Learning 10000 pictures

Four experiments are reported which examined memory capacity and retrieval speed for pictures and for words. Single-trial learning tasks were employed throughout, with memory performance assessed by forced-choice recognition, recall measures or choice reaction-time tasks. The main experimental findings were: (1) memory capacity, as a function of the amount of material presented, follows a general power law with a characteristic exponent for each task; (2) pictorial material obeys this power law and shows an overall superiority to verbal material. The capacity of recognition memory for pictures is almost limitless, when measured under appropriate conditions; (3) when the recognition task is made harder by using more alternatives, memory capacity stays constant and the superiority of pictures is maintained; (4) picture memory also exceeds verbal memory in terms of verbal recall; comparable recognition/recall ratios are obtained for pictures, words and nonsense syllables; (5) verbal memory shows a higher retrieval speed than picture memory, as inferred from reaction-time measures. Both types of material obey a power law, when reaction-time is measured for various sizes of learning set, and both show very rapid rates of memory search.

From a consideration of the experimental results and other data it is concluded that the superiority of the pictorial mode in recognition and free recall learning tasks is well established and cannot be attributed to methodological artifact.     

Encoding in anticipation of various tests of retention

Abstract.— Subjects learned a pictorial material in anticipation of either free recall (FR), serial recall (SR), or recognition tests. A design containing all possible combinations of anticipated test and test actually given was used. SR and recognition performance was best when subjects anticipated these tests, respectively, whereas FR performance was best when an SR test was anticipated. Anticipation of recognition tended to interfere with SR performance, and vice versa. The results indicate that subjects encode pictorial material differently in anticipation of different retention tests; that this serves to facilitate or to impair performance on the anticipated and/or other retention tests in a predictable manner; and that subjects tend to use different information from the stimuli to pass recognition tests and to pass recall (FR or SR) tests.     

On the development of encoding in anticipation of various tests of retention

Abstract.— Seven, 9, 12–13, and 18–21-year-old subjects learned a pictorial material in anticipation of free recall (FR), serial recall (SR), or recognition tests. Type of anticipated test and test actually given were factorially combined, retention being tested after 2 min or after 2 weeks. Recall performance improved with age but recognition performance did not improve after CA 9. Differential anticipation had little effect on the performance of the youngest children. For older subjects the effects were clear-cut and similar at all age levels and at both retention intervals. SR and recognition performance was best when subjects anticipated these tests, respectively; anticipation of recognition interfered with recall performance, and vice versa. The main age-related improvement occurred between age levels 7 and 9.     

Recognition of faces in the presence of two-dimensional sinusoidal masks

The spatial frequencies most relied upon by subjects in a recall task for face recognition were found to lie in the midfrequency range. A linear systems analysis model cannot account for these masking data in terms of retinocortical processing limitations alone. In order to account for the greater disruption of the face recognition task by masks in the range of 2.2 cycles/deg, the existence of unequal filtering of spatial frequency components must be recognized. This unequal filtering may occur either during memory deposition or retrieval of the input stimulus in the recall task or at any time in between.     

A dissociation in the effects of study modality on tests of implicit and explicit memory

Three experiments investigated variables affecting explicit and implicit memory for study modality. Explicit memory for modality was compared with implicit memory for modality (modalityspecific priming) following the study manipulation of modality and level of processing. Explicit recall of modality showed the same pattern of dissociations that has been observed between other measures of episodic memory and priming measures of memory. Manipulations of meaning at study that facilitated recognition and fragment-cued recall increased the accuracy of modality recall, but had no effect on primed fragment-completion performance. In contrast, changing modality between study and test affected fragment-cued performance, but had no effect on recognition or on modality recall. Successive tests of fragment-cued recall and modality recall were found to be highly dependent, whereas successive tests of fragment-completion and modality recall were essentially independent. The results are interpreted as evidence that (1) factors relevant to episodic memory of modality are unrelated to factors that produce modality-specific priming and (2) episodic memory for incidental attributes of an episode, such as modality of study, interacts with and is dependent upon memory for the episode as a whole.     

Recall as communication: Effects of frame anticipation

Summary Frame theories propose that memorization and retrieval reports are guided by frames, that is, abstract representations of a scene or an episode. They also propose that in unexpected recall, the subjects assume that the person who interprets the recall message uses a similar frame. Consequently, the recalling subject deletes from the recall report information from the frame that is highly predictable. This prediction was tested in an incidental memory task. After waiting 30 s in an office, the subjects were unexpectedly asked to recall everything in the office. They were either given standard instructions or instructions to recall so much that it would be comprehensible to a Martian. Thereafter, a recognition test was administered. In neither recall nor recognition were overall differences between the two recall conditions observed. The recognition data of both recall groups and a recognition-only group replicated previous findings, and were in agreement with the frame theories. The recall data revealed a significant interaction of recall instruction, object presence, and frame expectation. This is consistent with the proposition about frame anticipation. Recall of objects expected within the frame was higher under the Martian condition than under standard conditions, whereas recall of unexpected objects was higher under normal recall conditions. Both the recognition and the recall data are considered as evidence in favor of frame theory.     

Encoding processes in recognition and recall

The present experiments demonstrate that picture-word stimuli are differentially encoded in anticipation of a recognition test than in anticipation of a free-recall test. Subjects perform better on the retention test of which they have been informed, and different information from the stimuli is used to pass each test. These findings cannot be attributed to stimulus selection nor to pure pictorial encoding in anticipation of recognition and pure verbal encoding in anticipation of recall. Recognition is enhanced by encoding which integrates the details within each item while recall is enhanced by encoding which interrelates the items of a list.     

Can the irrelevant speech effect turn into a stimulus suffix effect?

The irrelevant sound effect (ISE) and the stimulus suffix effect (SSE) are two qualitatively different phenomena, although in both paradigms irrelevant auditory material is played while a verbal serial recall task is being performed. Jones, Macken, and Nicholls (2004) have proposed the effect of irrelevant speech on auditory serial recall to switch from an ISE to an SSE mechanism, if the auditory-perceptive similarity of relevant and irrelevant material is maximized. The experiment reported here (n = 36) tested this hypothesis by exploring auditory serial recall performance both under irrelevant speech and under speech suffix conditions. These speech materials were spoken either by the same voice as the auditory items to be recalled or by a different voice. The experimental conditions were such that the likelihood of obtaining an SSE was maximized. The results, however, show that irrelevant speech—in contrast to speech suffixes—affects auditory serial recall independently of its perceptive similarity to the items to be recalled and thus in terms of an ISE mechanism that crucially extends to recency. The ISE thus cannot turn into an SSE.     

Role of study strategy in recall of mixed lists of common and rare words

Experiment 1 confirmed previous findings that common words are more recallable than are rare words when the 2 kinds of words are presented in separate lists but not when they are presented in the same list. Experiment 2 showed much the same pattern when an orienting task was performed during word presentation. In Experiment 3 common words were found to be more recallable than rare words even for mixed lists when no warning was given of the memory test, although the effect was less pronounced than for pure lists. In Experiment 4 stronger measures were taken to preclude anticipation of the memory test, and the effect of word commonness was found to be just as pronounced with mixed lists as it was with pure lists. It was suggested that lists are studied in a way believed to optimize recall and that mixed lists foster a strategy of favoring the rare words.     

Relation between verbal recall and visual recognition of the same stimuli in young children

Five-year-old children (N = 112) were shown drawings of common objects three times either as a naming-and-learning task or as a preference task (incidental learning). A verbal recall test followed by a class- and item-recognition test, scaled to reflect the accuracy of item recognition, were given either 2 min or two weeks after presentation. Intentional learning with naming led to better immediate recall than incidental learning, but the recognition and delayed recall scores were equal for the two learning conditions. The probability of verbal recall of object names was in each case uncorrelated with the accuracy of visual recognition of the same objects by the same Ss. The results are closely similar to those obtained with adult Ss by Bahrick and Boucher (1968).     

Rehearsal strategies and the serial-position curve in immediate free recall of ordered items

Immediate free recall of random strings of 10 numbers was studied under four experimental conditions: as each number was presented, subjects either had to recall the previous number (Recall n-1), recall the number just presented (Recall n), read the number (Read aloud), or were silent (Free Recall). Overall recall was the same in all conditions. Recall and order of recall by serial-position changed systematically, with an increasing recency and decreasing primacy effect from Free Recall through Read Aloud and Recall n to Recall n-1. These changes in recall order and serial-position curves suggest that differential rehearsal of items is decreased by requiring retrieval during presentation.     

Phonological short‐term memory and vocabulary development: further evidence on the nature of the relationship

The nature and generality of the developmental association between phonological short‐term memory and vocabulary knowledge was explored in two studies. Study 1 investigated whether the link between vocabulary and verbal memory arises from the requirement to articulate memory items at recall or from earlier processes involved in the encoding and storage of the verbal material. Four‐year‐old children were tested on immediate memory measures which required either spoken recall (nonword repetition and digit span) or recognition of a sequence of nonwords. The phonological memory–vocabulary association was found to be as strong for the serial recognition as recall‐based measures, favouring the view that it is phonological short‐term memory capacity rather than speech output skills which constrain word learning. In Study 2, the association between phonological memory skills and vocabulary knowledge was found to be strong in teenaged as well as younger children, indicating that phonological memory constraints on word learning remain significant throughout childhood. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two Types of Conditioned Reflex and a Pseudo Type

Although it is widely known that memory is enhanced when encoding and retrieval occur in the same state, the impact of elevated stress/arousal is less understood. This study explores mood-dependent memory's effects on visual recognition and recall of material memorized either in a neutral mood or under higher stress/arousal levels. Participants’ (N = 60) recognition and recall were assessed while they experienced either the same or a mismatched mood at retrieval. The results suggested that both visual recognition and recall memory were higher when participants experienced the same mood at encoding and retrieval compared with those who experienced a mismatch in mood context between encoding and retrieval. These findings offer support for a mood dependency effect on both the recognition and recall of visual information.     

Retrieval dynamics in recognition and list discrimination: Further evidence of separate processes of familiarity and recall

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the time course of retrieval from memory is different for familiarity and recall. The response-signal method was used to compare memory retrieval dynamics in yes-no recognition memory, as a measure of familiarity, with those of list discrimination, as a measure of contextual recall. Responses were always made with regard to membership in two previous study lists. In Experiment 1 an exclusion task requiring positive responses to words from one list and negative responses to new words and words from the nontarget list was used. In Experiment 2, recognition and list discrimination were separate tasks. Retrieval curves from both experiments were consistent, showing that the minimal retrieval time for recognition was about 100 msec faster than that for list discrimination. Repetition affected asymptotic performance but had no reliable effects on retrieval dynamics in either the recognition or the list-discrimination task.     

Effects of loss of freedom on subjects with internal or external locus of control

This study investigated the relationship between internal versus external locus of control of reinforcement and counter control or reactance in subjects in a verbal learning experiment. Internal and external controllers were given either a choice or no choice of material to be learned in a paired associate, anticipation task (after Monty & Perlmuter, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972, 94, 235–238). As hypothesized, the lack of freedom of choice was associated with counter control (decreased recall) in internals. Being able to choose material lead to faster learning for both internals and externals after first trial recall.     

Eye fixations in prediction of recognition and recall

Eye fixations were recorded at viewing of picture-label stimuli presented under either recall or recognition instructions; both retention tests were administered. Ss performed substantially better on the retention test of which they were informed, indicating differential encoding of the same stimuli in anticipation of test type. There was no correlation between recognition and recall of items, evidence that different information from the encoded stimuli was utilized in performing each test. Encoding strategies had no effect on how Ss regarded the stimuli, but viewing patterns were related to memory performance: More word fixations was associated with better verbal recall, while fewer picture fixations was associated with better recall and with better picture recognition.     

The effect of mood-context on visual recognition and recall memory

Although it is widely known that memory is enhanced when encoding and retrieval occur in the same state, the impact of elevated stress/arousal is less understood. This study explores mood-dependent memory's effects on visual recognition and recall of material memorized either in a neutral mood or under higher stress/arousal levels. Participants' (N = 60) recognition and recall were assessed while they experienced either the same o a mismatched mood at retrieval. The results suggested that both visual recognition and recall memory were higher when participants experienced the same mood at encoding and retrieval compared with those who experienced a mismatch in mood context between encoding and retrieval. These findings offer support for a mood dependency effect on both the recognition and recall of visual information.     

Recognition vs. recall: Storage or retrieval differences?

Differences between recognition and recall performance may be due to differences in storage processes, differences in retrieval processes, or some combination of both. An attempt was made to determine which process was critical by withholding information, at the time of study of a stimulus-response pair, about how that item was to be tested on its next presentation. It was found that differences between recognition and recall did not depend upon whether or not the subject knew, at time of study, the mode of test to be employed. These results were interpreted as support for the assertion that, in this particular task, differences in retrieval processes were sufficient to account for differences in recognition and recall. It was found that both the direction and magnitude of the recognition-recall difference depended upon the guessing correction employed.     

Encoding differences in recognition and recall

After practice consisting of the free recall of five blocked categorized lists, Ss were presented a sixth list and then unexpectedly tested for recognition. After practice at recognition of the same five lists, Ss were unexpectedly tested for recall following presentation of the sixth test. Recognition performance was superior when items were encoded in anticipation of a recognition test. Intracategory serial position functions for Ss anticipating recall tests were different from those anticipating recognition tests regardless of the retention test employed. The role of control processes in recall and recognition testing is discussed     

The revelation effect for item and associative recognition: Familiarity versus recollection

The revelation effect occurs when items on a recognition test are more likely to be judged as being old if they are preceded by a cognitive task that involves the processing of similar types of stimuli. This effect was examined for item (single-word) and associative (word-pair) recognition. We found, in Experiments 1 and 2, a revelation effect for item, but not for associative recognition under normal study conditions. A revelation effect for both item and associative recognition was observed in Experiments 3 and 4 when study time was extremely brief, thus limiting the encoding of information that would support recall or recollection. In Experiment 5, we demonstrated that the revelation effect for item recognition is eliminated when item recognition decisions are made in the context of a study item. The results show that the revelation task influenced recognition decisions based on familiarity, but not decisions that involved recall or recollection.