Ian Dennis | Plymouth University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ian Dennis

Research paper thumbnail of Professionalism dilemmas, moral distress and the healthcare student: insights from two online UK-wide questionnaire studies

BMJ open, 2015

To understand the prevalence of healthcare students' witnessing or participating in something... more To understand the prevalence of healthcare students' witnessing or participating in something that they think unethical (professionalism dilemmas) during workplace learning and examine whether differences exist in moral distress intensity resulting from these experiences according to gender and the frequency of occurrence. Two cross-sectional online questionnaires of UK medical (study 1) and nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy and pharmacy students (study 2) concerning professionalism dilemmas and subsequent distress for (1) Patient dignity and safety breaches; (2) Valid consent for students' learning on patients; and (3) Negative workplace behaviours (eg, student abuse). 2397 medical (67.4% female) and 1399 other healthcare students (81.1% female) responded. The most commonly encountered professionalism dilemmas were: student abuse and patient dignity and safety dilemmas. Multinomial and logistic regression identified significant effects for gender and frequency of occurrence...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving auditory warning design: relationship between warning sound parameters and perceived urgency

Human factors, 1991

This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of individual sound parameters on percei... more This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of individual sound parameters on perceived (psychoacoustic) urgency. Experimental Series 1 showed that fundamental frequency, harmonic series, amplitude envelope shape, and delayed harmonics all have clear and consistent effects on perceived urgency. Experimental Series 2 showed that temporal and melodic parameters such as speed, rhythm, pitch range, and melodic structure also have clear and consistent effects on perceived urgency. The final experiment tested a set of 13 auditory warnings generated by an application of the earlier experimental findings. The urgency rank ordering of this warning set was predicted, and the correlation between the predicted and the obtained order was highly significant. The results of these experiments have a widespread application in the improvement of existing auditory warning systems and the design of new systems, where the psychoacoustic and psychological appropriateness of warnings could be...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving auditory warning design: quantifying and predicting the effects of different warning parameters on perceived urgency

Human factors, 1993

The effects of four parameters (speed, fundamental frequency, repetition units, and inharmonicity... more The effects of four parameters (speed, fundamental frequency, repetition units, and inharmonicity) on perceived urgency were scaled using an application of Stevens's power law. From the exponents obtained, equal units of urgency change were calculated for three parameters. The units were combined in a set of stimuli, and the order of urgency was predicted. The obtained and predicted orders of urgency were highly correlated. The results also showed that even when equalized by psychophysical techniques, some parameters contribute more to perceived urgency than do others. This may be attributable to the different types of parameters scaled or the proportion of the usable range of each parameter that represents a unit change in urgency. The implication of the work for the design and improvement of auditory warnings is discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of self-efficacy, alexithymia and multiple traumas on posttraumatic stress disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity following epileptic seizures: a moderated mediation analysis

Psychiatry research, Jan 30, 2013

This study investigated the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychiatric co-... more This study investigated the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychiatric co-morbidity following epileptic seizure, whether alexithymia mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and psychiatric outcomes, and whether the mediational effect was moderated by the severity of PTSD from other traumas. Seventy-one (M=31, F=40) people with a diagnosis of epilepsy recruited from support groups in the United Kingdom completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. They were compared with 71 people (M=29, F=42) without epilepsy. For people with epilepsy, 51% and 22% met the diagnostic criteria for post-epileptic seizure PTSD and for PTSD following one other traumatic life event respectively. For the control group, 24% met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD following other traumatic life events. The epilepsy group reported significantly more anxiety an...

Research paper thumbnail of How much exposure to English is necessary for a bilingual toddler to perform like a monolingual peer in language tests?

International journal of language & communication disorders / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, 2014

Bilingual children are under-referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their... more Bilingual children are under-referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their monolingual peers in their English acquisition. The recommendations of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) state that bilingual children should be assessed in both the languages known by the children. However, despite these recommendations, a majority of speech and language professionals report that they assess bilingual children only in English as bilingual children come from a wide array of language backgrounds and standardized language measures are not available for the majority of these. Moreover, even when such measures do exist, they are not tailored for bilingual children. It was asked whether a cut-off exists in the proportion of exposure to English at which one should expect a bilingual toddler to perform as well as a monolingual on a test standardized for monolingual English-speaking children. Thirty-five bilingual 2;6-year-olds exposed to British Engli...

Research paper thumbnail of Working memory and reasoning: An individual differences perspective

Thinking & Reasoning, 2003

This article reports three experiments that investigated the relationship between working memory ... more This article reports three experiments that investigated the relationship between working memory capacity and syllogistic and five-term series spatial inference. A series of complex and simple verbal and spatial working memory measures were employed. Correlational analyses showed that verbal and spatial working memory span tasks consistently predicted syllogistic and spatial reasoning performance. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that three factors

Research paper thumbnail of Predicting the difficulty of complex logical reasoning problems

Thinking & Reasoning, 2006

... BT Newstead SE Byrne RMJ 1993 Human reasoning: the Psychology of deduction Hove UK Lawrence E... more ... BT Newstead SE Byrne RMJ 1993 Human reasoning: the Psychology of deduction Hove UK Lawrence Erlbaum View all references). ... The test items were generated by the program we had developed (see Bradon, Evans, Handley, Newstead, Dennis & Prat-Sala, undated), and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reading without phonology?

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 1985

... Derek Besner University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Ian Dennis Plymouth Polytechnic, England... more ... Derek Besner University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Ian Dennis Plymouth Polytechnic, England ... woird-word croth-cross const-cost snoirt-snort grense-grease panth-path weath-wealth chet-chest sef-self cronk-crown grabe-grade dant-chant wut-gut nas-gas gart-cart sush-sash ...

Research paper thumbnail of The role of working memory capacity in multiple-cue probability learning

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2011

Multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion when outcome fe... more Multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion when outcome feedback is provided for multiple cues. A great deal of research suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is involved in a wide range of tasks that draw on higher level cognitive processes. In three experiments, we examined the role of WMC in MCPL by introducing measures of working memory capacity, as well as other task manipulations. While individual differences in WMC positively predicted performance in some kinds of multiple-cue tasks, performance on other tasks was entirely unrelated to these differences. Performance on tasks that contained negative cues was correlated with working memory capacity, as well as measures of explicit knowledge obtained in the learning process. When the relevant cues predicted positively, however, WMC became irrelevant. The results are discussed in terms of controlled and automatic processes in learning and judgement.

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of precedence on Navon-induced processing bias in face recognition

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2008

Macrae and Lewis (2002) showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli i... more Macrae and Lewis (2002) showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli improved performance in a subsequent face identification task, whilst reporting the features of the Navon stimuli impaired performance. Using a face composite task, which is assumed to require featural processing, Weston and Perfect (2005) showed the complementary pattern: Featural responding to Navon letters speeded performance. However, both studies used Navon stimuli with global precedence, in which the overall configuration is easier to report than the features. Here we replicate the two studies above, whilst manipulating the precedence (global or featural) of the letter stimuli in the orientation task. Both studies replicated the previously reported findings with global precedence stimuli, but showed the reverse pattern with local precedence stimuli. These data raise important questions as to what is transferred between the Navon orientation task and the face-processing tasks that follow.

Research paper thumbnail of Local temporal distinctiveness does not benefit auditory verbal and spatial serial recall

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2006

In the present study, we examined the role of randomly arranged temporal intervals preceding and ... more In the present study, we examined the role of randomly arranged temporal intervals preceding and following items (pre-and postitem intervals, respectively) in auditory verbal and spatial recall tasks. The duration of the pre-and postitem intervals did not affect serial recall performance. This finding calls into question (1) the suggestion that the interval following an item permits the consolidation of information in memory, even in a relatively demanding spatial task, and (2) the prediction that temporal distinctiveness should improve performance. The latter was explored further by showing that in contrast to our empirical data, a relative temporal distinctiveness model produced significant increases in recall performance when pre-and postitem intervals increased. The results are discussed with regard to recent studies revisiting the role of temporal isolation in short-term serial memory.

Research paper thumbnail of Dual-processes in learning and judgment: Evidence from the multiple cue probability learning paradigm

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012

Multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion based on a set ... more Multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion based on a set of novel cues when feedback is provided in response to each judgment made. But to what extent does MCPL require controlled attention and explicit hypothesis testing? The results of two experiments show that this depends on cue polarity. Learning about cues that predict positively is aided by automatic cognitive processes, whereas learning about cues that predict negatively is especially demanding on controlled attention and hypothesis testing processes. In the studies reported here, negative, but not positive cue learning related to individual differences in working memory capacity both on measures of overall judgment performance and modelling of the implicit learning process. However, the introduction of a novel method to monitor participants' explicit beliefs about a set of cues on a trial-by-trial basis revealed that participants were engaged in explicit hypothesis testing about positive and negative cues, and explicit beliefs about both types of cues were linked to working memory capacity. Taken together, our results indicate that while people are engaged in explicit hypothesis testing during cue learning, explicit beliefs are applied to judgment only when cues are negative.

Research paper thumbnail of Explicit and implicit processes in multicue judgment

Memory & Cognition, 2003

In two experiments, a multicue probability learning task was used to train participants in relati... more In two experiments, a multicue probability learning task was used to train participants in relating judgments to a criterion, on the basis of several cues that could or could not be relevant. The outcome feedback had 25% added noise to simulate real-world experience-based learning. Judgmental strategies acquired were measured by individual multiple linear regression analyses of a test phase (with no feedback) and were compared with self-ratings of cue relevance. In a third experiment, participants were instructed explicitly on cue relevance, with no training phase. The pattern of results suggested that both implicit and explicit cognitive processes influenced judgments and that they may have been sensitive to different task manipulations in the learning phase. On more complex tasks, despite weak explicit learning, explicit processes continued to influence judgments, producing a decrement in performance. These findings explain why studies of expert judgment often show only moderate levels of self-insight, since people have only partial access to the processes determining their judgments.

Research paper thumbnail of Medical students’ attitudes to complementary and alternative medicine: Further validation of the IMAQ and findings from an international longitudinal study

Medical Teacher, 2009

Current research mainly employs cross-sectional designs to examine changes in medical students&am... more Current research mainly employs cross-sectional designs to examine changes in medical students' attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study to further validate the Integrative Medicine Attitude Questionnaire (IMAQ) and examine changes in medical students' attitudes over 3 years. A total of 154 medical students from four schools in three countries completed a modified version of the IMAQ during their first (T1) and fourth year (T2). We established the validity of a three-factor model for the IMAQ: (1) attitudes towards holism; (2) attitudes towards the effectiveness of CAM therapies, and (3) attitudes towards introspection and the doctor-patient relationship. We found that IMAQ factor scores did not differ significantly from T1 to T2, emphasizing the relative stability in attitudes across time. Various student characteristics were significantly associated with IMAQ factor scores at T2: age, gender, CAM use, CAM education and school; and two variables (gender and CAM use) predicted changes in medical students' attitudes between T1 and T2. We urge medical educators to continue exploring medical students' attitude changes towards CAM and we provide examples of what further research is needed.

Research paper thumbnail of Associative processes in repetition priming

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2003

Three experiments that investigated alternative accounts of repetition priming are reported. All ... more Three experiments that investigated alternative accounts of repetition priming are reported. All 3 experiments used semantic comparison tasks and included trials in which each of the 2 words being compared had previously occurred on separate trials. In the re-pair match condition, the response required matched that on the 2 previous trials in which the words had occured. In there-pair mismatch condition, the response required was opposite to that on the previous trials containing the words forming the critical pair. In all 3 experiments, responses were faster and more accurate in the re-pair match condition than in the re-pair mismatch condition. Possible accounts of this effect within the frameworks of instance theory and of transfer appropriate processing are considered.

Research paper thumbnail of Navon processing and verbalisation: A holistic/featural distinction

European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2008

... There is agreement amongst researchers that optimal face recognition is achieved through holi... more ... There is agreement amongst researchers that optimal face recognition is achieved through holistic processing where the information about specific features ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reasoning strategies: the role of working memory and verbal-spatial ability

European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2008

Evidence increasingly suggests individual differences in strategies adopted on reasoning tasks an... more Evidence increasingly suggests individual differences in strategies adopted on reasoning tasks and that these are either verbal-propositional or visuospatial in nature. However, the cognitive foundations of these strategies remain uncertain. Experiment 1 examined the relationship between the use of working memory resources and strategy selection for syllogistic reasoning. Verbal and spatial strategy users did not differ on working memory capacity, but confirmatory factor analysis indicated that while verbal reasoners draw primarily on verbal working memory, spatial reasoners use both this and spatial resources. Experiment 2 investigated the relationship between strategies and verbal and spatial abilities. Although strategy groups were similar in overall ability, regression analysis showed that performance on a spatial ability measure (Vandenberg mental rotation task) predicted syllogistic reasoning performance, but only for spatial strategy users. The findings provide converging evidence that verbal and spatial strategies are underpinned by related differences in fundamental cognitive factors, drawing differentially on the subcomponents of working memory and on spatial ability.

Research paper thumbnail of A comparison of different techniques for scaling perceived urgency

Ergonomics, 1995

In this paper four experiments are reported which compare different scaling techniques for assess... more In this paper four experiments are reported which compare different scaling techniques for assessing the perceived urgency of one set of seven auditory stimuli. The differences between scaling traditional continua and 'second order' continua such as perceived urgency are discussed. In three studies, free modulus magnitude estimation, fixed modulus magnitude estimation, and category rating are each used to measure the

Research paper thumbnail of Cognitive processes in engineering design: a longitudinal study

Ergonomics, 1994

... design studies have, however, been undertaken in other domains (particularly softwareengineer... more ... design studies have, however, been undertaken in other domains (particularly softwareengineering) which we ... One pioneering psychological study of design was carried out by Jeffries et al. ... then, the schema-which they describe as a set of production rules-i-contains essentially ...

Research paper thumbnail of Trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychiatric comorbidity among people with anaphylactic shock experience

Comprehensive Psychiatry, 2011

This study investigated the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, past traum... more This study investigated the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and psychiatric comorbidity among people after anaphylactic shock experience. The design was cross-sectional in that 94 people with anaphylactic shock experience responded to a postal survey. They completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the General Health Questionnaire 28, and the COPE Scale. They also answered questions on trauma exposure characteristics. The control group comprised 83 people without anaphylaxis. Twelve percent of people with anaphylactic shock experience fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for full PTSD. As a group, people with anaphylaxis reported significantly more past traumatic life events and psychiatric comorbidity than did the control. Partial least squares analysis showed that trauma exposure characteristics influenced postanaphylactic shock PTSD symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity, which, in turn, influenced coping strategies. People could develop PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity symptoms after their experience of anaphylactic shock. The way they coped with anaphylactic shock was affected by the severity of these symptoms. Past traumatic life events had a limited role to play in influencing outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of Professionalism dilemmas, moral distress and the healthcare student: insights from two online UK-wide questionnaire studies

BMJ open, 2015

To understand the prevalence of healthcare students' witnessing or participating in something... more To understand the prevalence of healthcare students' witnessing or participating in something that they think unethical (professionalism dilemmas) during workplace learning and examine whether differences exist in moral distress intensity resulting from these experiences according to gender and the frequency of occurrence. Two cross-sectional online questionnaires of UK medical (study 1) and nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy and pharmacy students (study 2) concerning professionalism dilemmas and subsequent distress for (1) Patient dignity and safety breaches; (2) Valid consent for students' learning on patients; and (3) Negative workplace behaviours (eg, student abuse). 2397 medical (67.4% female) and 1399 other healthcare students (81.1% female) responded. The most commonly encountered professionalism dilemmas were: student abuse and patient dignity and safety dilemmas. Multinomial and logistic regression identified significant effects for gender and frequency of occurrence...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving auditory warning design: relationship between warning sound parameters and perceived urgency

Human factors, 1991

This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of individual sound parameters on percei... more This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of individual sound parameters on perceived (psychoacoustic) urgency. Experimental Series 1 showed that fundamental frequency, harmonic series, amplitude envelope shape, and delayed harmonics all have clear and consistent effects on perceived urgency. Experimental Series 2 showed that temporal and melodic parameters such as speed, rhythm, pitch range, and melodic structure also have clear and consistent effects on perceived urgency. The final experiment tested a set of 13 auditory warnings generated by an application of the earlier experimental findings. The urgency rank ordering of this warning set was predicted, and the correlation between the predicted and the obtained order was highly significant. The results of these experiments have a widespread application in the improvement of existing auditory warning systems and the design of new systems, where the psychoacoustic and psychological appropriateness of warnings could be...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving auditory warning design: quantifying and predicting the effects of different warning parameters on perceived urgency

Human factors, 1993

The effects of four parameters (speed, fundamental frequency, repetition units, and inharmonicity... more The effects of four parameters (speed, fundamental frequency, repetition units, and inharmonicity) on perceived urgency were scaled using an application of Stevens's power law. From the exponents obtained, equal units of urgency change were calculated for three parameters. The units were combined in a set of stimuli, and the order of urgency was predicted. The obtained and predicted orders of urgency were highly correlated. The results also showed that even when equalized by psychophysical techniques, some parameters contribute more to perceived urgency than do others. This may be attributable to the different types of parameters scaled or the proportion of the usable range of each parameter that represents a unit change in urgency. The implication of the work for the design and improvement of auditory warnings is discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of self-efficacy, alexithymia and multiple traumas on posttraumatic stress disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity following epileptic seizures: a moderated mediation analysis

Psychiatry research, Jan 30, 2013

This study investigated the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychiatric co-... more This study investigated the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychiatric co-morbidity following epileptic seizure, whether alexithymia mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and psychiatric outcomes, and whether the mediational effect was moderated by the severity of PTSD from other traumas. Seventy-one (M=31, F=40) people with a diagnosis of epilepsy recruited from support groups in the United Kingdom completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. They were compared with 71 people (M=29, F=42) without epilepsy. For people with epilepsy, 51% and 22% met the diagnostic criteria for post-epileptic seizure PTSD and for PTSD following one other traumatic life event respectively. For the control group, 24% met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD following other traumatic life events. The epilepsy group reported significantly more anxiety an...

Research paper thumbnail of How much exposure to English is necessary for a bilingual toddler to perform like a monolingual peer in language tests?

International journal of language & communication disorders / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, 2014

Bilingual children are under-referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their... more Bilingual children are under-referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their monolingual peers in their English acquisition. The recommendations of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) state that bilingual children should be assessed in both the languages known by the children. However, despite these recommendations, a majority of speech and language professionals report that they assess bilingual children only in English as bilingual children come from a wide array of language backgrounds and standardized language measures are not available for the majority of these. Moreover, even when such measures do exist, they are not tailored for bilingual children. It was asked whether a cut-off exists in the proportion of exposure to English at which one should expect a bilingual toddler to perform as well as a monolingual on a test standardized for monolingual English-speaking children. Thirty-five bilingual 2;6-year-olds exposed to British Engli...

Research paper thumbnail of Working memory and reasoning: An individual differences perspective

Thinking & Reasoning, 2003

This article reports three experiments that investigated the relationship between working memory ... more This article reports three experiments that investigated the relationship between working memory capacity and syllogistic and five-term series spatial inference. A series of complex and simple verbal and spatial working memory measures were employed. Correlational analyses showed that verbal and spatial working memory span tasks consistently predicted syllogistic and spatial reasoning performance. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that three factors

Research paper thumbnail of Predicting the difficulty of complex logical reasoning problems

Thinking & Reasoning, 2006

... BT Newstead SE Byrne RMJ 1993 Human reasoning: the Psychology of deduction Hove UK Lawrence E... more ... BT Newstead SE Byrne RMJ 1993 Human reasoning: the Psychology of deduction Hove UK Lawrence Erlbaum View all references). ... The test items were generated by the program we had developed (see Bradon, Evans, Handley, Newstead, Dennis & Prat-Sala, undated), and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reading without phonology?

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 1985

... Derek Besner University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Ian Dennis Plymouth Polytechnic, England... more ... Derek Besner University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Ian Dennis Plymouth Polytechnic, England ... woird-word croth-cross const-cost snoirt-snort grense-grease panth-path weath-wealth chet-chest sef-self cronk-crown grabe-grade dant-chant wut-gut nas-gas gart-cart sush-sash ...

Research paper thumbnail of The role of working memory capacity in multiple-cue probability learning

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2011

Multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion when outcome fe... more Multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion when outcome feedback is provided for multiple cues. A great deal of research suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is involved in a wide range of tasks that draw on higher level cognitive processes. In three experiments, we examined the role of WMC in MCPL by introducing measures of working memory capacity, as well as other task manipulations. While individual differences in WMC positively predicted performance in some kinds of multiple-cue tasks, performance on other tasks was entirely unrelated to these differences. Performance on tasks that contained negative cues was correlated with working memory capacity, as well as measures of explicit knowledge obtained in the learning process. When the relevant cues predicted positively, however, WMC became irrelevant. The results are discussed in terms of controlled and automatic processes in learning and judgement.

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of precedence on Navon-induced processing bias in face recognition

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2008

Macrae and Lewis (2002) showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli i... more Macrae and Lewis (2002) showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli improved performance in a subsequent face identification task, whilst reporting the features of the Navon stimuli impaired performance. Using a face composite task, which is assumed to require featural processing, Weston and Perfect (2005) showed the complementary pattern: Featural responding to Navon letters speeded performance. However, both studies used Navon stimuli with global precedence, in which the overall configuration is easier to report than the features. Here we replicate the two studies above, whilst manipulating the precedence (global or featural) of the letter stimuli in the orientation task. Both studies replicated the previously reported findings with global precedence stimuli, but showed the reverse pattern with local precedence stimuli. These data raise important questions as to what is transferred between the Navon orientation task and the face-processing tasks that follow.

Research paper thumbnail of Local temporal distinctiveness does not benefit auditory verbal and spatial serial recall

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2006

In the present study, we examined the role of randomly arranged temporal intervals preceding and ... more In the present study, we examined the role of randomly arranged temporal intervals preceding and following items (pre-and postitem intervals, respectively) in auditory verbal and spatial recall tasks. The duration of the pre-and postitem intervals did not affect serial recall performance. This finding calls into question (1) the suggestion that the interval following an item permits the consolidation of information in memory, even in a relatively demanding spatial task, and (2) the prediction that temporal distinctiveness should improve performance. The latter was explored further by showing that in contrast to our empirical data, a relative temporal distinctiveness model produced significant increases in recall performance when pre-and postitem intervals increased. The results are discussed with regard to recent studies revisiting the role of temporal isolation in short-term serial memory.

Research paper thumbnail of Dual-processes in learning and judgment: Evidence from the multiple cue probability learning paradigm

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012

Multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion based on a set ... more Multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion based on a set of novel cues when feedback is provided in response to each judgment made. But to what extent does MCPL require controlled attention and explicit hypothesis testing? The results of two experiments show that this depends on cue polarity. Learning about cues that predict positively is aided by automatic cognitive processes, whereas learning about cues that predict negatively is especially demanding on controlled attention and hypothesis testing processes. In the studies reported here, negative, but not positive cue learning related to individual differences in working memory capacity both on measures of overall judgment performance and modelling of the implicit learning process. However, the introduction of a novel method to monitor participants' explicit beliefs about a set of cues on a trial-by-trial basis revealed that participants were engaged in explicit hypothesis testing about positive and negative cues, and explicit beliefs about both types of cues were linked to working memory capacity. Taken together, our results indicate that while people are engaged in explicit hypothesis testing during cue learning, explicit beliefs are applied to judgment only when cues are negative.

Research paper thumbnail of Explicit and implicit processes in multicue judgment

Memory & Cognition, 2003

In two experiments, a multicue probability learning task was used to train participants in relati... more In two experiments, a multicue probability learning task was used to train participants in relating judgments to a criterion, on the basis of several cues that could or could not be relevant. The outcome feedback had 25% added noise to simulate real-world experience-based learning. Judgmental strategies acquired were measured by individual multiple linear regression analyses of a test phase (with no feedback) and were compared with self-ratings of cue relevance. In a third experiment, participants were instructed explicitly on cue relevance, with no training phase. The pattern of results suggested that both implicit and explicit cognitive processes influenced judgments and that they may have been sensitive to different task manipulations in the learning phase. On more complex tasks, despite weak explicit learning, explicit processes continued to influence judgments, producing a decrement in performance. These findings explain why studies of expert judgment often show only moderate levels of self-insight, since people have only partial access to the processes determining their judgments.

Research paper thumbnail of Medical students’ attitudes to complementary and alternative medicine: Further validation of the IMAQ and findings from an international longitudinal study

Medical Teacher, 2009

Current research mainly employs cross-sectional designs to examine changes in medical students&am... more Current research mainly employs cross-sectional designs to examine changes in medical students' attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study to further validate the Integrative Medicine Attitude Questionnaire (IMAQ) and examine changes in medical students' attitudes over 3 years. A total of 154 medical students from four schools in three countries completed a modified version of the IMAQ during their first (T1) and fourth year (T2). We established the validity of a three-factor model for the IMAQ: (1) attitudes towards holism; (2) attitudes towards the effectiveness of CAM therapies, and (3) attitudes towards introspection and the doctor-patient relationship. We found that IMAQ factor scores did not differ significantly from T1 to T2, emphasizing the relative stability in attitudes across time. Various student characteristics were significantly associated with IMAQ factor scores at T2: age, gender, CAM use, CAM education and school; and two variables (gender and CAM use) predicted changes in medical students' attitudes between T1 and T2. We urge medical educators to continue exploring medical students' attitude changes towards CAM and we provide examples of what further research is needed.

Research paper thumbnail of Associative processes in repetition priming

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2003

Three experiments that investigated alternative accounts of repetition priming are reported. All ... more Three experiments that investigated alternative accounts of repetition priming are reported. All 3 experiments used semantic comparison tasks and included trials in which each of the 2 words being compared had previously occurred on separate trials. In the re-pair match condition, the response required matched that on the 2 previous trials in which the words had occured. In there-pair mismatch condition, the response required was opposite to that on the previous trials containing the words forming the critical pair. In all 3 experiments, responses were faster and more accurate in the re-pair match condition than in the re-pair mismatch condition. Possible accounts of this effect within the frameworks of instance theory and of transfer appropriate processing are considered.

Research paper thumbnail of Navon processing and verbalisation: A holistic/featural distinction

European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2008

... There is agreement amongst researchers that optimal face recognition is achieved through holi... more ... There is agreement amongst researchers that optimal face recognition is achieved through holistic processing where the information about specific features ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reasoning strategies: the role of working memory and verbal-spatial ability

European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2008

Evidence increasingly suggests individual differences in strategies adopted on reasoning tasks an... more Evidence increasingly suggests individual differences in strategies adopted on reasoning tasks and that these are either verbal-propositional or visuospatial in nature. However, the cognitive foundations of these strategies remain uncertain. Experiment 1 examined the relationship between the use of working memory resources and strategy selection for syllogistic reasoning. Verbal and spatial strategy users did not differ on working memory capacity, but confirmatory factor analysis indicated that while verbal reasoners draw primarily on verbal working memory, spatial reasoners use both this and spatial resources. Experiment 2 investigated the relationship between strategies and verbal and spatial abilities. Although strategy groups were similar in overall ability, regression analysis showed that performance on a spatial ability measure (Vandenberg mental rotation task) predicted syllogistic reasoning performance, but only for spatial strategy users. The findings provide converging evidence that verbal and spatial strategies are underpinned by related differences in fundamental cognitive factors, drawing differentially on the subcomponents of working memory and on spatial ability.

Research paper thumbnail of A comparison of different techniques for scaling perceived urgency

Ergonomics, 1995

In this paper four experiments are reported which compare different scaling techniques for assess... more In this paper four experiments are reported which compare different scaling techniques for assessing the perceived urgency of one set of seven auditory stimuli. The differences between scaling traditional continua and 'second order' continua such as perceived urgency are discussed. In three studies, free modulus magnitude estimation, fixed modulus magnitude estimation, and category rating are each used to measure the

Research paper thumbnail of Cognitive processes in engineering design: a longitudinal study

Ergonomics, 1994

... design studies have, however, been undertaken in other domains (particularly softwareengineer... more ... design studies have, however, been undertaken in other domains (particularly softwareengineering) which we ... One pioneering psychological study of design was carried out by Jeffries et al. ... then, the schema-which they describe as a set of production rules-i-contains essentially ...

Research paper thumbnail of Trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychiatric comorbidity among people with anaphylactic shock experience

Comprehensive Psychiatry, 2011

This study investigated the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, past traum... more This study investigated the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and psychiatric comorbidity among people after anaphylactic shock experience. The design was cross-sectional in that 94 people with anaphylactic shock experience responded to a postal survey. They completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the General Health Questionnaire 28, and the COPE Scale. They also answered questions on trauma exposure characteristics. The control group comprised 83 people without anaphylaxis. Twelve percent of people with anaphylactic shock experience fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for full PTSD. As a group, people with anaphylaxis reported significantly more past traumatic life events and psychiatric comorbidity than did the control. Partial least squares analysis showed that trauma exposure characteristics influenced postanaphylactic shock PTSD symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity, which, in turn, influenced coping strategies. People could develop PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity symptoms after their experience of anaphylactic shock. The way they coped with anaphylactic shock was affected by the severity of these symptoms. Past traumatic life events had a limited role to play in influencing outcomes.