The ability to preferentially encode and later retrieve valuable information amidst a plethora of miscellaneous information is an essential aspect of human memory. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the enhanced ability to successfully encode high value items. These include the hypothesis that the prefrontal executive control processes are engaged for valuable information, producing elaborative rehearsal strategy. Another hypothesis is that greater attentional resources are allocated to higher value items via the reward driven mid-brain dopamine systems interacting with hippocampal and cortical areas to produce enhanced memory. To further understand the neural mechanisms of value on memory, electroencephalogram data under a value-directed remembering paradigm (VDR) was analyzed for oscillatory activity. During the task, participants encoded words assigned a different point value with the instruction to maximize the point value of recognized words during test. To analyze frequency activity during encoding, conditions of subsequent memory as subjective responses of either recollection (i.e., “remember”) and familiarity (i.e., “know”) were assessed. A possible way to observe the allocation of attention resources in the brain are alpha oscillations (8-15 Hz) which are thought to underlie this process. Participants demonstrated superior memory for high versus low value point items. Following the hypothesis that there is a greater recruitment of attentional resources for high value information, alpha oscillatory power in the occipital/temporal cortex displayed significantly more desynchronization for high value compared to low value conditions during encoding. As well, successful retrieval compared with unsuccessful retrieval and subsequent “remember” or “know” conditions resulted in a qualitatively different, more sustained desynchronization of alpha and other unanticipated frequency band oscillations during encoding that are discussed. Taken together, these findings support previous research for alpha-band desynchronization during encoding items of value into memory and potentially open paths to decouple value and memory driven processes.

Individuals encounter problems daily wherein varying numbers of constraints require delimitation of memory to target goal-satisfying information. Multiply-constrained problems, such as compound remote associates, are commonly used to study this type of problem solving. Since their development, multiply-constrained problems have been theoretically and empirically related to creative thinking, analytical problem solving, insight problem solving, intelligence, and a multitude of other cognitive abilities. Critically, in order to correctly solve a multiply-constrained problem the solver must have the solution available in memory and be able to target and access to that information. Experiment 1 determined that the cue – target relationship affects the likelihood that a problem is solved. Moreover, Experiment 2 identified that the association between cues and targets predicted inter- & intra-individual differences in multiply-constrained problem solving. Lastly, Experiment 3 found monetary incentives failed to improve problem solving performance likely due to knowledge serving as a limiting factor on performance. Additionally, problem solvers were shown to be able to reliably assess the likelihood they would solve a problem. Taken together all three studies demonstrated the importance of knowledge & knowledge structures on problem solving performance.

Motor learning is the process of improving task execution according to some measure of performance. This can be divided into skill learning, a model-free process, and adaptation, a model-based process. Prior studies have indicated that adaptation results from two complementary learning systems with parallel organization. This report attempted to answer the question of whether a similar interaction leads to savings, a model-free process that is described as faster relearning when experiencing something familiar. This was tested in a two-week reaching task conducted on a robotic arm capable of perturbing movements. The task was designed so that the two sessions differed in their history of errors. By measuring the change in the learning rate, the savings was determined at various points. The results showed that the history of errors successfully modulated savings. Thus, this supports the notion that the two complementary systems interact to develop savings. Additionally, this report was part of a larger study that will explore the organizational structure of the complementary systems as well as the neural basis of this motor learning.

The purpose of this project was to extend Whitehead 2016 to determine what neural substrates supported conflict-mediated learning. Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we were unable to address this. To repurpose the collected data, an analysis of which features of the Flanker task subjects were learning was conducted. Specifically, we wanted to know if subjects were learning by using the flanking stimuli to predict the central target or vice versa. Over 14 blocks comprised of 120 trials, we found that subjects made more stroop errors than flanker and target errors, indicating subjects were responding to stimuli in context of the flanker rather than the stroop effect.

In most of the work using event-related potentials (ERPs), researchers presume the function of specific components based on the careful manipulation of experimental factors, but rarely report direct evidence supporting a relationship between the neural signal and other outcomes. Perhaps most troubling is the lack of evidence that ERPs correlate with related behavioral outcomes which should result, at least in part, from the neural processes that ERPs capture. One such example is the NoGo-N2 component, an ERP component elicited in Go/NoGo paradigms. There are two primary theories regarding the functional significance of this component in this context: that the signal represents response inhibition and that the component reflects conflict. In this paper, a trial-level method of analysis for the relationship between ERP component potentials and downstream behavioral outcomes (in this case, response accuracy) using a multi-level modeling framework is proposed to provide discriminatory evidence for one of these theories. Following a description of the research on the NoGo-N2, preliminary data supporting the conflict monitoring theory are presented, noting important limitations. Next, an EEG simulation study is presented in which NoGo-N2 data are generated with a known relationship to fabricated reaction time data, showing that, with added levels of complexity and noise within the data, the MLM approach is consistently successful at extracting the known relationships that occur in real NoGo-N2 data. Next, using independent components analysis (ICA) to extract spatiotemporal components that best represent the signal of interest, a well-powered analysis of the relationship between the NoGo-N2 and response accuracy is used to provide strong discriminatory evidence for the conflict monitoring theory of the NoGo-N2. Finally, implications for the NoGo-N2, as well as all ERP components, are discussed with a focus on how this approach can and should be used. the paper concludes with potential expansions of this approach to areas beyond identifying the function of ERP components.

Recognition memory is examined by exposing a person to a stimulus and later prompting them with the same stimulus to examine their ability to accurately acknowledge that the stimulus was previously encountered (Kahana, 2012). In recognition memory, confidence ratings are taken during the testing phase to assess how confident the participant is that the old-new judgment that they just made is accurate (Busey et al., 2000). Confidence is a metacognitive assessment about the accuracy of perception of decision making based on the amount, speed, and clarity of thoughts that come to mind (Dunlosky and Metcalfe, 2008). The goal of the current study is to better understand how assessing recognition memory using a variety of test procedures influences memory accuracy using the signal detection theory and adding multiple confidence scales that vary in granularity. Based on the previous literature, it is hypothesized that; 1) tasks ordered sequentially will produce greater recognition accuracy (d') than the simultaneous (dual task) condition; 2) confidence scale of 3 points will produce a larger d' than the 7 point scale, and the 7 point scale will produce a larger d' than the 100 point scale; and 3) task mode (ordered vs. sequenced) will interact with confidence scale granularity to predict memory accuracy, such that sequential judgments lessen demands on working memory that come from maintaining an increasing number of decision criteria in comparison to the dual task. Results indicated all hypotheses were not upheld. The findings suggest that taxing working memory may not affect decisional accuracy on a recognition task incorporating confidence judgments.

Language comprehension is an essential skill in many aspects of life, yet some children still struggle with oral comprehension. This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention to improve the listening skills and comprehension of 4 and 5-year olds. This intervention is based on principles of embodied cognition, namely that language comprehension requires a simulation (or imagination) of what the language is about. Thus, children in the intervention condition moved pictures on an iPad to simulate the stories they were hearing. Children in the control condition saw the pictures, but did not move them. To identify the effectiveness of this simulation training, we analyzed scores on a comprehension test, and changes in motor cortex activity while listening. If the intervention increases simulation, then compared to the control, a) children given the intervention should perform better on the comprehension test, and b) those children should show greater activity in their motor cortices while listening. Furthermore, the change in motor cortex activity should statistically mediate the change in comprehension. Our results showed a significant positive correlation (.79) in the EMBRACE group (but not in the control) between the change in mu suppression before and after the intervention and the change in comprehension questions before and after the intervention. This correlation suggests that children can be taught to use their motor cortices while listening, and supports our hypothesis that embodied language theories, such as simulation are useful for enhancing comprehension.

Working memory is the cognitive system responsible for storing and maintaining information in short-term memory and retrieving cues from long-term memory. Working memory capacity (WMC) is needed for goal maintenance and to ignore task-irrelevant stimuli (Engle & Kane, 2003). Emotions are one type of task-irrelevant stimuli that could distract an individual from a task (Smallwood, Fitzgerald, Miles, & Phillips, 2009). There are studies that show there is a relation between emotions and working memory capacity. The direction of this relationship, though, is unclear (Kensinger, 2009). In this study, emotions served as a distractor and task performance was examined for differences in the effect of emotion depending on participants' working memory capacity. The participants watched a mood induction video, then were told to complete a complex-span working memory task. The mood induction was successful- participants watching the negative emotional video were in a less positive mood after watching the video than the participants that watched a neutral video. However, the results of the complex-span working memory task showed no significant difference in the results between participants in the negative versus neutral mood. These results may provide support to an alternative hypothesis: cognitive tasks can diminish the effects of emotions (Dillen, Heslenfeld, & Koole, 2009).

Working memory is the cognitive system responsible for storing and maintaining information in short-term memory and retrieving cues from long-term memory. Working memory capacity (WMC) is needed for goal maintenance and to ignore task-irrelevant stimuli (Engle & Kane, 2003). Emotions are one type of task-irrelevant stimuli that could distract an individual from a task (Smallwood, Fitzgerald, Miles, & Phillips, 2009). There are studies that show there is a relation between emotions and working memory capacity. The direction of this relationship, though, is unclear (Kensinger, 2009). In this study, emotions served as a distractor and task performance was examined for differences in the effect of emotion depending on participants' working memory capacity. The participants watched a mood induction video, then were told to complete a complex-span working memory task. The mood induction was successful- participants watching the negative emotional video were in a less positive mood after watching the video than the participants that watched a neutral video. However, the results of the complex-span working memory task showed no significant difference in the results between participants in the negative versus neutral mood. These results may provide support to an alternative hypothesis: cognitive tasks can diminish the effects of emotions (Dillen, Heslenfeld, & Koole, 2009).

In everyday life, mental fatigue can be detrimental across many domains including driving, learning, and working. Given the importance of understanding and accounting for the deleterious effects of mental fatigue on behavior, a growing body of literature has studied the role of executive control processes in mental fatigue. In a laboratory setup, participants complete a task that places demands on executive control processes and are later given a transfer task. Generally speaking, decrements to subsequent task performance are taken as evidence that the initial executive control task created mental fatigue through the continued engagement of executive control. Several hypotheses have been developed to account for negative transfer resulting from executive control depletion including cognitive resource depletion and task-switching. In the current study, we provide a brief literature review, specify current theoretical approaches to depletion, and provide a strong empirical test of theories for negative transfer from executive control depletion (i.e., does continued performance of an executive control task negatively transfer to that exact same task).