Instance-based categorization: Automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval

Two experiments are reported which attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of intentional and automatic forms of retrieval to instance-based categorization. A financial decision-making task was used in which subjects had to decide whether a bank would approve loans for a series of applicants. Experiment 1 found that categorization was sensitive to instance-specific knowledge, even when subjects had practiced using a simple rule. L. L. Jacoby’s (1991) process-dissociation procedure was adapted for use in Experiment 2 to infer the relative contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to categorization decisions. The results provided (1) strong evidence that intentional retrieval processes influence categorization, and (2) some preliminary evidence suggesting that automatic retrieval processes may also contribute to categorization decisions.     

Response inhibition can affect reaction time to abrupt-onset visual displays

Reaction time (RT) to abrupt-onset stimuli has been widely used for more than a century to measure the duration of perceptuo-cognitive and motor processes [Donders, 1868/1969 Attention and Performance II (1969 Acta Psychologica 30 412-431)]. A complicating factor with the RT method is that of response withholding, or response inhibition (RI). The occurrence of RI (under this or other names) has been widely discussed in relation to studies of motor processes but has been largely ignored in relation to studies of perceptuo-cognitive processes. We demonstrate that RI can be a confounding factor when RT to abrupt-onset displays is used to study perceptual and cognitive processes. In experiment 1, new-object targets were more accurately detected than old-object targets in an unspeeded task, but were responded to more slowly in an RT task. Consistent with an interpretation in terms of RI, this pattern of results was dependent on the difficulty of target detection. The data of three further experiments also support predictions from the RI interpretation. It is suggested that RI may be an under-acknowledged factor in RT studies of perceptual and cognitive processes with abrupt-onset displays.     

学业优秀者和学业不良者的倒摄抑制比较 ——从结构化和非结构化角度

以汉字为实验材料,以学业优秀者和学业不良者为被试,探讨学习材料的结构化和非结构化性质对倒摄抑制产生的影响,以及两类学生学习两类材料时的倒摄抑制差异。并通过指导语,逐步揭示结构化材料中的规则,迫使被试采用有效的学习策略,来观察倒摄抑制的变化情况。结果表明:一、与非结构化材料相比,学习结构化材料表现出更好的记忆绩效,但未发现两者对倒摄抑制的不同影响;二、和学优者相比,学业不良者的记忆绩效较差,倒摄抑制值也较大;三、对材料规则的提示会促进学业不良学生的记忆绩效,降低倒摄抑制,但对学习优秀者的影响不大;四、一些汉字识别特征影响倒摄抑制,如当干扰项和目标项构形相同时,会降低倒摄抑制。     

The effect of presentation rate on categorization

Homogeneous experimental (acoustically and semantically related) and control lists were presented to different groups of subjects at either 1 s or 6 s per word. The difference score between these two lists was used as a measure of categorization. Only words in the middle serial positions (representing retrieval from secondary memory) were scored. Clustering was also measured.

Slow presentation rate significantly increased categorization of the semantically similar words. This was not true of acoustically similar words. A possible explanation of this is that semantic categorization is time-consuming and acoustic categorization is not. Alternatively, the acoustic similarity effect may be a retrieval effect. The absence of acoustic clustering would seem to fit in with this latter interpretation.     

知道与不知道要学多少：类别学习中样例量的预期作用

采用“5/4模型”类别结构探讨了类别学习中样例量的预期作用。设置了两种学习条件(“知道样例量”和“不知道样例量”), 分别探讨两种学习条件下的学习效率、学习策略以及所形成的类别表征。106名大学生参加了实验, 结果表明：在类别学习中, 样例量的预期作用显著, 知道样例量组的学习效率高于不知道样例量组; 样例量的预期作用对类别学习效率的影响是通过影响学习过程中使用的策略来实现的; 样例量的预期作用不影响两种学习条件的学习后形成的类别表征, 且两种学习条件的被试自始至终表现出样例学习的表征模式。     

Linear and nonlinear effects of aging on categorizing and naming faces.

Subjects aged 54-84 performed 5 separate tasks involving various aspects of face processing: structural decisions (1), familiarity decisions (2), semantic decisions (3), first-name decisions (4), and name retrieval (5). For the categorization tasks (1-4), the mean reaction times for the older subjects (over 65) were plotted against the corresponding means for the younger subjects (under 65). This produced a linear function (slope greater than 1, intercept less than 0), providing only partial support for a simple, multiplicative model of cognitive slowing with age. Reaction time distributions were also plotted for each of the 5 tasks (older vs. younger subjects). The resulting functions were almost perfectly linear, with the exception of name retrieval, which was exponential with respect to age. This was attributed to the increased probability of a tip-of-the-tongue state with age caused by insufficient activation at the level of the name information (the final state of face identification).     

内隐与外显记忆的编码与提取非对称性关系

实验采用“学习-测验”范式, 考察在编码或提取中分别附加的干扰任务对内隐测验或外显测验中获得的ERP新旧效应产生的影响。结果表明, 在内隐测验中, 编码干扰对随后测验中的ERP新旧效应没有产生影响, 而提取干扰却改变了300~500ms新旧效应的脑区位置, 破坏了500~700ms新旧效应; 与之相反, 在外显测验中, 编码干扰破坏了500~700ms新旧效应, 而提取干扰对这一效应没有产生影响, 即编码与提取干扰对内隐或外显测验中的ERP新旧效应都产生了非对称性的影响, 但又存在着差异, 从而为两种记忆在编码与提取加工的关系上存在的分离现象提供了神经生理方面的证据。     

The time course of precueing effects in probed immediate recall

In immediate probed recall of a single item from a six-letter list, some of the serial positions (SPs) were precued at various intervals in advance of recall. Rival predictions on effects of precueing were tested, derived from Sanders's (1975) ‘Positional Cueing Theory’ (PCT) and from Raaijmakers and Shiffrin's (1980) SAM theory (‘Search of Associative Memory’). Vocal recall was prompted by a probe signal, which indicated the position of the requested item. The probe started the reaction time (RT) interval and was presented at various intervals after a precue signal (300–900 msec). The precue indicated a subset of serial positions in which the probe would occur. In SAM theory, prerecent items are retrieved by a cue-dependent probabilistic search, while in PCT these items are retrieved by a deterministic inter-item serial search. Since a previous study had shown that precueing preactivates memory retrieval, predictions on how this preactivation would affect recall were derived from PCT and SAM theory. According to PCT, precueing does not change but merely preactivates the retrieval pathway, while in SAM theory, precueing provides additional and more specific retrieval cues. Consequently, PCT predicts only an advantage for latency, while SAM predicts a precueing advantage for both latency and accuracy. Accuracy results clearly supported positional cueing theory instead of SAM theory. Although both theories were in line with the findings on latency, positional cueing theory predicted the particular time course of the precueing effects observed across increasing precue-probe intervals.     

Retroactive interference in the retention of prose: A reconsideration and new evidence

The sensitivity of naturalistic prose material to retroactive interference (RI) was investigated in three experiments, with due consideration given to the conditions known to produce RI in non-prose material. In experiment 1, unrelated, related, and nearly identical (parapharase) prose passage conditions yielded a pattern of results very similar to those obtained with non-prose material, with only the related condition associated with significant amounts of RI. Based upon these results and a few simple assumptions, a classificatory scheme was developed within which predictions were made regarding RI in related prose material. Several such predictions were tested and confirmed in Experiments 2 and 3. It was concluded that the many previous failures to detect RI in the retention of prose may be attributed to factors other than any inherent insensitivity of the material itself, and that RI may be just as predictable in prose as it is non-prose material.     

Induction and categorization in young children: a similarity-based model

The authors present a similarity-based model of induction and categorization in young children (SINC). The model suggests that (a). linguistic labels contribute to the perceived similarity of compared entities and (b). categorization and induction are a function of similarity computed over perceptual information and linguistic labels. The model also predicts young children's similarity judgment, induction, and categorization performance under different stimuli and task conditions. Predictions of the model were tested and confirmed in 6 experiments, in which 4- to 5-year-olds performed similarity judgment, induction, and categorization tasks using artificial and real labels (Experiments 1-4) and recognition memory tasks (Experiments 5A and 5B). Results corroborate the similarity-based account of young children's induction and categorization, and they support both qualitative and quantitative predictions of the model.     

Increased sensitivity to proactive and retroactive interference in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: new insights

Background

Increased sensitivity to proactive (PI) and retroactive (RI) interference has been observed in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). PI and RI are often explained as being the result of a response competition mechanism. However, patients with aMCI are supposed to suffer mostly from encoding deficits. We hypothesized that in aMCI interference may occur at encoding and not only at the retrieval stage.

Material and methods

We developed an original paradigm enabling PI and RI to be tested with and without response competitors. Eighteen young controls (YC), 16 elderly controls (EC) and 15 aMCI participated in the study.

Results

The YC and EC groups presented interference effects only in conditions that included a direct response competitor. In contrast, aMCI had interference effects in all conditions including the one without response competitor.

Conclusion

Increased sensitivity to interference in aMCI appears to occur at the encoding/consolidation stage and not only at the retrieval stage, as is the case in healthy subjects. This result is discussed in the context of the associative encoding deficits characterizing aMCI.     

Retroactive interference as a function of degree of interpolated study without overt retrieval practice

In two experiments, retroactive interference (RI) was examined under conditions designed to minimize retrieval-induced inhibition and output interference. In Experiment 1, the participants first learned a list of 10 person-location pairs, after which they viewed an interpolated list with the same person terms and different locations for one, four, or eight cycles. Learning was via a study-only method, so that the experimental participants did not perform instructed retrieval of the second list before a cued recall test that asked for List 1 locations only. The experimental participants in Experiment 2 received incidental learning instructions and then viewed a list of 20 unrelated words followed by another list presented either one or four times; the first two letters of each List 1 word were provided on the critical recall test. In both experiments, RI occurred and increased with degree of interpolation. The results suggest that RI does not require retrieval-induced inhibition.     

Picture-word interference is a Stroop effect: A theoretical analysis and new empirical findings

The picture-word interference (PWI) paradigm and the Stroop color-word interference task are often assumed to reflect the same underlying processes. On the basis of a PRP study, Dell’Acqua et al. (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14: 717-722, 2007) argued that this assumption is incorrect. In this article, we first discuss the definitions of Stroop- and picture-word interference. Next, we argue that both effects consist of at least four components that correspond to four characteristics of the distractor word: (1) response-set membership, (2) task relevance, (3) semantic relatedness, and (4) lexicality. On the basis of this theoretical analysis, we conclude that the typical Stroop effect and the typical PWI effect mainly differ in the relative contributions of these four components. Finally, the results of an interference task are reported in which only the nature of the target – color or picture – was manipulated and all other distractor task characteristics were kept constant. The results showed no difference between color and picture targets with respect to all behavioral measures examined. We conclude that the assumption that the same processes underlie verbal interference in color and picture naming is warranted.     

Immediate judgments of learning are insensitive to implicit interference effects at retrieval

We conducted three experiments to determine whether metamemory predictions at encoding, immediate judgments of learning (IJOLs) are sensitive to implicit interference effects that will occur at retrieval. Implicit interference was manipulated by varying the association set size of the cue (Experiments 1 and 2) or the target (Experiment 3). The typical finding is that memory is worse for large-set-size cues and targets, but only when the target is studied alone and later prompted with a related cue (extralist). When the pairs are studied together (intralist), recall is the same regardless of set size; set size effects are eliminated. Metamemory predictions at retrieval, such as delayed JOLs (DJOLs) and feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments accurately reflect implicit interference effects (e.g., Eakin & Hertzog, 2006. In all three experiments, we found that DJOLs and FOKs accurately predicted set size effects on retrieval but that IJOLs did not. The findings provide further evidence that metamemory predictions are inferred from information other than direct access to the state of the memory trace, as well as indicate that inferences are based on different sources depending on when in the memory process predictions are made.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting occurs in tests of item recognition

Using the retrieval-practice paradigm (Anderson, R. A. Bjork, & E. L. Bjork, 1994), we tested whether or not retrieval-induced forgetting could be found in item recognition tests. In Experiment 1, retrieval practice on items from semantic categories depressed recognition of nonpracticed items from the same categories. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 in a more stringent source test for practiced, nonpracticed, and new items. These results conceptually replicate those of previous retrieval-induced forgetting studies done with cued recall (e.g., Anderson et al., 1994). Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that item-specific cues during retrieval will eliminate retrieval interference in the retrieval-practice paradigm (Butler, Williams, Zacks, & Maki, 2001). We discuss our results in relation to other retrieval interference and inhibition effects in recall and recognition.     

Describing categories of objects for menu retrieval systems

When searching for information in menu-based retrieval systems, users are given a choice among a set of categories. Successful retrieval of information depends critically on the user’s understanding the system’s division of objects into categories and the system’s labels for these categories. This research compares several different ways of describing ill-defined categories of objects using combinations of names and examples. Examples provide a promising possibility, both as a means of flexibly naming new or difficult menu categories and as a methodological tool for studying certain categorization problems.     

不同维度特征的共存对归类不确定性特征推理的影响

探讨在归类不确定的情境下,目标特征和预测特征的共存对特征推理的影响。共包括了三个实验,其中实验1、2考察了非靶类别中目标特征和预测特征的共存性对特征推理的影响,实验3考察了靶类别中目标特征和预测特征的共存性对特征推理的影响。三个实验五个分实验的结果一致支持了修正后的Bayesian规则,排除了“单类说”、“综合条件概率模型”的假设,并进一步修正了Bayesian规则为：     

Retrieval of pictures and words from long-term memory: Effects upon short-term memory

On each of a series of Brown-Peterson short-term memory (STM) tests, the presentation of a verbal to-be-remembered (TBR) item (a five-letter quintogram in Experiment 1 and an eight-letter octogram in Experiment 2) was followed immediately by a 10-sec retention interval. During the retention interval, subjects recalled and reproduced previously learned paired associate response triads that consisted of three concrete pictures, concrete words, abstract pictures, or abstract words. Following selective retrieval of one of the four types of response triads from long-term memory (LTM), subjects attempted to recall the TBR items from STM. In both experiments, the intervening retrieval of abstract words resulted in significantly poorer retention of the TBR items than did the intervening retrieval of concrete words; the retrieval of concrete words resulted, in turn, in significantly poorer retention of the TBR items than did the retrieval of concrete or abstract pictures. Retrieval of the latter two types of materials appeared not to interfere with the short-term retention of the TBR verbal material (i.e., the quintograms and octograms). The results reflect the occurrence of selective interference effects, and, except for one discrepant finding, appear to be consistent with Paivio’s 11971) dual-coding hypothesis and Shiffrin and Schneider’s (1977) general theory of memory.     

提取干扰对知觉和概念启动的影响

通过学习—测验范式,分别以词汇判断、语义分类任务为测验,探讨提取干扰对不同识别式记忆的影响差异。结果发现,实验1验证了识别式知觉内隐记忆的提取干扰效应,实验2发现识别式概念内隐记忆在提取干扰下也明显降低;两个实验启动量联合分析发现,相比无干扰条件,概念启动比知觉启动受到提取干扰的破坏更大。上述结果说明识别式内隐记忆的提取干扰具有普遍性,提取干扰产生了不同识别式内隐记忆之间的分离,识别式概念内隐记忆更容易受到提取干扰的影响。     

Metacognition and part-set cuing: Can interference be predicted at retrieval?

Although prior research has examined predictions of memory performance under conditions of interference at encoding, predictions of memory performance have not been examined for interference introduced via cues at retrieval. This was investigated in the present study by exposing participants to a random subset of to-be-recalled items just prior to retrieval (part-set cuing) and then eliciting an overall prediction of memory performance. Across three experiments, participants in part-set cuing conditions recalled proportionally fewer items than did participants who were not exposed to any cues. However, participants were unable to predict the detrimental effect of part-set cues on memory performance in either a semantic (Experiment 1) or an episodic (Experiment 2) memory task. Predictions were better calibrated after practice with part-set cuing, and there was evidence that prior experience with part-set cuing transferred to predictions made for a different part-set cuing task (Experiment 3). This suggests that only under some conditions are participants sensitive to the diminished accessibility of memories wrought by part-set cues and illustrates situations in which participants are or are not aware of variables at retrieval that influence memory performance.