Biomedical subjects

D S McNamara

Publications and source records attributed to D S McNamara.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Reading both high-coherence and low-coherence texts: effects of text sequence and prior knowledge.

Previous research (e.g., McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, & Kintsch, 1996) has demonstrated that high-knowledge readers learn more from low-coherence than high-coherence texts. This study further examined the assumption that this advantage is due to the use of knowledge to fill in the gaps in the text, resulting in an integration of the text with prior knowledge. Participants read either a high- or low-coherence text twice, or they read both the high- and low-coherence texts in one order or the other. Reading the low-coherence text first should force the reader to use prior knowledge to fill in the conceptual gaps. However, reading the high-coherence text first was predicted to negate the necessity of using prior knowledge to understand the low-coherence text when the latter was presented second. As predicted, high-knowledge readers benefited from the low-coherence only text when it was read first. Low-knowledge readers benefited from the high-coherence text, regardless of whether it was read first, second, or twice.

Cognition↗

PubMed2001

Working memory capacity and strategy use.

In this study, we examine the role of strategy use in working memory (WM) tasks by providing short-term memory (STM) task strategy training to participants. In Experiment 1, the participants received four sessions of training to use a story-formation (i.e., chaining) strategy. There were substantial improvements from pretest to posttest (after training) in terms of both STM and WM task performance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that WM task improvement did not occur for control participants, who were given the same amount of practice but were not provided with strategy instructions. An assessment of participants' strategy use on the STM task before training indicated that more strategic participants displayed better WM task performance and better verbal skills. These results support our hypothesis that strategy use influences performance on WM tasks.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Verbal learning and memory: does the modal model still work?

This chapter focuses on recent research concerning verbal learning and memory. A prominent guiding framework for research on this topic over the past three decades has been the modal model of memory, which postulates distinct sensory, primary, and secondary memory stores. Although this model continues to be popular, it has fostered much debate concerning its validity and specifically the need for its three separate memory stores. The chapter reviews research supporting and research contradicting the modal model, as well as alternative modern frameworks. Extensions of the modal model are discussed, including the search of associative memory model, the perturbation model, precategorical acoustic store, and permastore. Alternative approaches are discussed including working memory, conceptual short-term memory, long-term working memory, short-term activation and attention, processing streams, the feature model, distinctiveness, and procedural reinstatement.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1992

Effects of same-modality interference on immediate serial recall of auditory and visual information.

Two studies investigated the effects of same-modality interference on the immediate serial recall of auditorily and visually presented stimuli. Typically, research in which this task is used has been conducted in quiet rooms, excluding auditory information that is extraneous to the auditorily presented stimuli. However, visual information such as background items clearly within the subject's view have not been excluded during visual presentation. Therefore, in both the present studies, the authors used procedures that eliminated extra-list visual interference and introduced extra-list auditory interference. When same-modality interference was eliminated, weak visual recency effects were found, but they were smaller than those that were generated by auditorily presented items. Further, mid-list and end-of-list recall of visually presented stimuli was unaffected by the amount of interfering visual information. On the other hand, the introduction of auditory interference increased mid-list recall of auditory stimuli. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the mid-list effect occurred with a moderate, but not with a minimal or maximal, level of auditory interference, indicating that moderate amounts of auditory interference had an alerting effect that is not present in typical visual interference.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1992

Prompt comprehension in UNIX command production.

We hypothesize that a cognitive analysis based on the construction-integration theory of comprehension (Kintsch, 1988) can predict what is difficult about generating complex composite commands in the UNIX operating system. We provide empirical support for assumptions of the Doane, Kintsch, and Polson (1989, 1990) construction-integration model for generating complex commands in UNIX. We asked users whose UNIX experience varied to produce complex UNIX commands, and then provided help prompts whenever the commands that they produced were erroneous. The help prompts were designed to assist subjects with respect to both the knowledge and the memory processes that our UNIX modeling efforts have suggested are lacking in less expert users. It appears that experts respond to different prompts than do novices. Expert performance is helped by the presentation of abstract information, whereas novice and intermediate performance is modified by presentation of concrete information. Second, while presentation of specific prompts helps less expert subjects, they do not provide sufficient information to obtain correct performance. Our analyses suggest that information about the ordering of commands is required to help the less expert with both knowledge and memory load problems in a manner consistent with skill acquisition theories.

Computer Simulation↗

PubMed1991

Understanding the decision to take the predictive test for Huntington disease.

The predictive test for Huntington disease (HD) has allowed those at risk to determine gene status prior to symptoms. The purpose of this research was to understand the motivation and the anticipated reactions of those requesting the test. Forty persons at 50% risk for HD and 31 companions participated in a structured personal interview as part of the predictive test protocol. Reasons for taking the test centered on the reduction of anxiety and uncertainty associated with being at risk and enhanced planning and decision making. Participants also believed that taking the test would produce more positive than negative outcomes. With a favorable result, most anticipated a reduction of anxiety, a more normal future, and relief knowing their children would be at a very low risk. Most also cited benefits as more likely than consequences with an unfavorable result. Making the most of life, easier planning, and reduced uncertainty were rated as more likely than any of the adverse impacts, including short-term depression and becoming frightened. Almost all participants (95%) said they would rather learn that they have the HD gene than remain at 50% risk. The uncertainty, anxiety, and chronic stress associated with being at risk appears to underlie the motivation of many seeking the predictive test for HD.

Adult↗