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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2009-07-15. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 8, 2010). Advisor: John Dunlosky. Keywords: Working memory; short-term memory; secondary memory; strategy use; fluid intelligence. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-207). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR45993

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-64). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71629.

The effects of three encoding strategies, induced imagery, paraphrasing and rehearsal (silent repetition) on the memory of subjects for logical and pragmatic implications of simple, concrete sentences were investigated. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions, each condition having a set of instructions read to them requesting that they employ one of the above strategies to memorize a list of sentences. A control group of subjects was merely asked to memorize the sentences as best they could in the time allowed. No strategy was suggested. After an intervening task, a recognition test was administered to all the subjects. The number of recognition errors for each group was scored. There were no significant treatment effects or interactions revealed by analysis of variance. A highly significant effect for type of sentence was, however, found. Subjects made a greater number of errors on both pragmatic and logical implications than on false inferences. Support is added to the constructive approach to memory.

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Previous studies of how working memory (WM) capacity affects lexical ambiguity resolution have been inconclusive about the choice between inhibition and activation comprehension strategies. In contrast, an adaptive inhibition hypothesis suggests that this choice depends on the availability of WM resources. We used a cross-modal semantic priming paradigm. Participants listened to sentences biasing the subordinate meanings of homonyms, presented at a fast or slow speech rate. We measured lexical decision response latencies to target words that were related to either the subordinate or dominant meaning of homonyms. A WM test was used to evaluate participants' WM capacity. At a fast rate, both high and low WM participants activated dominant (or irrelevant) meanings of the subordinate-biased homonyms. At a regular rate, participants with low WM capacity activated dominant meanings; however, participant with high WM inhibited them. Thus, people with high WM activate and inhibit alternative meanings more flexibly than people with low WM.

Two dual task experiments were conducted to determine the function and content of working memory in concept attainment. Levine's (1966) concept attainment paradigm was used as the primary task. The secondary task in each experiment made selective demands on one of two working memory components, either the phonological loop or the central executive. The effect of the secondary tasks on the performance on the Levine task was measured by frequency of hypothesis use, consistency of hypotheses with previous feedback, and strategies employed to manage feedback. These measures revealed that the two working memory components play different roles in concept attainment. The phonological loop is responsible for maintaining hypotheses, while the central executive carries out mental operations that enable the use of hypotheses that are logically consistent with the given feedback. These findings make it possible to provide a detailed account of the role of working memory in concept attainment and yield new insights into the concept attainment process.