tindell, 1997), providing evidence that retrieval has been blocked (the Memory Block Effect or MBE). Two studies measured event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the neural correlates of priming and blocking. The behavioral data in both experiments revealed that exposure to blocking words decreased fragment completions, increased intrusions (i.e., attempts to complete fragments using a blocking word), and slowed response times relative to control fragments. The ERPs in Experiment 1 indicate that priming and blocking begin during the early stages of lexical processing because lexical-related ERP amplitudes (N200) were larger than the control condition. A negative, frontal ERP emerged approximately 500ms after fragment onset and was attenuated for blocking and primed fragments, which suggests that it reflects executive processes that govern solving fragments. Experiment 2 replicated these effects and revealed that both N200 and the late, negative ERP amplitudes varied according to whether or not the fragments were completed, which indicates that these ERPs reflect lexical activation and blocking processes. Collectively, the data suggest that blocking and priming begin to influence word fragment completion during early lexical processing and blocking impedes a normal memory search.

Visual perspective during remembering: ERP evidence of familiarity-based source monitoring

Autobiographical recollections are accompanied by visual perspectives that can be either a view through the persons own eyes (first-person) or a view that integrates visual characteristics of the rememberer into the reconstructed scene (third-person). Some have argued that a third-person perspective serves as a coping mechanism allowing the person to distance themselves from details of painful memories. The study reported here created first- and third-person memories in a novel experimental paradigm. Later, participants discriminated between these perspectives on a source memory test while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Experimental evidence from the current study suggests that memories from different perspectives can be effectively modeled in the lab. Directly comparing first-person and third-person memories revealed no strong source memory or ERP differences; however, more first-person memories were recognized. Surprisingly, the modeling of the behavioral data using ROC curves and Dual Process Signal Detection (DPSD) measures of recollection and familiarity suggest that familiarity contributed to source judgments of both first- and third-person memories. The ERP data support this claim because the putative ERP correlate of familiarity (i.e., FN400) was observed during the source test. Because source monitoring tends to draw on recollection, evidence of familiarity-based source monitoring has been elusive, and these results support a key prediction of the Source Monitoring Framework (SMF) - that source decisions can be based on familiarity in some contexts (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993; Mitchell & Johnson, 2009).

Objective and subjective measures indicate that orthographically similar words produce a blocking experience

Memory blocks are a common experience characterised by inappropriate retrieval of information that impairs memory search processes. In five studies, memory blocks were induced via exposure to orthographically similar words (Smith & Tindell, 1997) while participants reported their subjective experiences to determine whether the memory block effect (MBE) paradigm produces a feeling of being blocked. Experiments 1 and 3 provided evidence that the MBE is associated with more blocked experiences. In Experiments 2 and 4 increased blocking experiences correlated with blocked fragments when the experimental manipulation was disguised, which demonstrates that ratings were not contaminated by demand characteristics. Experiment 5 demonstrated that blocking happens even when there is no study list. Collectively, the subjective retrieval ratings and the objective response data provide converging evidence that exposure to orthographically similar words induces a memory block characterised by an ineffective memory search that perseverates on interfering information.

Recognition and Recall Performance Both Benefit from the Production Effect with Content-Specific Information.

Two experiments assessed how reading aloud versus reading silently would benefit recognition and recall performance of content-specific vocabulary (i.e., the production effect). Participants studied 30 terms from an American history curriculum by reading half of the vocabulary aloud, while the remaining words were read silently. After a brief distractor task, they completed a recognition memory test (Experiment 1) or a recall memory test (Experiment 2). Both experiments revealed a benefit for reading aloud. Recognition performance showed a 22% performance advantage, while recall performance showed a smaller advantage for the words read aloud (8% benefit). The vast majority of participants in both experiments showed a memory advantage for those words that were studied aloud versus those read silently (88% of participants in Experiment 1 and 67% of individuals in Experiment 2). Implications for educational settings are considered. Attempts to improve student performance have been manifested in various forms; however, recent developments in cognitive psychology have a great deal to offer educators and students regarding instruction and learning. Studies suggest that educators and cognitive psychologists ought to approach educational research as an interdisciplinary endeavor. Through this collaborative relationship, those who teach could improve their understanding of the science of learning, while researchers extend theoretical research to practical, classroom applications for the benefit of students and teachers.