[Face-research-list] The Cambridge Car Memory Test

Hi all, Given that the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) has been very widely used, I thought some of you may be interested to know that we have just published a paper with young adult norms for a new non-face object memory test (the CCMT) with the same format as the CFMT. As with the CFMT, the CCMT has a range suitable for investigating individual differences in the normal adult population. You can access the paper at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/c36317587643qt37/ I have also included the abstract below. Regards, Hugh Dennett -- The Cambridge Car Memory Test: A task matched in format to the Cambridge Face Memory Test, with norms, reliability, sex differences, dissociations from face memory, and expertise effects Hugh W. Dennett, Elinor McKone, Raka Tavashmi, Ashleigh Hall, Madeleine Pidcock, Mark Edwards and Bradley Duchaine Behavior Research Methods DOI: 10.3758/s13428-011-0160-2 Many research questions require a within-class object recognition task matched for general cognitive requirements with a face recognition task. If the object task also has high internal reliability, it can improve accuracy and power in group analyses (e.g., mean inversion effects for faces vs. objects), individual-difference studies (e.g., correlations between certain perceptual abilities and face/object recognition), and case studies in neuropsychology (e.g., whether a prosopagnosic shows a face-specific or object-general deficit). Here, we present such a task. Our Cambridge Car Memory Test (CCMT) was matched in format to the established Cambridge Face Memory Test, requiring recognition of exemplars across view and lighting change. We tested 153 young adults (93 female). Results showed high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .84) and a range of scores suitable both for normal-range individual-difference studies and, potentially, for diagnosis of impairment. The mean for males was much higher than the mean for females. We demonstrate independence between face memory and car memory (dissociation based on sex, plus a modest correlation between the two), including where participants have high relative expertise with cars. We also show that expertise with real car makes and models of the era used in the test significantly predicts CCMT performance. Surprisingly, however, regression analyses imply that there is an effect of sex per se on the CCMT that is not attributable to a stereotypical male advantage in car expertise. -- Hugh Dennett Ph.D. Candidate Department of Psychology The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 E: hugh.dennett(a)anu.edu.au T: +61 2 6125 2716 W: http://psychology.anu.edu.au/_people/people_details.asp?recId=177