P. B. Sederberg, M. W. Howard, and M. J. Kahana have proposed an updated version of the temporal-context model (TCM-A). In doing so, they accepted the challenge of developing a single-store model to account for the dissociations between short- and long-term recency effects that were reviewed by E. J. Davelaar, Y. Goshen-Gottstein, A. Ashkenazi, H.…

M. Singh and B. L. Anderson proposed a perceptual theory of achromatic transparency in which the perceived transmittance of a perceived transparent filter is determined by the ratio of the Michelson contrast seen in the region of transparency to that of the background seen directly. Subsequently, B. L. Anderson, M. Singh, and J. Meng proposed that…

All of the data reported in Robilotto, Khang, and Zaidi (2002) Robilotto and Zaidi (2004), and Singh and Anderson (2002) are consistent with Robilotto and Zaidi's theory that perceived transparency (or opacity) is determined by the perceived contrast of the filter region. Kasrai and Kingdom's (2001) results also appear largely consistent with the…

R. Ratcliff, P. Gomez, and G. McKoon (2004) suggested much of what goes on in lexical decision is attributable to decision processes and may not be particularly informative about word recognition. They proposed that lexical decision should be characterized by a decision process, taking the form of a drift-diffusion model (R. Ratcliff, 1978), that…

Visual backward masking is a versatile tool for understanding principles and limitations of visual information processing in the human brain. However, the mechanisms underlying masking are still poorly understood. In the current contribution, the authors show that a structurally simple mathematical model can explain many spatial and temporal…

Comments on the article by E. Brandstatter, G. Gigerenzer, and R. Hertwig (2006). Resolution of debates in cognition usually comes from the introduction of constraints in the form of new data about either the process or representation. Decision research, in contrast, has relied predominantly on testing models by examining their fit to choices. The…

Traditional accounts of memory development suggest that maturation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) enables efficient metamemory, which enhances memory. An alternative theory is described, in which changes in early memory and metamemory are mediated by representational changes, independent of PFC maturation. In a pilot study and Experiment 1, younger…

Comments on the article by E. Brandstatter, G. Gigerenzer, and R. Hertwig (2006). The authors discuss the priority heuristic, a recent model for decisions under risk. They reanalyze the experimental validity of this approach and discuss how these results compare with cumulative prospect theory, the currently most established model in behavioral…

During the last 25 years, prospect theory and its successor, cumulative prospect theory, replaced expected utility as the dominant descriptive theories of risky decision making. Although these models account for the original Allais paradoxes, 11 new paradoxes show where prospect theories lead to self-contradiction or systematic false predictions.…

Trial-to-trial variation in word-pronunciation times exhibits 1/f scaling. One explanation is that human performances are consequent on multiplicative interactions among interdependent processes-interaction dominant dynamics. This article describes simulated distributions of pronunciation times in a further test for multiplicative interactions and…

This article outlines a model of the structure and the dynamics of gender cognition in childhood. The model incorporates 3 hypotheses featured in different contemporary theories of childhood gender cognition and unites them under a single theoretical framework. Adapted from Greenwald et al. (2002), the model distinguishes three constructs: gender…

The authors assume that individuals adapt rationally to a utility function given constraints imposed by their cognitive architecture and the local task environment. This assumption underlies a new approach to modeling and understanding cognition--cognitively bounded rational analysis--that sharpens the predictive acuity of general, integrated…

The authors propose a simple behavioral economic model (BEM) describing how reinforcement and interval timing interact. The model assumes a Weber-law-compliant logarithmic representation of time. Associated with each represented time value are the payoffs that have been obtained for each possible response. At a given real time, the response with…

Depression is the primary emotional condition for which help is sought. Depressed people often report persistent rumination, which involves analysis, and complex social problems in their lives. Analysis is often a useful approach for solving complex problems, but it requires slow, sustained processing, so disruption would interfere with problem…

The temporal context model posits that search through episodic memory is driven by associations between the multiattribute representations of items and context. Context, in turn, is a recency weighted sum of previous experiences or memories. Because recently processed items are most similar to the current representation of context, M. Usher, E. J.…