Biomedical subjects

Thom Baguley

Publications and source records attributed to Thom Baguley.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Memory for the process of constructing an integrated mental model.

We report two experiments in which people read descriptions of integrated spatial configurations, together with comparable descriptions that did not describe integrated spatial configurations. The integrated spatial descriptions, but not the comparable descriptions, thus supported the construction of a coherent mental model. In Experiment 1, each sentence of the comparable descriptions described the spatial relation between two objects that were not mentioned elsewhere in the description. In Experiment 2, the comparable descriptions were nonspatial, having been constructed by replacing the spatial relations with nonspatial relations. In both experiments, participants were given a surprise recognition test in which they had to identify each of the original descriptions--of both integrated spatial configurations and nonspatial configurations--among a set of distractors. When the sentences in the original description were reordered (and participants were instructed to ignore sentence order), recognition memory was reliably depressed, but only for the integrated spatial descriptions. Reordering descriptions does not change their propositional content, nor does it change the described situation; however, it does change the process of constructing a mental model of that situation. These findings thus suggest that memory for the descriptions retains a trace of the process of constructing an integrated mental model and that reordering the sentences disrupts this memory because the reordering reduces the similarity of the processing of the descriptions at recognition.

Cognition↗

PubMed2005

Two spatial memories are not better than one: evidence of exclusivity in memory for object location.

This paper studies the dynamics of attempting to access two spatial memories simultaneously and its implications for the accuracy of recall. Experiment 1 demonstrates in a range of conditions that two cues pointing to different experiences of the same object location produce little or no higher recall than that observed with a single cue. Experiment 2 confirms this finding in a within-subject design where both cues have previously elicited recall. Experiment 3 shows that these findings are only consistent with a model in which two representations of the same object location are mutually exclusive at both encoding and retrieval, and inconsistent with models that assume information from both representations is available. We propose that these representations quantify directionally specific judgments of location relative to specific anchor points in the stimulus; a format that precludes the parallel processing of like representations. Finally, we consider the apparent paradox of how such representations might contribute to the acquisition of spatial knowledge from multiple experiences of the same stimuli.

Cues↗

PubMed2004

Understanding statistical power in the context of applied research.

Estimates of statistical power are widely used in applied research for purposes such as sample size calculations. This paper reviews the benefits of power and sample size estimation and considers several problems with the use of power calculations in applied research that result from misunderstandings or misapplications of statistical power. These problems include the use of retrospective power calculations and standardized measures of effect size. Methods of increasing the power of proposed research that do not involve merely increasing sample size (such as reduction in measurement error, increasing 'dose' of the independent variable and optimizing the design) are noted. It is concluded that applied researchers should consider a broader range of factors (other than sample size) that influence statistical power, and that the use of standardized measures of effect size should be avoided (except as intermediate stages in prospective power or sample size calculations).

Research↗