An item/order tradeoff explanation of word length and generation effects

[Abstract]: The item-order hypothesis suggests that under certain conditions increased item processing can lead to deficits in order processing, and that this produces a dissociation in performance between item and order tasks. The generation effect is one such example. The word length effect is seen as another instance where this tradeoff might be observed. The following experiments compare word length and generation effects under serial recall and single item recognition conditions. Short words are better recalled than long words on the serial recall task but long words were better recognised than short words. The results are consistent with the item-order approach and support a novel explanation for the word length effect

Fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin with gemtuzumab ozogamicin improves event-free survival in younger patients with newly diagnosed aml and overall survival in patients with npm1 and flt3 mutations

Purpose To determine the optimal induction chemotherapy regimen for younger adults with newly diagnosed AML without known adverse risk cytogenetics. Patients and Methods One thousand thirty-three patients were randomly assigned to intensified (fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin [FLAG-Ida]) or standard (daunorubicin and Ara-C [DA]) induction chemotherapy, with one or two doses of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Results There was no difference in remission rate after two courses between FLAG-Ida + GO and DA + GO (complete remission [CR] + CR with incomplete hematologic recovery 93% v 91%) or in day 60 mortality (4.3% v 4.6%). There was no difference in OS (66% v 63%; P = .41); however, the risk of relapse was lower with FLAG-Ida + GO (24% v 41%; P < .001) and 3-year event-free survival was higher (57% v 45%; P < .001). In patients with an NPM1 mutation (30%), 3-year OS was significantly higher with FLAG-Ida + GO (82% v 64%; P = .005). NPM1 measurable residual disease (MRD) clearance was also greater, with 88% versus 77% becoming MRD-negative in peripheral blood after cycle 2 (P = .02). Three-year OS was also higher in patients with a FLT3 mutation (64% v 54%; P = .047). Fewer transplants were performed in patients receiving FLAG-Ida + GO (238 v 278; P = .02). There was no difference in outcome according to the number of GO doses, although NPM1 MRD clearance was higher with two doses in the DA arm. Patients with core binding factor AML treated with DA and one dose of GO had a 3-year OS of 96% with no survival benefit from FLAG-Ida + GO. Conclusion Overall, FLAG-Ida + GO significantly reduced relapse without improving OS. However, exploratory analyses show that patients with NPM1 and FLT3 mutations had substantial improvements in OS. By contrast, in patients with core binding factor AML, outcomes were excellent with DA + GO with no FLAG-Ida benefit

What's in a meme? Internal letter transposition, word length and eye-voice span

To investigate if internal letter transposition (ILT) decreased reading performance and memory output in a rehearsal-free memory task using the eye-voice span (EVS) as the measure. The major source was an internet meme (a rumour, urban legend or concept propagated via email) suggesting that ILT did not affect reading performance, provided the initial and final letters in words remained unchanged. An Interrupted Reading Task (IRT) tested the concept of the original meme. Reading speed, number of words output and output duration were measured by analysing sound files recorded from the IRT. The IRT presented text passages on a computer screen to participants, who immediately began reading them aloud, until a predetermined point at which the experimenter caused the text to disappear from view, replacing it with a random pattern mask, while participants continued reading aloud for as long as they could. Text passages were designed so that the words following the interruption were either mostly long (3 or more syllables) or short (one syllable). Additionally, passages were either presented as unmodified text or as ILT stimuli, where the internal letters were randomised whilst leaving the initial and final letters intact. Word length was manipulated within subjects, and ILT condition between subjects in a mixed ANOVA. Recorded output represents the contents of the EVS, which relates to short term memory capacity. Significant main effects obtained for both the ILT manipulation (ILT worse) and word length (long words worse) on the measures of number of words output and output duration, as well as a significant interaction showing the ILT further reduced output measures when passages contained longer words. A significant difference in reading speed was evident, with ILT passages read much slower than unmodified text. Data and analyses support both the DRC model of reading (Coltheart et al., 2001) and a global account of word recognition (Frankish & Barnes, 2008) as well as reiterating the robust and wellknown Word Length Effect (WLE; as noted in Baddeley et al., 1975) – however the IRT is a rehearsal-free task and as such the results do not support rehearsal accounts of the WLE. The content of the original meme is, unsurprisingly, refuted by these data

An item and order processing analysis of word length, generation and perceptual interference effects in human memory

When participants are presented with lists of items for immediate serial recall, tradition would suggest that a race begins - between the need to constantly refresh or recycle the memory trace of that list, and a tendency for the memory trace to decay. Standard models in the literature assumed a complex interaction of mental subsystems whereby a controlling attentional process strove to keep the memory of such a list alive for a sufficiently long period of time so it could be remembered and output in order, using a type of recirculating loop rehearsal and storage mechanism to offset the decay process. Evidence supporting such models stemmed from the observation that more short words could be remembered in order than long words (Baddeley, Thomson, & Buchanan, 1975). This word length effect, described in the second chapter, was a crucial piece of evidence for rehearsal and decay models, in the example given, the recirculating loop was seen as being time-based and extremely limited in capacity, such that memory was deemed equivalent to the amount of information which could be cycled through the rehearsal loop in about two seconds. A number of recent challenges to this model of remembering have cast doubt on the nature of the process as described in such models as that of Baddeley (1990; 1996). Chapter 1 began by providing an overview of the development of such models from their earliest form, and also introduced some alternative ideas about the structure and function of human memory. A processing view was described, in which the probability of recalling a list of items depended not upon a race between decay and rehearsal, but on differential processing of items based on their nature. As remembering a list in its original order involves not only remembering the items themselves, but also information about how they relate together in the list, an alternate theory was advanced that in some cases the processing of information about the items, and information about their serial order could dissociate, producing a processing tradeoff. As individual items were better remembered, information about their presentation order diminished. This observation (Nairne, Riegler, & Serra, 1991) was introduced as the item-order hypothesis. The item-order hypothesis suggested that under certain conditions increased item processing could lead to deficits in order processing, and that this produced a dissociation in performance between item and order memory tasks. The generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978) was one such example, as was the perceptual interference effect (Mulligan, 2000), and these were discussed in Chapter 3. The word length effect was seen as another instance where this tradeoff might be observed. A design incorporating elements of item and order tasks based upon Nairne et al. (1991) was detailed in the fourth chapter, leading on to empirical testing of the word length effect (Chapter 5), the generation effect (Chapter 6) and the perceptual interference effect (Chapter 7). This series of experiments compared word length and generation effects under serial recall and single item recognition tasks, using a range of test conditions designed to allow replication and extension of existing data from these separate streams of research. Results did not appear as predicted for some aspects of generation and all aspects of perceptual interference, and further experiments in Chapter 8 attempted to address the current findings. For the experiments involving word length, short words were better recalled than long words on the serial recall task, but long words were better recognised in the recognition task. Following additional manipulations in Chapter 8, the generation effect began to produce a similar pattern, but the results for perceptual interference were inconclusive. Word length data, however, were consistent with the item-order approach and supported a novel explanation for the word length effect. Implications and conclusions were discussed in Chapter 9

Word length and phonological similarity effects in simple, complex and delayed serial recall tasks: implications for working memory

Some current models of working memory argue that a passive short-term store is not involved in more dynamic working memory tasks. Other models argue that standard short-term memory and working memory tasks rely on common storage facilities. We examine these issues by exploring two signature effects of passive short-term storage in simple span, complex span, and Brown-Peterson tasks. The finding that all three tasks show word length and phonological similarity effects suggests that common processes or storage mechanisms are involved in all tasks. The implications for models of working memory are discussed

The neural correlates of inhibitory control in 10-month-old infants: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Inhibitory control, a core executive function, emerges in infancy and develops rapidly across childhood. Methodological limitations have meant that studies investigating the neural correlates underlying inhibitory control in infancy are rare. Employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy alongside a novel touchscreen task that measures response inhibition, this study aimed to uncover the neural underpinnings of inhibitory control in 10-month-old infants (N = 135). We found that when inhibition was required, the right prefrontal and parietal cortices were more activated than when there was no inhibitory demand. This demonstrates that inhibitory control in infants as young as 10 months of age is supported by similar brain areas as in older children and adults. With this study we have lowered the age-boundary for localising the neural substrates of response inhibition to the first year of life

The neural correlates of inhibitory control in 10-month-old infants: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

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