Immediate and delayed retention, arousal, and the orienting and defensive reflexes

Maltzman, Irving; Kantor, William; Langdon, Barry

doi:10.3758/bf03328083

Cited by 60 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…The extroverts who learned the list to criterion significantly faster than the introverts did not have SignifICantly higher recall scores even at the immediate retention interval. The criterion for learning the list was deliberately set at less than perfect learning to allow for any reminiscence effects, but little was found except at the immediate recall interval A recent study (Maltzman, Kantor, & Langdon, 1966) has questioned the research fmdings of Kleinsmith, Kaplan, Walker, et al, and has argued that there is a confounding of arousal during learning and retention. Kaplan & Kaplan ( 1968) have answered this argument showing that the GSRs which were used to measure arousal at training, did not correlate with the GSRs at the time of recall.…”

Section: Methods Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retention in paired-associate learning related to extroversion and neuroticism

McLaughlin

1968

Psychon Sci

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Eysenck (1963, 1964, 1967) has presented a theory of personality which places major emphasis on the dimensions of introversion-extroversion and neuroticism. On the basis of evidence from EEG recordings, evoked potentials, CFF and drug studies, he has argued that introverts can be characterized as more highly cortically aroused than extroverts. Neuroticism or anxiety is conceived of as a predisposition to strong autonomic activation, and is thought by Eysenck to produce higher cortical arousal, both directly and through the reticular formation.McLaughlin & hypothesized that these personality associated states of arousal may have similar effects as stimulus produced arousal. In other words, introverts would be predicted to react in a fashion analagous to ambiverts, that is, those persons who score in the middle range of the introversion-extroversion continuum, when confronted with high-arousal words and syllables, whereas extroverts would be predicted to react in a fashion analagous to ambiverts confronted with low-arousal words and syllables. This relationship was tested on groups of introverts and extroverts both high and low on the neuroticism scale, on both an easy and a difficult paired-associate list. The results showed that extroverts, who were hypothesized to be under a low state of arousal and faster in consolidating, did learn the lists faster than the introverts.The present study is attempting to: frrst, replicate the effects ot these personality variables with American students rather than English students who were previously tested; secondly, to analyze the components of the paired-associate task into a response learning, associative and integration stage to shed light on the relationship of personality variables to the components of the paired-associate task; and finally, having Psychon. Sci., 1968. Vol. 13 (6) substantiated the prediction of the relationship of personality associated states of arousal to immediate learning, it is necessary to determine if the remaining portion of the theory can be substantiated. That is, introverts are hypothesized to be at a disadvantage with immediate recall but when time is allowed for consolidation to occur their performance should increase and show the reminiscence effects demonstrated by other investigators with stimulus-produced states of arousal. METHOD SubjectsThe Ss were 141 undergraduate college students at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. On the basis of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1964) which was administered in freshman and sophomore psychology classes, the students were put into four groups: low neuroticismextroverts, high neuroticism-extroverts, low neuroticismintroverts, and high neuroticism-introverts. Ss scoring between 8 and 10 on the neuroticism scale and/or II and 13 on the introversion-extroversion scale were excluded. Also, Ss were restricted to students 24 years old and under to eliminate the possible confounding of age and personality. Seventy-ftve students with the most extreme scores were then tes...

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Section: Methods Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retention in paired-associate learning related to extroversion and neuroticism

McLaughlin

1968

Psychon Sci

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“…For example, Kleinsmith and Kaplan (1963) reported that on a delayed test, high-arousal words such as RAPE and VOMIT were remembered better than were low-arousal words. Maltzman, Kantor, and Langdon (1966) provided evidence that the physiological response to such stimuli was a defensive response, not an orienting response.…”

Section: Relatedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can we have a distinctive theory of memory?

1991

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The current status of the concept of distinctiveness as applied to memory research is discussed. In spite of the fact that distinctiveness is difficult to define, an increasing number of memory phenomena have been explained in terms of distinctiveness. These phenomena are grouped into four classes, which vary in how distinctiveness is operationalized. Distinctiveness has different effects on memory performance, depending on how it is defined, suggesting that the concept of distinctiveness has been overapplied. In addition, current theoretical explanations of the effects of distinctiveness on memory fail to specify what the different definitions of distinctiveness have in common, and fail to encompass adequately the broad range of phenomena to be explained. A limited theory of distinctiveness is proposed, in order to explain why conceptually incongruent material is remembered well.The unusual, bizarre, or distinctive event seems inherently more memorable than common, everyday occurrences. Psychologists often refer to this phenomenon as the von Restorff (1933) effect. The effects of distinctiveness on memory are exploited in textbooks in which major concepts are printed in bold print, and in virtually every form of advertising in which loud music, bright colors, or other distinctive stimuli scream for our attention. Recently, memory researchers have invoked the concept of distinctiveness to explain an increasing range of phenomena, from detailed memory of the space shuttle explosion (McCloskey, Wible, & Cohen 1988) to enhanced memory of concrete words (Marschark, Richman, Yuille, & Hunt, 1987). Unfortunately, the features shared by the many faces of distinctiveness have not been specified, and the mechanisms responsible for the effects of distinctiveness on memory have not been delineated.The current status of research concerning the effects of distinctiveness on memory is reviewed below. For the sake of brevity, this review will be restricted to a discussion of long-term memory performance. Many of the issues that will be raised, however, could easily be applied to research concerning short-term memory performance as well. A brief historical review of distinctiveness in memory research will be followed by an analysis of the definition of distinctiveness. Several criteria will be selected that should enable us to classify previous operational definitions of distinctiveness. The different classes of distinctiveness do not lead to a common set or pattern of results, and thus they do not converge on a common hypothetical construct. Prominent theoretical frameworks will be considered, but none of the theories encompasses the many faces of distinctiveness. A more limited definition of distinctiveness will be proposed, and a theoretical framework for the effects of distinctiveness, based on this limited definition, will be presented. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTSThe distinctiveness hypothesis is a direct descendent of the von Restorff effect, which was investigated extensively in the 1950s and 60s. In the most recent review of...

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“…As compared with neutral words, words associated with sex and the bathroom were well remembered, whereas words associated with violence were remembered at the same level as the neutral words (Manning & Goldstein, 1976). Taboo words (e.g., vulgar sexual references and racial taunts) appear to be especially potent, leading to changes in skin conductance (Walker & Tarte, 1963) and vasoconstriction indicative of defensive responses (Maltzman et al, 1966). Kensinger and Corkin (2003) demonstrated that taboo words led to greater recognition than did both negative-affect emotional words and neutral words.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Early researchers investigated paired-associate memory for emotional words, with much of their focus on whether the superior recall of emotional over neutral words required a delayed retention test (Kleinsmith & Kaplan, 1963, 1964Maltzman, Kantor, & Langdon, 1966). However, experimental design emerged as a moderating factor in the influence of emotion on memory (Walker & Tarte, 1963).…”

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confidence: 99%

The emotional memory effect: Differential processing or item distinctiveness?

Schmidt

Saari

2007

Mem Cogn

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A color-naming task was followed by incidental free recall to investigate how emotional words affect attention and memory. We compared taboo, nonthreatening negative-affect, and neutral words across three experiments. As compared with neutral words, taboo words led to longer color-naming times and better memory in both within-and between-subjects designs. Color naming of negative-emotion nontaboo words was slower than color naming of neutral words only during block presentation and at relatively short interstimulus intervals (ISIs). The nontaboo emotion words were remembered better than neutral words following blocked and random presentation and at both long and short ISIs, but only in mixed-list designs. Our results support multifactor theories of the effects of emotion on attention and memory. As compared with neutral words, threatening stimuli received increased attention, poststimulus elaboration, and benefit from item distinctiveness, whereas nonthreatening emotional stimuli benefited only from increased item distinctiveness.

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Immediate and delayed retention, arousal, and the orienting and defensive reflexes

Cited by 60 publications

References 4 publications

Retention in paired-associate learning related to extroversion and neuroticism

Retention in paired-associate learning related to extroversion and neuroticism

Can we have a distinctive theory of memory?

The emotional memory effect: Differential processing or item distinctiveness?

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