Yaniv Mama

Avoiding the approach trap: a response bias theory of the emotional Stroop effect.

In the laboratory, people classify the color of emotion-laden words slower than they do that of neutral words, the emotional Stroop effect. Outside the laboratory, people react to features of emotion-laden stimuli or threatening stimuli faster than they do to those of neutral stimuli. A possible resolution to the conundrum implicates the counternatural response demands imposed in the laboratory that do not, as a rule, provide for avoidance in the face of threat. In 2 experiments we show that when such an option is provided in the laboratory, the response latencies follow those observed in real life. These results challenge the dominant attention theory offered for the emotional Stroop effect because this theory is indifferent to the vital approach-avoidance distinction.

Is the emotional Stroop task a special case of mood induction? Evidence from sustained effects of attention under emotion

Sustained effects of emotion are well known in everyday experience. Surprisingly, such effects are seldom recorded in laboratory studies of the emotional Stroop task, in which participants name the color of emotion and neutral words. Color performance is more sluggish with emotion words than with neutral words, the emotional Stroop effect (ESE). The ESE is not sensitive to the order in which the two groups of words are presented, so the effect of exposure to emotion words does not extend to disrupting performance in a subsequent block with neutral words. We attribute this absence of a sustained effect to habituation engendered by excessive repetition of the experimental stimuli. In a series of four experiments, we showed that sustained effects do occur when habituation is removed, and we also showed that the massive exposure to negative stimuli within the ESE paradigm induces a commensurately negative mood. A novel perspective is offered, in which the ESE is considered a special case of mood induction.

The production effect in memory: multiple species of distinctiveness

The production effect is the difference in memory favoring words read aloud relative to words read silently during study. According to a currently popular explanation, the distinctiveness of aloud words relative to silent words at the time of encoding underlies the better memory for the former. This distinctiveness is attributable to the additional dimension(s) of encoding for the aloud items that can be subsequently used during retrieval. In this study we argue that encoding distinctiveness is not the sole source of distinctiveness and that, in fact, there is an independent source of distinctiveness, statistical distinctiveness, which may or may not work in harmony with encoding distinctiveness in influencing memory. Statistical distinctiveness refers to the relative size of a subset of items marked by a(ny) unique property. Silently read words can carry statistical distinctiveness if they form a salient minority on the background of a majority of vocalized words. We show that, when the two sources are placed in opposition, statistical distinctiveness modifies the PE in a profound way.

Auditioning the distinctiveness account: Expanding the production effect to the auditory modality reveals the superiority of writing over vocalising

The production effect (PE) documents the advantage in memory performance for words that are read aloud during study, rather than words that are read silently. Until now, the PE was examined in the visual modality, as the participants read the study words. In the present study, we extended the PE phenomenon and used the auditory modality at study. This novel methodology provides a critical test of the distinctiveness account. Accordingly, the participants heard the study words and learned them by vocal production (saying aloud) or by writing, followed by a free recall test. The use of the auditory modality yielded a memory advantage for words that were written during study over words that were vocally produced. We explain this result in light of the encoding distinctiveness account, suggesting that the PE is determined by the number of different encoding processes involved in learning, emphasising the essential role of active production.

When emotion does and does not impair performance: A Garner theory of the emotional Stroop effect

It takes people longer to name the ink colour of emotion or threat words than that of neutral words, the emotional Stroop effect (ESE). In three experiments with normal and patient populations, we show that the ESE is a special case of a generic attention model and effect entailed in Garners speeded classification paradigm. Guided by the Garner model we demonstrate that task-irrelevant dimensions that differ in salience can produce the ESE and mimic it with neutral stimuli. When each word appears in a constant colour, as mandated in the correlation condition of the Garner design, the ESE is eliminated. This important result is consistent with the attention account of the ESE. We conclude that when emotion stimuli appear in a random fashion they interfere with task performance. However, when emotion stimuli are correlated with features of the ongoing task they help task performance not least due to their extreme salience.

The Effect of Learning Modality and Auditory Feedback on Word Memory: Cochlear-Implanted versus Normal-Hearing Adults

Background: In recent years, the effect of cognitive abilities on the achievements of cochlear implant (CI) users has been evaluated. Some studies have suggested that gaps between CI users and normalhearing (NH) peers in cognitive tasks are modality specific, and occur only in auditory tasks. Purpose: The present study focused on the effect of learning modality (auditory, visual) and auditory feedback on word memory in young adults who were prelingually deafened and received CIs before the age of 5 yr, and their NH peers. Research Design: A production effect (PE) paradigm was used, in which participants learned familiar study words by vocal production (saying aloud) or by no‐production (silent reading or listening). Words were presented (1) in the visual modality (written) and (2) in the auditory modality (heard). CI users performed the visual condition twice—once with the implant ON and once with it OFF. All conditions were followed by free recall tests. Study Sample: Twelve young adults, long‐term CI users, implanted between ages 1.7 and 4.5 yr, and who showed ≥50% in monosyllabic consonant‐vowel‐consonant open‐set test with their implants were enrolled. A group of 14 age‐matched NH young adults served as the comparison group. Data Collection and Analysis: For each condition, we calculated the proportion of study words recalled. Mixed‐measures analysis of variances were carried out with group (NH, CI) as a between‐subjects variable, and learning condition (aloud or silent reading) as a within‐subject variable. Following this, paired sample t tests were used to evaluate the PE size (differences between aloud and silent words) and overall recall ratios (aloud and silent words combined) in each of the learning conditions. Results: With visual word presentation, young adults with CIs (regardless of implant status CI‐ON or CI‐OFF), showed comparable memory performance (and a similar PE) to NH peers. However, with auditory presentation, young adults with CIs showed poorer memory for nonproduced words (hence a larger PE) relative to their NH peers. Conclusions: The results support the construct that young adults with CIs will benefit more from learning via the visual modality (reading), rather than the auditory modality (listening). Importantly, vocal production can largely improve auditory word memory, especially for the CI group.

Influence of retrieval mode on effects of production: Evidence for costs in free recall.

Study modality (visual, auditory) of words as well as production mode (reading aloud, writing down) have been shown to influence the production effect (PE). When study words are presented visually, reading them aloud yields superior memory. However, when the same study words are presented aurally, writing them down leads to superior memory. Missing in PE studies is the variable of retrieval mode (written, aloud), which was addressed in the present study. In a pair of experiments, we manipulated the 3 variables-study modality, production mode, and retrieval mode-in a factorial fashion. With visual study, aloud production mode (vocalizing) was found to be superior to written production, in both retrieval modes (written and aloud). However, the difference between the productions was significantly smaller in the aloud retrieval mode relative to the written retrieval mode. With auditory study, written production mode was superior to aloud production mode, in the written as well as in the aloud retrieval modes. Here, the difference between the productions was significantly smaller in the written relative to the aloud retrieval mode. In other words, the difference between productions was smaller for the retrieval mode that matched the superior production. We interpret these findings using a retrieval-cost account. (PsycINFO Database Record

The production effect in adults with dysarthria: improving long-term verbal memory by vocal production

ABSTRACT People show better memory for words read aloud relative to words read silently, the Production Effect (PE). Vocalisation at study makes the produced (aloud) words more distinct than the non-produced (silent) words, hence more memorable. Such encoding distinctiveness is related to the additional processing of aloud words that is later used during retrieval. This study investigated the PE in dysarthric adults, characterised by speech production difficulties. Their memory performance (recognition) was compared to a group of healthy adults. Results showed a PE for both groups. The production benefit was significantly larger for the dysarthric adults, despite their overall memory performance being reduced relative to controls. The results demonstrate long-term verbal memory deficits in dysarthria, and suggest that vocalisation (although impaired) may assist in remembering. Hence, vocalisation may be used in intervention contexts with this population, to compensate for memory decrease.

Stand by Your Stroop: Standing Up Enhances Selective Attention and Cognitive Control

In our original article, the method used to exclude response-time (RT) outliers was described inaccurately. The article also inaccurately reported some two-way interaction effects involving condition order. This Corrigendum corrects those errors, but note that our central finding (smaller Stroop effect when standing than when sitting) is unaffected by these corrections. The trial-level data are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/hr9wb/). The article stated on page 1865 that for RT analyses in all three experiments, trials on which RTs deviated from each participant’s mean RT by more than 2.5 standard deviations were removed. In fact, we used a slightly different exclusion procedure in each experiment, which is detailed in the revised article at the end of the Method for each experiment, as follows (p. 1865):

The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content

The emotional Stroop effect (ESE) is the result of longer naming latencies to ink colors of emotion words than to ink colors of neutral words. The difference shows that people are affected by the emotional content conveyed by the carrier words even though they are irrelevant to the color-naming task at hand. The ESE has been widely deployed with patient populations, as well as with non-selected populations, because the emotion words can be selected to match the tested pathology. The ESE is a powerful tool, yet it is vulnerable to various threats to its validity. This report refers to potential sources of confounding and includes a modal experiment that provides the means to control for them. The most prevalent threat to the validity of existing ESE studies is sustained effects and habituation wrought about by repeated exposure to emotion stimuli. Consequently, the order of exposure to emotion and neutral stimuli is of utmost importance. We show that in the standard design, only one specific order produces the ESE.