Maria Teresa Bajo

Previous research suggests that Episodic Specificity Induction (ESI) (i.e., a brief training in episodic recall) can enhance performance in divergent thinking tasks. Based on the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis, participants need to access their past memories and use this information to generate novel ideas in divergent thinking tasks. While some studies report a strong positive effect of ESI on divergent thinking performance, recent evidence challenges this claim. The present meta-analysis examined the impact of the ESI procedure on divergent thinking performance across 21 samples from 16 experiments (reported in ten eligible studies). Results indicated a small increase in fluency (number of ideas), flexibility (categories of ideas), appropriate ideas and categories of appropriate ideas following ESI, compared to control conditions, that became weaker or null after correction for publication bias. Conversely, no significant effect of ESI was found on qualitative dimensions of divergent thinking tasks (e.g., originality, subjective creativity, and elaboration). Assessments of publication bias produced mixed results, generally indicating that studies with null findings may be under-represented in the literature. Given the small effect size and potential publication bias, further research is needed to clarify which components of ESI play a critical role in enhancing divergent thinking.

Previous studies suggest that Episodic Specificity Induction (ESI) improves the recall of episodic details and facilitates transfer to other cognitive tasks requiring episodic thinking (i.e., divergent thinking). However, the only study examining an adapted future-oriented ESI in children has failed to show benefits in subsequent cognitive tasks. To investigate this, two experiments were conducted using the standard ESI protocol with children. Experiment 1 tested second graders, fifth graders, and young adults using children-adapted materials (i.e., TV cartoons), while Experiment 2 tested fifth graders using non-adapted materials. Both experiments confirmed that ESI improved the recall of episodic details compared to a control condition. Additionally, developmental differences in episodic recall in Experiment 1 disappeared after controlling for total verbal production, suggesting that children’s episodic memory benefits when recalling materials that are child-friendly. Conversely, unexpected findings regarding transfer effect to divergent thinking revealed no transfer effects in Experiment 2 (non-adapted materials) and a significant increase in idea fluency and flexibility following the control condition in Experiment 1 (children-adapted materials). This result may be explained by a positive mood induction, as general questions accompanied by child-friendly videos could enhance creative performance following the control condition. These findings highlight the importance of carefully selecting and adapting ESI materials to children population in future studies.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems are increasingly used as transcription tools in recent psycholinguistic research. In this study, we examine whether Whisper ASR parallels human sensitivity to morphosyntactic variability in speech production. We focus on Spanish grammatical gender agreement, contrasting regular nouns with dual-gendered nouns (DGNs). DGNs are feminine nouns that begin with stressed /a/ and often take masculine determiners (el agua), which creates ambiguity between prescriptive rules and real-world usage. Using a controlled sentence-repetition paradigm, we compared native Spanish speakers and Whisper large-v3 in their repetition/transcription accuracy and correction behavior when processing determiner-noun gender mismatches. Both human and Whisper corrected prescriptively ungrammatical input for regular nouns. For DGNs, humans exhibited determiner-specific variability in correction shaped by collocational frequency, whereas Whisper defaulted to faithful transcription regardless of grammaticality or collocational frequency. These results indicate that ASR models encode strong grammatical priors that generally favor prescriptively dominant forms, but show little adjustment in the absence of reliable distributional cues. We conclude that although Whisper can serve as an efficient transcription tool, high transcription accuracy does not entail human-like language processing. Structured human verification and linguistically informed evaluation remain essential when ASR is used to transcribe or analyze morphosyntactic variation. More broadly, structured grammatical variability provides a testbed for improving ASR evaluation and for developing computational models that better align with human spoken-language behavior.

Prospective memory (PM) relies on switching processes to change from the ongoing activity to the future intention. Similarly, bilinguals in dual-language contexts are frequently required to switch between languages. In this study, we experimentally simulated the exposure to a dual-language context in a sample of single-language context bilinguals to explore the effect of language switching on PM. Thus, a group of bilinguals practiced language switching previous to the PM task (practice group) and were compared to a homologous group that did not receive this practice (control group). Event-related potential results indicated that the practice group showed greater wave amplitudes than the control group in the components associated to monitoring and switching processes. Whereas, this practice did not affect the retrospective components associated with the retrieval of the intention. This suggested that the interactional context in which bilinguals are immersed modulates their cognitive control strategies in charge of recalling future intentions.

Older adults often exhibit a higher susceptibility to false memories compared to younger adults, partly due to age-related declines in executive functions. Mullet and Marsh (2016) demonstrated that false memory errors in younger adults, elicited through sentences with pragmatic implications, can be corrected when errors are noticed and replaced after corrective feedback. However, the effect of feedback on the correction of false memories has not yet been tested in older adults, a key question given the increased vulnerability of older adults to memory errors. To address this, we conducted two experiments comparing younger and older participants using two feedback types: simply providing the correct answer or providing the correct answer with a follow-up question prompting revision of previous responses. In Experiment 1, participants underwent pre- and post-feedback memory tests (as in Mullet & Marsh, 2016), with an additional study-recall cycle for new, non-studied material (transfer test). Experiment 2 investigated this further by adding an additional study-retrieval phase, including pre- and post-feedback tests, in order to increase training in retrieval practice and metacognitive strategies. Results indicated that both age groups improved correct recall and reduced memory errors, with older adults benefiting most from repeated practice and feedback, demonstrating a transfer of learning strategies to new material. We highlight the role of engaging in effortful memory strategies to promote better learning during adulthood and aging.

English as a second language (L2) has become the medium of instruction in numerous contexts even though many people may have difficulties to read and study in L2. According to the self-regulated framework, metacognitive strategies are essential to achieve successful learning, but they are resource-consuming and their use might be compromised in demanding contexts such as learning in L2. In Experiment 1, nonbalanced bilinguals read high- and low-cohesion texts in L1 and L2 and self-rated their learning using a judgment of learning (JOL). Then, they answered open-ended questions and responded a customized questionnaire regarding their strategies. In Experiment 2, we introduced two bilingual groups varying in L2 proficiency. Overall, participants could adjust their JOLs and detect the difficulty of the texts correctly in L1 and L2. However, results evidenced some nuances in learning strategies related to L2 proficiency. We discuss these findings within the context of the self-regulated learning.

Nowadays, use of a second language (L2) has taken a central role in daily activities. There are numerous contexts in which people have to process information, acquire new knowledge, or make decisions via a second language. For example, in academia and higher education, English is commonly used as the language of instruction and communication even though English might not be students’ native or first language (L1) and they might not be proficient in it. Such students may face different challenges when studying and learning in L2 relative to contexts in which they study and learn in their L1, and this may affect their metamemory strategies. However, little is yet known about whether metamemory processes undergo significant changes when learning is carried out in L2. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible consequences on learning derived from studying materials in L2 and, more specifically, to explore whether the interplay between monitoring and control (metamemory processes) changes as a function of the language involved. In three experiments, we explored whether font type (Experiment 1), concreteness (Experiment 2), and relatedness (Experiment 3) affected judgments of learning (JOLs) and memory performance in both L1 and L2. JOLs are considered the result of metacognitive strategies involved in the monitoring of learning and have been reported to vary with the difficulty of the material. The results of this study showed that people were able to monitor their learning in both L1 and L2, even though they judged L2 learning as more difficult than L1. Interestingly, self-perceived difficulty did not hinder learning, and people recognized L2 materials as well or better than L1 materials. We suggest that this might be an example of a desirable difficulty for memory.