From simple agents to information sources: Readers' differential processing of story characters as a function of story consistency.

The study examined how readers integrate information from and about multiple information sources into a memory representation. In two experiments, college students read brief news reports containing two critical statements, each attributed to a source character. In half of the texts, the statements were consistent with each other, in the other half they were discrepant. Each story also featured a non-source character (who made no statement). The hypothesis was that discrepant statements, as compared to consistent statements, would promote distinct attention and memory only for the source characters. Experiment 1 used short interviews to assess participants' ability to recognize the source of one of the statements after reading. Experiment 2 used eye-tracking to collect data during reading and during a source-content recognition task after reading. As predicted, discrepancies only enhanced memory of, and attention to source-related segments of the texts. Discrepancies also enhanced the link between the two source characters in memory as opposed to the non-source character, as indicated by the participants' justifications (Experiment 1) and their visual inspection of the recognition items (Experiment 2). The results are interpreted within current theories of text comprehension and document literacy.

Conflicting but close: Readers' integration of information sources as a function of their disagreement.

According to the documents model framework (Britt, Perfetti, Sandak, & Rouet, 1999), readers' detection of contradictions within texts increases their integration of source-content links (i.e., who says what). This study examines whether conflict may also strengthen the relationship between the respective sources. In two experiments, participants read brief news reports containing two critical statements attributed to different sources. In half of the reports, the statements were consistent with each other, whereas in the other half they were discrepant. Participants were tested for source memory and source integration in an immediate item-recognition task (Experiment 1) and a cued recall task (Experiments 1 and 2). In both experiments, discrepancies increased readers' memory for sources. We found that discrepant sources enhanced retrieval of the other source compared to consistent sources (using a delayed recall measure; Experiments 1 and 2). However, discrepant sources failed to prime the other source as evidenced in an online recognition measure (Experiment 1). We argue that discrepancies promoted the construction of links between sources, but that integration did not take place during reading.

Formato de presentación, experticia y memoria de trabajo en la comprensión de instrucciones / Presentation format, expertise and working memory in understanding instructions

Comprender y ejecutar instrucciones procedimentales consiste en seguir una serie de pasos para lograr un producto final. Se realizó un experimento con alumnos de carreras científico-técnicas y de humanidades, en el que se analizó el efecto del formato de presentación de las instrucciones (imagen, texto y multimedia) y de factores individuales, como experticia y capacidad de memoria de trabajo verbal y viso-espacial, en la comprensión de las instrucciones para el armado de objetos. Las variables dependientes fueron el tiempo promedio de estudio, el tiempo promedio de armado y el porcentaje de error en el ensamblaje. Setenta y dos estudiantes universitarios avanzados (mitad de carreras científico-técnicas y mitad de humanidades) completaron nueve instrucciones experimentales y pruebas de memoria de trabajo verbal (Ordenamiento Número Letra y Amplitud de Lectura) y viso-espacial (Span Visual y Laberintos). El formato de presentación tuvo efectos en el tiempo de estudio y en el de armado. Las instrucciones verbales fueron procesadas más lentamente que aquellas con imágenes. Además las instrucciones multimedia se ejecutaron más rápido que todas las demás. El nivel de experticia tuvo efecto sobre los errores de ejecución, favoreciendo a los estudiantes de carreras científico-técnicas. En relación con la memoria de trabajo, los sujetos con mayor memoria de trabajo verbal tendieron a procesar las instrucciones más rápido, y aquellos con mayor memoria de trabajo viso-espacial tendieron a cometer menos errores. Este patrón de resultados estaría en línea con las investigaciones sobre el efecto multimedia, el papel de la experticia y la capacidad de memoria viso-espacial y verbal en la comprensión de instrucciones.

Comprehending instructions is a frequent taskin everyday life. A set of instructions consists of a series of steps that indicate how to produce a final state. In cognitive terms, following a set of instructions implies building an internal representation of the procedure depicted in the message, with the aim of reaching the final state accurately and fast. Therefore, comprehending instructions is intrinsically associated with executing them efficiently. Whereas previous research on the area has focused mainly on traditional indicators of comprehension, such as reading times and recall, this study incorporates measures of the actual execution (i.e., the time spent to perform the instruction and the error rate) in addition to more traditional processing measures. Additionally, this study analyzes the potential effects of both cognitive and design features on comprehension. A core aspect in the study of processing instructions is to determine which factors are more effective in helping users to achieve consistent and reproducible results. This experiment examined the effect of the presentation format of the instructions, and individual factors such as expertise and verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacity on comprehending and executing a set of instructions. Dependent variables were the mean time to study the instructions, the mean time to assembly the objects, and the percentage of errors during assembly. Seventy-two advanced (fourth-year) college students, half in scientific-technical fields, and the other half in humanities, participated voluntarily. All participants completed an experimental assembly task which required building Lego objects. Each one consisted of nine experimental trials of five-steps instructions in one of the three presentation formats (pictorial only, verbal only, or combined verbal and pictorial information assigned randomly), followed by verbal (Letter Number Sequencing, WAIS-III and Reading Span), and visuo-spatial (Spatial Span, WMS-R and Mazes, AWMA) working memory tests. Each individual session lasted about an hour. Three ANCOVAS were conducted to examine the effect of presentation format and expertise on study time, execution time and error rates (%). Verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacity measures were included as co-variables. The presentation format had effects both on the time to study and the time to perform the instructions: verbal only presentations were processed slower than presentations including pictures (image only or multimedia), and were slower than multimedia in assembly. Expertise, on the other hand, had its effect on execution errors, favoring students of scientific and technical background, partialing out individual differences such as working memory capacity. There was a tendency for students with higher verbal working memory to process instructions faster, and for those with higher visuo-spatial working memory to assembly objects more precisely. Overall, these results suggest that images are more effective in representing procedural instructions, since the pictorial and multimedia formats seemed to facilitate the comprehension of the instruction. Results also suggest that the combined format of sentences and pictures enhanced efficiency during assembly, as evidenced by the faster execution time observed in the multimedia condition. This pattern of results is in line with the multimedia advantage and the efficacy of images found with other text types, while extending it to procedural instructions. Additionally, visuo-spatial working memory and expertise seemed to influence the execution of the instructions. Verbal working memory capacity also seemed to be involved when studying and processing the instructions, regardless of the presentation format, but not when executing the procedure. In conclusion, in order to maximize their efficiency, the format in which the instructions will be presented as well as the cognitive characteristics (i.e., working memory capacity and expertise level) of the potential users should be incorporated into the design of procedural instructions.

Cognitive rehabilitation therapy after acquired brain injury in Argentina: psychosocial outcomes in connection with the time elapsed before treatment initiation.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) on psychosocial outcomes in Argentinean patients with acquired brain injury (ABI), in connection with the time elapsed between injury and treatment initiation. RESEARCH DESIGN: Self-reported data from patients in a naturalistic setting was collected before and after CRT. METHODS AND PROCEDURE: An outpatient sample of 75 Spanish-speaking patients with cognitive disturbances secondary to ABI (49 male/26 female, age: 50.2 ± 20.1 years; education 14.3 ± 3.2 years) completed a set of scales on their daily living activities, memory self-perception, quality-of-life and mood. Single and multi-group analyses were conducted, considering pre- and post- responses and the time elapsed between injury and treatment initiation. The influence of socio-demographic moderators was controlled during comparisons. MAIN RESULTS: Results suggest an improvement in several psychosocial indicators after treatment. Additionally, correlations and group comparisons showed greater improvement in subjective memory and quality-of-life self-reports in patients who began treatment earlier than those who began treatment after a longer time period. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, results suggest that CRT is associated with positive results in different areas of the psychosocial domain and that post-injury time can mediate this effect.

Comprensión de textos expositivos en presentaciones multimedia: efectos de sobrecarga cognitiva como consecuencia de la inclusión de gráficos durante la lectura / Expository texts comprehension in multimedia presentations: cognitive overload effects as a result of including graphics during reading

La Teoría Cognitiva de Aprendizaje Multimedia (TCAM, Mayer, 2001) propone que características de diseño de las presentaciones multimedia sobrecargan distintos aspectos del funcionamiento cognitivo, en particular en tareas que implican alta demanda de procesamiento. Este estudio se propuso: (a) comparar la comprensión de textos expositivos de contenidos poco familiares en presentaciones multimedia con y sin sobrecarga cognitiva; y (b) comparar el efecto de distintos escenarios de sobrecarga sobre el mantenimiento representacional e integración a corto plazo de la información textual. Los participantes (n=42) leyeron textos expositivos acompañados de gráficos en una condición Sin Sobrecarga, o en dos formatos de presentación asociados a sobrecargas específicas sobre el mantenimiento y la integración de la información (condiciones de Gráfico Incoherente y Gráfico Desfasado, respectivamente). Se midieron los tiempos de lectura de oraciones críticas incluidas en cada texto y las respuestas a preguntas sobre los contenidos textuales. Se hallaron diferencias en los tiempos de lectura entre las condiciones con y sin sobrecarga, pero no entre las respuestas a preguntas, ni entre los tiempos de lectura de las condiciones con sobrecarga. Estos datos son consistentes con la hipótesis de sobrecarga, pero inconsistentes con el planteo de la TCAM de sobrecargas específicas sobre el funcionamiento cognitivo.

Comprensión de textos expositivos en presentaciones multimedia: efectos de sobrecarga cognitiva como consecuencia de la inclusión de gráficos durante la lectura / Expository texts comprehension in multimedia presentations: cognitive overload effects as a result of including graphics during reading

La Teoría Cognitiva de Aprendizaje Multimedia (TCAM, Mayer, 2001) propone que características de diseño de las presentaciones multimedia sobrecargan distintos aspectos del funcionamiento cognitivo, en particular en tareas que implican alta demanda de procesamiento. Este estudio se propuso: (a) comparar la comprensión de textos expositivos de contenidos poco familiares en presentaciones multimedia con y sin sobrecarga cognitiva; y (b) comparar el efecto de distintos escenarios de sobrecarga sobre el mantenimiento representacional e integración a corto plazo de la información textual. Los participantes (n=42) leyeron textos expositivos acompañados de gráficos en una condición Sin Sobrecarga, o en dos formatos de presentación asociados a sobrecargas específicas sobre el mantenimiento y la integración de la información (condiciones de Gráfico Incoherente y Gráfico Desfasado, respectivamente). Se midieron los tiempos de lectura de oraciones críticas incluidas en cada texto y las respuestas a preguntas sobre los contenidos textuales. Se hallaron diferencias en los tiempos de lectura entre las condiciones con y sin sobrecarga, pero no entre las respuestas a preguntas, ni entre los tiempos de lectura de las condiciones con sobrecarga. Estos datos son consistentes con la hipótesis de sobrecarga, pero inconsistentes con el planteo de la TCAM de sobrecargas específicas sobre el funcionamiento cognitivo.(AU)

Fictional characters’ emotional state representation: What is its degree of specificity? / La representación de estados emocionales de personajes de ficción: ¿cuál es su grado de especificidad?

Story events are a psychological cause of emotional reactions, which in turn, motivate subsequent actions. This study addresses the degree of specificity of readers’ inferences about fictional characters’ emotions. In Experiment 1 (off-line), participants read short stories and selected the emotional term that was more consistent with the protagonist’s emotion. Results indicated that participants tended to favor the specific emotional word. In Experiment 2 (on-line), reading times were longer when a target sentence described the protagonist in an emotional state that differed in family from the adequate emotional state, but belonged to the same class and valence of emotions, but no differences were found between emotions belonging to the same family. Overall, these results indicate that emotional inferences are more specific than valence and class, but not specific enough to differentiate subtleties within a family of emotions (AU)

Los acontecimientos de una narración son causa psicológica de reacciones emocionales, que a su vez motivan acciones subsiguientes. El presente estudio se centra en el grado de especificidad de las inferencias de los lectores acerca de las emociones de personajes de ficción. En el Experimento 1 (off-line) los participantes leían relatos breves y seleccionaban el término emocional más adecuado para designar la emoción del protagonista. Los resultados mostraron que los participantes tendían a elegir la palabra que designaba la emoción específica. En el Experimento 2 (on-line) no hubo diferencia en los tiempos de lectura de oraciones que mencionaban estados emocionales pertenecientes a una misma familia de emociones; los tiempos de lectura fueron, en cambio, significativamente mayores para oraciones que mencionaban un estado emocional de la misma valencia que el adecuado, diferente por pertenecer a una distinta familia de emociones dentro de la misma clase general. Estos resultados muestran que las inferencias emocionales son más específicas que una mera valencia y clase de emociones, pero o tan específicas como para diferenciar sutilezas dentro de una misma familia de emociones (AU)

Fictional characters' emotional state representation: what is its degree of specificity?

Story events are a psychological cause of emotional reactions, which in turn, motivate subsequent actions. This study addresses the degree of specificity of readers' inferences about fictional characters' emotions. In Experiment 1 (off-line), participants read short stories and selected the emotional term that was more consistent with the protagonist's emotion. Results indicated that participants tended to favor the specific emotional word. In Experiment 2 (on-line), reading times were longer when a target sentence described the protagonist in an emotional state that differed in family from the adequate emotional state, but belonged to the same class and valence of emotions, but no differences were found between emotions belonging to the same family. Overall, these results indicate that emotional inferences are more specific than valence and class, but not specific enough to differentiate subtleties within a family of emotions.

Efecto del contenido en la resolución de tareas de conjunción probabilísticas / Content effects in probability judgments

El error de conjunción (Tversky & Kahneman, 1983) se estudió en dos escenarios de probabilidad que suponen distintos contenidos en las tareas a resolver: ficcional y realista (Teigen, Martinussen & Lund, 1996). Participaron voluntariamente 83 sujetos de ambos sexos, alumnos de Psicología de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, quienes resolvieron ambas tareas. Las diferencias halladas en las cantidades de errores de conjunción al comparar las ejecuciones en los dos escenarios fueron altamente significativas. Los resultados reflejan una disminución de los errores cuando se presentan tareas realistas en lugar de ficcionales. Tales hallazgos indican la relevancia de considerar elementos socioecológicos tanto en razonamientos probabilísticos (Hertwig & Gigerenzer, 1999) como en las estrategias didácticas de enseñanza de probabilidad.