There has long been interest in the effect of repetition on memory amongst cognitive psychologists. A major area of research has examined how repetition at study improves encoding and subsequent memory performance. Another focus in the literature has been on manipulating fluency at retrieval to influence feelings of familiarity, with item repetition at test inducing a classic false recognition effect. Examination of these disparate areas of research hints that similar mechanisms may be operational in producing effects of repetition at study and repetition at test. Work from the false recognition literature suggests that items are more likely to be classified as “old” if they are made to be fluent at test. In other words, fluency may be used as a cue to indicate that information is already known. This fluency attribution process may also influence encoding: if increased fluency signals that information is known, then there may be no need to encode that information. The empirical goal of this thesis was first to better understand the impact of repetition on encoding, and then to better understand the role of fluency when both learning and retrieving information. This thesis documents some of the first examples of a counter-intuitive repetition decrement effect, in which items seen a single time are better remembered than items seen twice in succession. Evidence connecting this repetition decrement effect to effects of false recognition is presented, with the suggestion of a common process leading to these two memory effects. More important, this thesis demonstrates the impact of fluency at both encoding and retrieval, and can allow for better understanding of how human cognition operates on a daily basis. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

We investigated the creation of false memories in the Deese - Roediger - McDermott paradigm. We tested the hypothesis that the false recognition rates will be greater for the critical lures than for unrelated and related distractors. We tested whether there is a direct relationship between semantic relatedness of distractors and their false recognition rates. Our data supported these hypotheses. We concluded that our results support semantic priming and the spreading activation theory, and that the fuzzy-trace theory provides a fitting explanation for our findings. Also, we the measured reaction times of recognition test responses. We tested whether there is a difference in the reaction times of the recognition test responses for true memories, represented by correct recognition of studied words, and false memories, represented by false recognition of nonstudied, critical lures. We tested whether source monitoring plays a significant role in the creation of false memories. Our results showed slower reaction time for false recognition of critical lures than the reaction time for false recognition of nonrelated distractors. This finding suggests that semantic priming and the spreading activation theory alone cannot explain the reaction time data. We concluded that source monitoring is an important factor in creation of false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. In addition, we tested whether the reaction time for false recognition of critical lures is greater than reaction time for correct recognition of studied words as would predict the fuzzy-trace theory. Our data support predictions of the fuzzy-trace theory. Our findings suggest that the fuzzy-trace theory provides fitting explanation for the false memory phenomenon.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Static code analysis tools are known to flag a large number of false positives. A false positive is a warning message generated by a static code analysis tool for a location in the source code that does not have any known problems. This thesis presents our approach and results in identifying and documenting false positives generated by static code analysis tools. The goal of our study was to understand the different kinds of false positives generated so we can (1) automatically determine if a warning message from a static code analysis tool truly indicates an error, and (2) reduce the number of false positives developers must triage. We used two open-source tools and one commercial tool in our study. Our approach led to a hierarchy of 14 core false positive patterns, with some patterns appearing in multiple variations. We implemented checkers to identify the code structures of false positive patterns and to eliminate them from the output of the tools. Preliminary results showed that we were able to reduce the number of warnings by 14.0%-99.9% with a precision of 94.2%-100.0% by applying our false positive filters in different cases.

A series of 5 experiments investigated whether false memory in associated word lists present with serial position effects (SPE) and how any such effects behave in response to manipulations of true recall SPE. Recall for a series of events is typified by SPE such that items nearer the beginning, primacy effect, and end, recency effect, of a series are remembered better than middle items. Recall is also typified by the intrusion of falsely remembered information. Word-lists segmented into trimesters of either semantically (e.g., hot, snow, warm.../ bed, rest, awake.../ looking, lens, shatter...) or phonologically (e.g., code, called, fold.../ sweep, sleet, steep.../ class, grass, glad...) associated words produced false recall (e.g., cold, sleep, glass), allowing for the simultaneous investigation of SPE for true and false recall. Typical SPE for true recall were observed for each of the five Experiments. For immediate free recall, semantic false recall declined from early to late study trimesters whereas phonological false recall displayed a false primacy and recency effect similar to true recall SPE. Phonological false recall was significantly reduced when a 15 second distractor task was implemented during the retention interval. Dividing attention during study using a concurrent handwriting task reduced true recall whereas semantic false recall increased at primacy and phonological false recall increased at recency. This suggests distinct processes underlying the two forms of false recall. Dividing attention using an articulatory suppression task produced less true recall and less false recall than using concurrent handwriting. This research indicates that false recall SPE exist and that the semantic and phonological forms of false recall SPE are distinct. Current theories of false memory and of true recall SPE are considered.

A series of 5 experiments investigated whether false memory in associated word lists present with serial position effects (SPE) and how any such effects behave in response to manipulations of true recall SPE. Recall for a series of events is typified by SPE such that items nearer the beginning, primacy effect, and end, recency effect, of a series are remembered better than middle items. Recall is also typified by the intrusion of falsely remembered information. Word-lists segmented into trimesters of either semantically (e.g., hot, snow, warm.../ bed, rest, awake.../ looking, lens, shatter...) or phonologically (e.g., code, called, fold.../ sweep, sleet, steep.../ class, grass, glad...) associated words produced false recall (e.g., cold, sleep, glass), allowing for the simultaneous investigation of SPE for true and false recall. Typical SPE for true recall were observed for each of the five Experiments. For immediate free recall, semantic false recall declined from early to late study trimesters whereas phonological false recall displayed a false primacy and recency effect similar to true recall SPE. Phonological false recall was significantly reduced when a 15 second distractor task was implemented during the retention interval. Dividing attention during study using a concurrent handwriting task reduced true recall whereas semantic false recall increased at primacy and phonological false recall increased at recency. This suggests distinct processes underlying the two forms of false recall. Dividing attention using an articulatory suppression task produced less true recall and less false recall than using concurrent handwriting. This research indicates that false recall SPE exist and that the semantic and phonological forms of false recall SPE are distinct. Current theories of false memory and of true recall SPE are considered.

Previous research on the phenomenon known as “False Memory” has shown that there is a direct relationship between false memory formation and emotional response. Conclusions on the whole were derived from results of experiments that evaluated false memory prompted solely by stimuli that represented positive and negative emotions. Research for this thesis sought to further the discussion through the use of experiments that targeted, more specifically, the five basic emotions described by Power & Dalgleish (2008) as: happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness. Additionally, this research tested the effects of, and/or relationships between, false memory and the basic emotions of the members of the study, to include depressed, dysphoric, and control-group individuals. In a departure from earlier studies, these experiments assessed the effects on groups across cultures-- namely Syrian and British--as well as across time. There were 204 participants in three studies, and they were divided into two groups according to their scores on the BDI II: dysphoric and non-dysphoric. There were two samples representing two different societies: Syrian and British. Additionally, in the fourth experiment, there were 41 clinically depressed patients and 20 in the control group. Four studies were conducted in which participants viewed a series of both emotional and non-emotional pictures taken from the IAPS. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions. There were two questions for each picture; one of the questions was based on actual content within the various pictures while the other was designed to elicit a confabulated response by suggesting content that was not actually present. The participants returned to the lab one week later and were asked the same questions again. The findings show that accuracy of memory is diminished, and quality of memory is impaired, in both immediate and delayed recall conditions when leading questions were used to elicit responses--the questions that suggested content not in evidence. Participants produced more false memories to the emotional pictures than they did to the non-emotional pictures, with the exception of disgust-related pictures for which they produced significantly fewer false memories. False memory manifested to a greater degree in the delayed recall condition than it did in the immediate recall condition. Cultural factors proved to have no influence on false memory formation. Correct memories from dysphoric/depressed participants were less than correct memories from their non-dysphoric/depressed counterparts. There was a significant relationship between correct memories and emotional content of the pictures. Correct memories decreased across time. The implications of the research are examined for the relationship between emotion and false memory.

This thesis is the pilot study of an ongoing investigation of the organization of the mental lexicon in children with specific language impairment and children who stutter (CWS). The current study analyzes the performance of 8 CWS, ages 4; 11 – 10; 1 and their typically developing age matches (CWNS) on a list recall task adapted from Roediger and McDermott (1995). Talker groups were matched for maternal education level, male to female ratio, and standardized measures of nonverbal intelligence, expressive vocabulary, digit memory, and narrative comprehension and production. Similar to previous reports, the CWS performed significantly lower on a measure of receptive vocabulary and a measure of phonological memory than the CWNS. For both talker groups, there was a positive correlation between age and percentage of correctly recalled words on the list recall task. Older CWNS produced more semantic intrusions than younger CWNS; however the same trend was not demonstrated in CWS. False recall of semantically-related, phonologically-related, and unrelated words was not significantly different between talker groups. These findings provide preliminary evidence of differences between talker groups on a list recall task. The inclusion of a greater number of participants may provide stronger support for the hypothesis that lexical-semantic organization is less efficient in CWS. / text

Studies have highlighted a growing national problem regarding the number of untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs). A 2011 National Institute of Justice report revealed Los Angeles alone had 10,000 untested SAKs. This backlog has fueled the need for specific and efficient testing of SAK evidence. In traditional workflows, serology tests are used to indicate the presence of a targeted bodily fluid and prioritize samples for genetic analysis. However, given the lack of sensitivity and specificity of modern serological assays, current SAK workflows often skip serological identification altogether for a “direct to DNA” approach. While these Y-Screen workflows achieve rapid screening of samples for the presence of a detectible male contributor, they do not provide any serological information. As a result, samples lack what can be critical investigative context. Improved serological capabilities with enhanced sensitivity and specificity would provide greater confidence in results for the confirmatory identification of seminal fluid. At a minimum, forensic biologists should understand the limitations associated with traditional serological approaches to seminal fluid identification when processing SAK samples. Current serological techniques based on antigen-antibody binding have exhibited both sensitivity and specificity limitations. False positive results for semen can be obtained by non-target biological fluids such as breast milk, urine, and vaginal fluid, or by non-specific binding events. This study evaluates a promising emerging technique that combines high specificity protein biomarker detection with targeted mass spectrometry. This research targeted human-specific peptide markers for seminal fluid proteins and peptide standards to perform quantification of seminal fluid peptide targets using an Agilent 6495 mass spectrometer coupled to a 1290 series liquid chromatograph. This approach has shown to be both more specific and sensitive in identifying a bodily fluid compared to current immunological based approaches. Thus, this proteomic workflow was used to evaluate authentic false positive rates of current immunochromatographic techniques for seminal fluid identification. Self-collected vaginal swabs collected from participants not engaging in barrier-free vaginal intercourse with male partners were tested using various immunochromatographic assays designed to detect both semenogelin (Sg) (RSID™-Semen) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) (ABAcard® p30 Test and SERATEC® PSA Semiquant). Similarly, three seminal fluid biomarkers (semenogelin 1, semenogelin 2, and prostate specific antigen) were used for seminal fluid identification via mass spectrometry. Any samples producing positive results on any immunochromatographic assay were evaluated to determine whether the target protein was actually present at levels above the reported sensitivity limits of the lateral flow tests. Additionally, Sperm HY-LITER™ Express was used to microscopically confirm the absence of spermatozoa in all samples producing positive immunochromatographic results. In addition to using the quantitative proteomic assay to estimate the rate of authentic false positive results associated with lateral flow assays, this research sought to establish the correlation (or lack thereof) between absolute quantitation of seminal fluid markers and the ability to successfully generate DNA profiles. Self-collected post-coital swabs from donors engaging in barrier free vaginal intercourse with male partners over varied periods of time between 1-8 days after intercourse were collected. All samples were analyzed using the quantitative seminal fluid protein mass spectrometry assay, once again targeting SgI, SgII, and PSA. Both autosomal STR profiles (GlobalFiler™) and Y-STR profiles (Yfiler™ Plus) were subsequently generated. With regard to immunochromatographic assay false positive rates, a total of 17 false positives for semen were observed (n=150), 14 of which were consistent with PSA and 3 with Sg, for a corresponding total false positive rate of 9.3% and 2%, respectively (11.3% overall). These samples were all confirmed to be sperm negative with mass spectrometry and microscopic analysis. This data supports the use of current immunochromatographic assays for the presumptive detection of seminal fluid while also providing further support for the improved specificity of alternative serological approaches using mass spectrometry identification of biological targets. With regard to the relationship between quantitative levels of target seminal fluid peptides and the ability to generate STR profiles from vaginal swabs collected at various post coital intervals, a total of 61 post-coital samples were tested. Of these, 48 samples had a seminal fluid target greater than the limit of quantitation for the mass spectrometry assay and 26 produced an STR (n=9) and/or Y-STR (n=10) profile. A correlation between peptide quantitation and ability to generate a genetic profile was unable to be determined from this initial sample set. Overall, however, it has been demonstrated that the use of proteomic mass spectrometry for the identification of seminal fluid targets (with its enhanced sensitivity and specificity) would enable forensic practitioners to make better use of serological information during the analysis of challenging sexual assault samples.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Many patients present with upper abdominal pain and receive some type of pain relieving therapy prior to gallbladder imaging. The physiologic effect of morphine and other analgesics on gallbladder function has been well‐studied. What hasn’t been studied as much are the implications on clinical practice and the decision about whether morphine is the best option to use in suspected chronic gallbladder disease. This case study serves to illustrate the influence of morphine in a patient who underwent both inpatient and outpatient hepatobiliary scintigraphy with dramatically different results. This case study perfectly shows the considerations that must be taken when using morphine because it eliminates many confounding variables; the only difference in the patient at the time of initial and subsequent presentation was the presence of morphine.

La thèse décrit l'essentiel de la notion de la simulation. La première partie sert à la description des dispositions du droit du travail qui permettent d'appliquer le droit civil dans le rapport d'emploi. En le faisant une analyse des vices des déclarations d'engagement dans le sens du droit polonais et les vices du consentement dans le sens du droit civil français est envisagé ensemble avec l'analyse des conceptions de la simulation et les critères du contrat de travail selon deux systèmes juridiques respectifs. La première partie contient également la description des contrats qui permettent aux parties de cacher le rapport du travail. La deuxième partie parle des conséquences de la simulation dans les relations de travail et analyse les différences entre la simulation et la fraude. La description des moyens disponibles dans la bataille contre le contournement des règles du droit du travail mène aux remarques de lege ferenda en proposant l'adoption des solutions disponibles dans le droit polonais. / The dissertation describes the essentials of the concept of simulation. The first part describes the labour law provisions that make it possible to apply civil law in the employment relationship. By doing so, an analysis of the defects of the declarations of commitment in the sense of Polish law and the defects of consent in the sense of French civil law is envisaged together with the analysis of the concepts of simulation and the criteria of the employment contract under two respective legal systems. The first part also contains a description of the contracts that allow the parties to hide the employment relationship.The second part discusses the consequences of simulation in labour relations and analyses the differences between simulation and fraud. The description of the means available in the battle against the circumvention of labour law rules leads to the remarks de lege ferenda by proposing the adoption of the solutions available in Polish law.