The abstraction of arbitrary categories

Bransford and Franks (1971) showed that people retain the ideas expressed in linguistic input, rather than retaining the individual sentences. The extent to which this phenomenon reflects organizational’ processes based on co-occurrence information was investigated by using Bransford and Franks’ procedure but substituting arbitrarily chosen groups of words for sentences. The subjects gave higher recognition ratings to large new groups (analogous to complex sentences) than to small new groups (analogous to simpler ones), so long as the size of the group was in the range normally presented. They also showed the same ordering for old groups; but they rated old groups higher than new groups within each group size. Hierarchical recognition response structure can be established without an ideational basis, and it does not require complete absence from memory of original input items.     

The abstraction of linguistic ideas in “meaningless” sentences

It was proposed that the Bransford and Franks linear effect is unrelated to semantic processes and will, therefore, occur even when “meaningless” sentences (i.e., sentences containing nonsense instead of meaningful content words) are employed. Within the Bransford and Franks format, Ss were given either the meaningless sentences or control sentences. Results showed a significant linear effect for the meaningless sentences. Furthermore, although the slope of the effect for meaningless sentences was flatter than that of the control, other data ruled out a semantic integration explanation based on the availability of semantic information contained in sentence structure. A simple guessing strategy hypothesis was offered to account for the linear effect.     

Modality of presentation and blocking in sentence recognition memory

In contrast to the findings of Bransford and Franks (1971) that no specific information is retained about acquisition sentences in their recognition memory paradigm, it was shown that subjects can consistently distinguish OLDs from NEWs when visual presentation is used, but not when auditory presentation is used. This is in agreement with the speculation of Katz and Gruenewald (1974) as to why such a split was observed in their study. This difference also has a bearing on the typical finding of no modality effects in long-term memory, as compared to the consistent superiority of auditory presentation in short-term memory. It was also found that blocking semantically related sentences during acquisition heightened the perceived "OLDness" of test sentences compared to nonblocked presentation.     

The abstraction of musical ideas

Music presents information both sequentially, in the form of musical phrases, and simultaneously, in the form of chord structure. The ability to abstract musical structure presented sequentially and simultaneously was investigated using modified versions of the Bransford and Franks’ (1971) paradigm. Listeners heard subsets of musical ideas. The abstraction hypothesis predicted (1) false recognition of novel instances of the abstracted musical idea, (2) confidence of “recognition” should increase as recognition items approximate the complete musical idea, (3) correct rejection of “noncases,” which deviate from the acquired musical structure. Experiment 1 investigated sequential abstraction by using four-phrase folk melodies as musical ideas. Predictions 1 and 3 were confirmed, but the false recognition rate decreased as the number of phrases increased. Listeners were sensitive to improper combinations of phrases and to novel melodies different from melodies presented during acquisition. Experiment 2 investigated simultaneous abstraction using four-voice Bach chorales as musical ideas. Listeners spontaneously integrated choral subsets into holistic musical ideas. Musically trained listeners were better than naive listeners at identifying noncases.     

Semantics of the transitive construction: prototype effects and developmental comparisons

This paper investigates whether an abstract linguistic construction shows the kind of prototype effects characteristic of non-linguistic categories, in both adults and young children. Adapting the prototype-plus-distortion methodology of Franks and Bransford (1971), we found that whereas adults were lured toward false-positive recognition of sentences with prototypical transitive semantics, young children showed no such effect. We examined two main implications of the results. First, it adds a novel data point to a growing body of research in cognitive linguistics and construction grammar that shows abstract linguistic categories can behave in similar ways to non-linguistic categories, for example, by showing graded membership of a category. Thus, the findings lend psychological validity to the existing cross-linguistic evidence for prototypical transitive semantics. Second, we discuss a possible explanation for the fact that prototypical sentences were processed differently in adults and children, namely, that children's transitive semantic network is not as interconnected or cognitively coherent as adults'.     

Imagery effects and semantic similarity in sentence recognition memory

The idea that subjects often use imagery to discriminate semantically similar sentences was tested in three experiments. In the first experiment, subjects heard subject-verb-object sentences in the context of either a comprehension task or an image-generation task. Their memory for the sentences was tested using a two-alternative forced-choice recognition test in which different types of distractor sentence were used. A sentence semantically similar to the target sentence was one type; a sentence with the same subject and object nouns as the target sentence, but dissimilar in meaning, was another type; and a sentence similar in meaning to one of the stimulus sentences, but not to the target sentence, was a third type. The results showed that the image-generation instructions enhanced later recognition performance, but only for semantically similar test items. A second experiment showed that this finding only holds for high-imagery sentences containing concrete noun concepts. A third experiment demonstrated that the enhanced recognition performance could not be accounted for in terms of a semantic model of test-item discrimination. Collectively, the results were interpreted as providing evidence for the notion that subjects discriminate the semantically similar test items by elaborating the sentence encoding through image processing.     

The role of unconscious memory errors in judgments of confidence for sentence recognition

The present experiment tested the hypothesis that unconscious reconstructive memory processing can lead to the breakdown of the relationship between memory confidence and memory accuracy. Participants heard deceptive schema-inference sentences and nondeceptive sentences and were tested with either simple or forced-choice recognition. The nondeceptive items showed a positive relation between confidence and accuracy in both simple and forced-choice recognition. However, the deceptive items showed a strong negative confidence/accuracy relationship in simple recognition and a low positive relationship in forced choice. The mean levels of confidence for erroneous responses for deceptive items were inappropriately high in simple recognition but lower in forced choice. These results suggest that unconscious reconstructive memory processes involved in memory for the deceptive schema-inference items led to inaccurate confidence judgments and that, when participants were made aware of the deceptive nature of the schema-inference items through the use of a forced-choice procedure, they adjusted their confidence accordingly.     

An attribute frequency model for the abstraction of prototypes

An attribute frequency model for the abstraction of prototypes is proposed as an alternative to the prototype-plus-transformation model. A specific model is tested in a Franks and Bransford visual pattern paradigm under conditions in which the two models generate contrasting predictions. The results support the attribute frequency model. Application of the model to reported data obtained in other paradigms is illustrated and discussed.     

Developmental aspects of the generation effect

Children from Grades 2, 3, 5, and 7 (7.6, 9, 11, and 13 years of age, respectively) were required to generate or study exemplars of semantic categories (semantic orientation) or rhymes to stimulus words (phonetic orientation). Each child then participated in one of three retention tests: free recall, standard recognition, and rhyme recognition. The results indicated that the developmental emergence of the “generation effect” (C. E. McFarland, Jr., T. J. Frey, & D. D. Rhodes, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1980, 19, 210–225; N. J. Slamecka & P. Graf, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1978, 4, 592–604) was dependent on both encoding orientation and the type of retention task employed. A substantial generation effect first emerged (7-year-olds) for standard recognition in the semantic condition. A similar effect for recall was evident for 9-year olds, but not for younger children. Internal stimulus generation became a strong memory facilitator for phonetically encoded items at age 11 for standard recognition, but not until age 13 for recall. The results of the rhyme recognition test indicated that internal generation facilitated “transfer-appropriate processing” (C. D. Morris, J. D. Bransford, & J. J. Franks, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1977, 16, 519–533) only for seventh graders (age 13). The processes underlying this developmental pattern were discussed.     

Effort toward comprehension: Elaboration or “aha”?

Auble and Franks (1978) found that a process termed “effort toward comprehension” was important in facilitating recall of sentences. Four experiments were conducted to further elucidate the nature of this process. Two hypotheses were considered: (1)Effort toward comprehension involves greater elaboration or deeper processing of the sentence; (2)effort toward comprehension can be viewed as an “aha” experience (i.e., a state of noncomprehension followed by comprehension of the sentence). Results indicated that recall was significantly greater for subjects in conditions producing “aha” reactions. No support was found for the elaboration interpretation of effort toward comprehension.     

Memory for prenominal adjectives in ordinary English sentences

Ss have been found to remember the gist of English sentences quite well while having little or no memory for structural features unrelated to the basic meaning. This research examines the representation of meaning in memory using adjective-noun phrases embedded in ordinary sentences. Ss studied a long series of sentences and were later tested for memory of certain of the adjectives in these sentences. Tested with a specially constructed forced-choice recognition procedure, Ss made significantly more recognition errors to distractors from the same predicative class as the correct choice than they did to distractors from different classes. This effect was highly significant when the correct choice was a nonpolar adjective but was not different from chance when a polar was correct. Data from a recall test procedure suggested this difference was due to Ss remembering the denotative or referential meaning of the adjective. The results showed that Ss remember abstract aspects of the predicative meaning of adjectival modification.     

Positive forgetting of sentence material

This experiment investigated the positive-forgetting phenomenon with sentence material. Sets of sentences were presented to Ss with each sentence being cued “remember” or “forget” immediately following its presentation. To-be-remembered (TBR) sentences were found to be more accessible thanto-be-forgotten (TBF) sentences and uncued control sentences. Sentence connectedness was found to be an important determiner of the magnitude of the observed recall phenomenon; but differential sentence interest was not a significant factor. Using a multiple-choice recognition test, key words or phrases from the to-be-forgotten sentences were found to be equally available as key words or phrases from the to-be-remembered sentences. These results warrant an extention of Bjork’s (1970, 1972) selective-rehearsal and differential-grouping interpretation of the positive-forgetting phenomenon to encompass sentence material. Some implications of the findings for single-presentation information acquisition were noted.     

The relative accessibility of semantic and deep-structure syntactic concepts

Three experiments were conducted to determine the relative accessibility of semantic and deep-structure syntactic concepts. In Experiment 1, which employed a concept-formation task, subjects learned the concept “deep-structure subject” more slowly than the case concept “experiencer.” In Experiments 2 and 3, which employed a new recognition memory procedure, subjects performed more poorly when the sentences to be remembered were differentiated on the basis of deep-structure syntactic relations than when they were differentiated on the basis of semantic relations. These results favor Fillmore’s case grammar, or another semantically based theory, rather than the “standard theory” of Chomsky in a model of linguistic behavior.     

PRODUCING GENERATIVE SENTENCE USAGE BY IMITATION AND REINFORCEMENT PROCEDURES1

Three retarded subjects and two developmentally normal toddlers were trained using imitation and reinforcement procedures to use correct sentences. The experimental task was to use sentences with correct subject-verb agreement to describe pictures that were presented to the subjects. Two classes of sentences were taught: those involving a plural subject that required the use of the verb “are” (for example, “the boys are running”) and those involving a singular subject that required the use of the verb “is” (for example, “the boy is running”). The basic design of the study involved multiple baselines for each class of sentences. Four of the subjects began to produce novel, untrained sentences of a particular type to generalization probe pictures when that particular class of sentence was currently being trained. Thus, the imitation and reinforcement procedures appeared to be functional in producing generative sentence usage for both types of sentences. One subject produced correct sentences to both singular and plural probe pictures when only “is” sentences had been taught. A reversal procedure and retraining phase indicated that for this subject, imitation and reinforcement procedures for training one class of sentence behavior seemed functional in producing generative responses of the other class of sentences.     

语义联系对关联再认神经机制的调节

已有研究显示,关联再认可记录到分别反映双重加工模型的两阶段（即熟悉和回忆）的ERP成分（即FN400和LPC成分）,且具有高语义联系配对的关联再认可通过整合在基于熟悉加工的基础上完成。然而,不同语义联系对关联再认神经机制的影响及单个项目的熟悉和回忆加工的调节作用尚未揭示。为此,本研究比较了主题相关和类别相关图形关联再认的波形波幅异同,并分析了单个项目的熟悉和回忆加工对配对识别的影响。结果显示,主题相关和类别相关条件的旧配对、重组配对和“旧+新”配对均记录到反映熟悉加工的FN400成分,主题相关条件的旧配对、重组配对和“旧+新”配对均记录到反映回忆加工的LPC成分,类别相关条件的旧配对记录到LPC成分。表明关联再认的神经机制受语义联系所调节,单个项目的熟悉程度可影响配对识别时的神经机制,上述结论支持双重加工模型。     

Recognition memory for related pictures

This study presents a test of the notion of semantic integration of information m pictures. In Experiment 1. subjects were presented pictures which comprised various subsets of the elements in one of four standard pictures. In the test phase. recognition confidence tor old and new items was a direct function of the number of figures in the test picture. However. recognition confidence was significantly higher for old than for new pictures, contrary to predictions of the integration model of Bransford and Franks (1971). In Experiment 2, the differential predictions of the integration model and the tally model (Reitman & Bower, 19731 were tested. The information for a key standard picture was presented solely as ONEs during acquisition. For the other three standard pictures. information was presented as ONEs, TWOs, and THREEs. The results were that recognition confidence increased with complexity at the test item with regular items but decreased with increasing complexity with key items. Together. these experiments support the tally model and demonstrate the generalizabilitv of this model to handle pictorial materials. Implications regarding the nature of picture memory are also discussed.     

Null category-length and target–lure relatedness effects in episodic recognition: A constraint on item-noise interference models

There are two main classes of model of interference effects in recognition memory: item-noise and context-noise. Item-noise models predict that a loss of memory discriminability will occur with an increase in the number of studied items from the same taxonomic category (category length, CL) and that forced-choice recognition performance will be higher when the target and lure are related rather than unrelated. Context-noise models, however, predict null effects for both of these manipulations. Although results from some recent experiments suggest that CL and target–lure relatedness have a trivial or no effect on memory discriminability when the related items from the same taxonomic category are “not back to back in the study list but are separated (spaced) by interleaving items from other semantic categories,” these experiments have methodological limitations that were eliminated in the present experiment in which exemplars representing category lengths of 2, 8, or 14 were presented spaced apart within the same study list. Recognition was tested using a yes/no recognition test or a two-alternative forced-choice recognition test in which the target and lure were either related or unrelated. In yes/no recognition, d′ decreased as CL increased, replicating prior research. However, when the slope of the z-ROC function is less than 1.0, as is typically so and was so in the present results, d′ differences can arise due to criterion shifts and are not necessarily due to memory discriminability differences. When the more appropriate measure of memory discriminability, d _a , was computed, CL had no effect in yes/no recognition, nor did it have an effect in forced-choice recognition, which also was not affected by target–lure relatedness. Thus, the present results are congruent with context-noise models and pose a challenge for item-noise models.     

Three turtles in danger: spontaneous construction of causally relevant spatial situation models

In 4 experiments, the author explored the spontaneous construction of spatial situation models during discourse comprehension by using the sentence-recognition paradigm of J. D. Bransford, J. R. Barclay, and J. J. Franks (1972). In Experiment 1, signaling causal relevance of spatial relations was a necessary precondition for replicating their original finding of spontaneously constructed spatial representations. Causal relevance was ensured in the subsequent experiments by a judgment task indirectly demanding the evaluation of described spatial relations with regard to causal relevance. Participants spontaneously constructed spatial situation models of text presented auditorily or visually. Effects of spontaneous construction were more reliable when encoding was easier. The results suggest a revised interpretation of J. D. Bransford et al.'s study and corroborate recent evidence showing that relevant spatial information in texts is reliably represented.     

编码任务对来源记忆的影响:一项事件相关电位研究

本研究采用ERPs技术,探讨编码任务对来源记忆的影响及其神经机制。在学习阶段,被试进行两种编码操作：匹配判断任务和大小判断任务;在测验阶段,让被试进行来源判断任务。行为结果发现：在编码阶段,匹配判断任务比大小判断任务需要更长的时间;在测验阶段,匹配判断任务在“项目旧/背景旧”和“部分旧”条件的正确率显著高于大小判断任务,匹配判断任务在“项目旧/背景旧”条件的反应时显著短于大小判断任务。测验阶段ERPs结果发现：两种编码任务的新旧效应在200~700ms均有较广泛的头皮分布,而在700~1100ms呈前额皮层最大化分布;匹配判断任务的新旧效应比大小判断任务更大,表现在600~700ms的FPz电极以及700~800ms的Pz、P4电极。由此可见,在来源记忆中,编码任务影响来源记忆,主要表现在后部顶区位置;晚期前额皮层新旧效应不受任务难度因素的影响。