Memory, Judgment, and Neuroeconomics—Insights from Current Directions in Psychological Science

Current Directions in Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science, offers a unique perspective on developments taking place across the many different areas of psychological science. New reports from the June issue of the journal examine how people retrieve memories from their minds, a new model of how working memory works, how we judge each other’s personalities, and a multi-disciplinary field of study that merges behavior and economics.

Retrieval-Based Learning: Active Retrieval Promotes Meaningful Learning

Scientists who study learning tend to investigate how memories are formed during learning. But Jeffrey D. Karpicke of Purdue University argues that the processes associated with retrieving memories play a more central role in learning. In this article, he outlines the retrieval-based learning perspective and discusses the role of retrieval in learning as well as how retrieval enhances long-term learning, and promotes meaningful learning.
Jeffrey D. Karpicke — [email protected]

Attention to Information in Working Memory

Working memory is essentially the amount of space we have in our minds to hold information while we’re working on something. Klaus Oberauer and Laura Hein of the University of Zurich propose a new model of working memory called the three-embedded-components framework. They suggest that within working memory there is a broad focus of attention with the ability to store up to four chunks of information and a narrow focus of attention with the ability to select one chunk for further processing. The authors present evidence supporting their model and discuss it in relation to other models of working memory.
Klaus Oberauer — [email protected]

Accurate Personality Judgment

Being able to gauge another person’s personality is a critical social skill. In this article, David C. Funder from University of California, Riverside discusses how accurate personality judgments happen. He discusses how accuracy in judgment is measured and examines the Realistic Accuracy Model, a model that describes an individual’s personality and how their personality is assessed by another person. He also outlines four moderating factors important for determining how accurate our personality judgments are.
David C. Funder — [email protected]

Neuroeconomics is a field that combines economics, psychology, computational science, and neuroscience to study the neural basis of reward-related decision making in both social and nonsocial contexts. In this article, Carla Sharp from University of Houston from discusses how this new field could be used to study social interactions in children and adolescents diagnosed with externalizing disorders, such as ADHD or conduct disorder.
Carla Sharp — [email protected]