Biomedical subjects

Yasuaki Sakamoto

Publications and source records attributed to Yasuaki Sakamoto.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Austin: enhanced oddball memory through differentiation, not isolation.

What makes a person, event, or object memorable? Enhanced memory for oddball items is long established, but the basis for these effects is not well understood. The present work clarifies the roles of isolation and differentiation in establishing new memories. According to the isolation account, items that are highly dissimilar to other items are better remembered. In contrast, recent category learning studies suggest that oddball items are better remembered because they must be differentiated from similar items. The present work pits the differentiation and isolation accounts against each other. The results suggest that differentiation, not isolation, leads to more accurate memory for deviant items. In contrast, gains for isolated items are attributable to reduced confusion with other items, as opposed to preferential storage.

Affect↗

PubMed2004

Schematic influences on category learning and recognition memory.

The results from 3 category learning experiments suggest that items are better remembered when they violate a salient knowledge structure such as a rule. The more salient the knowledge structure, the stronger the memory for deviant items. The effect of learning errors on subsequent recognition appears to be mediated through the imposed knowledge structure. The recognition advantage for deviant items extends to unsupervised learning situations. Exemplar-based and hypothesis-testing models cannot account for these results. The authors propose a clustering account in which deviant items are better remembered because they are differentiated from clusters that capture regularities. The function of clusters is akin to that of schemas. Their results and analyses expose connections among research in category learning, schemas, stereotypes, and analogy.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

The transfer of abstract principles governing complex adaptive systems.

Four experiments explored participants' understanding of the abstract principles governing computer simulations of complex adaptive systems. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 showed better transfer of abstract principles across simulations that were relatively dissimilar, and that this effect was due to participants who performed relatively poorly on the initial simulation. In Experiment 4, participants showed better abstract understanding of a simulation when it was depicted with concrete rather than idealized graphical elements. However, for poor performers, the idealized version of the simulation transferred better to a new simulation governed by the same abstraction. The results are interpreted in terms of competition between abstract and concrete construals of the simulations. Individuals prone toward concrete construals tend to overlook abstractions when concrete properties or superficial similarities are salient.

Adaptation, Psychological↗