Functional Neuroimaging Investigation of the Neural Mechanisms for Successful Feeling-of-Knowing Judgments

A feeling-of-knowing (FOK) is a sense of knowing that an item would be recognizable if seen again later, despite one’s current inability to recall that item from memory. An FOK judgment occurs after a memory search and is a prediction of future recognition. The current study aimed to: (1) determine the brain regions involved in successful (accurate) and unsuccessful (inaccurate) episodic FOKs; (2) replicate the ability of FOKs to predict recognition outcomes and recollection/know (R/K) judgments; (3) explore the different effects of familiarity and recollection on high and low FOKs; and (4) determine the effect of overlearning on FOKs and their ability to predict recognition and R/K outcomes. Nine younger adults (ages 18-26) participated in 2 experimental sessions (encoding and testing), separated by a 48-hour delay (n = 4 for fMRI data). The amount of exposure to the studied items (1 versus 3 presentations) was manipulated. Statistically significant results include (1) a repetition effect such that the words that were repeated during encoding have higher mean recall, mean FOK rating, mean recognition accuracy, and mean R/K than those words presented only once; (2) activity in the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) for successful or accurate FOKs; (3) activity in the anterior PFC for accurate high FOKs; and (4) activity in the PFC and anterior cingulate for correctly recognized and remembered items. In future, additional participants are necessary to conduct further and more detailed analyses.Hertzog, Chris - Faculty Mentor ; Schumacher, Eric - Committee Member/Second Reade

Graph Comprehension: Difficulties, Individual Differences, and Instruction.

Graphs are pervasive in our daily lives (e.g., newspapers, textbooks, scientific journals, classrooms), and there is an implicit assumption that, although they are not explicitly taught graphical literacy, people are capable readers of graphs. However, interpreting multivariate data presented graphically is extremely challenging and few, if any, instructional tools or guidelines exist for teaching complex graph interpretation. Furthermore, designing graphs of multivariate data to make them more interpretable and instructing individuals to interpret graphs are both complicated by the fact that numerous factors likely influence the graph interpretation process: the type of display, individuals’ initial graphical literacy skills, their working memory (WM) capacity, and their attitudes or dispositions towards thinking and avoiding belief bias. The goals of the current research were to determine: (1) how well people comprehend main effects and interactions in complex multivariate data presented graphically and the extent to which some graph format characteristics influence the process; (2) whether students can be taught to interpret main effects and interactions in complex graphs and what might comprise such an instructional tutorial; and (3) the role of individual differences in complex graph comprehension. To address these questions, five experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 examined how much people attend to graphs, and whether the existence of a graph to summarize data already described in a text help them remember or understand the data. Experiments 2 and 3 examined students’ interpretation of multivariate graphs in a self-paced, open-ended task and in immediate and long-term memory tasks, and the effect of graph format in these various contexts. Finally, Experiments 4 and 5 examined whether a tutorial could be an effective instructional tool for improving graph skills, and how instruction is differentially impacted by individual differences. In general, individual differences emerged as extremely influential factors in graph comprehension and the training of graph skills, whereas graph format did not play a key role in the current research. Additional research is suggested for further development of the tutorial as an educational resource, and educators should promote enjoyment of cognitive work in the classroom to increase benefit of instruction.PhDPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108915/1/ronitg_1.pd

History of Transnational Voluntary Associations: A Critical Multidisciplinary Review

This review explores the history of transnational voluntary associations, commencing with general patterns before proceeding to cover the history of different sectors in turn, including humanitarianism, science, education, environment, feminism, race, health, human rights, labour, business, standards, professions, culture, peace, religion, and youth. Coverage extends from the late eighteenth century through to the early twenty-first century and spans histories of particular organizations and of particular campaigns in addition to the evolution of broader transnational social movements. Contrasting perspectives on historical evolution are considered, including both linear and cyclical interpretations. The factors underpinning historical changes are explored, including economic, environmental, political, scientific and social developments. Insights are drawn not only from a transnational historical perspective, but also the many other disciplines that shed light on the subject, such as world sociology. The review also incorporates perspectives from international relations, development studies, peace studies, voluntary sector studies, and women’s studies. It argues that the historical evolution of transnational voluntary associations is longer, less Western in origin and more cyclical than traditionally assumed