Generation enhances semantic processing? The role of distinctiveness in the generation effect

The goal of the present study was to investigate the locus of the memory advantage for words that are generated according to a nonsemantic rule (letter transposition) over words that are presented intact (read words). In the first two experiments, a category instance generation task was used to test the possibility that the semantic features of generated words are more readily available than those of read words. This possibility was not supported. In Experiment 3, generation effects were found to depend on the level of meaningfulness of words in recall, but not in recognition. In Experiment 4, a between-list design eliminated the generation effect found in recall, but did not affect the generation effect in recognition. Taken together, these findings suggest that generating a target according to a letter transposition rule enhances the distinctiveness of the word along a nonsemantic dimension.     

Dissociative effects of generation on item and order retention.

The effects of generation on the long-term retention of item and order information were examined in a between-list design in 3 experiments. In each experiment, completing word fragments during presentation significantly impaired long-term retention of serial order, as measured by either a reconstruction task or the amount of input-output correspondence in free recall. Memory for the individual items, however, was sometimes helped by generation. This pattern of dissociation, reminiscent of immediate memory findings, is used to interpret problematic issues in the generation effect literature and to argue for the role of the item-order distinction in the long-term-memory arena.     

Age of acquisition's effect on memory for semantically associated word pairs

This experiment investigated the effects of age of acquisition (AoA) in memory for associated word pairs in a cued recall task. Participants studied a list of frequency-controlled early- and late-acquired words in semantically related pairs and then were asked to recall the second word of the pair when cued with the first. Reaction time effects were found, showing that a late-acquired cue for an early-acquired target word was responded to significantly faster than other combinations. Additionally, late-acquired target words resulted in significantly more accurate responses. As significant differences were found even when frequency was controlled, the effects must therefore stem from the manipulations ofAoA. Given this evidence, the implications for AoA's effects on the organization of semantic memory are explored.     

The effects of word co-occurrence on short-term memory: associative links in long-term memory affect short-term memory performance

In immediate serial recall tasks, high-frequency words are recalled better than low-frequency words. This has been attributed to high-frequency words' being better represented and providing more effective support to a redintegration process at retrieval (C. Hulme et al., 1997). In studies of free recall, there is evidence that frequency of word co-occurrence, rather than word frequency per se, may explain the recall advantage enjoyed by high-frequency words (J. Deese, 1960). The authors present evidence that preexposing pairs of low-frequency words, so as to create associative links between them, has substantial beneficial effects on immediate serial recall performance. These benefits, which are not attributable to simple familiarization with the words per se, do not occur for high-frequency words. These findings indicate that associative links between items in long-term memory have important effects on short-term memory performance and suggest that the effects of word frequency in short-term memory tasks are related to differences in interitem associations in long-term memory.     

The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression

Information processing biases are hallmark features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Depressed individuals display biased memory and attention for negative material. Given that memory is highly dependent on attention for initial encoding, understanding the interplay of these processes may provide important insight into mechanisms that produce memory biases in depression. In particular, attentional control—the ability to selectively attend to task-relevant information by both inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information and disengaging attention from irrelevant material—may be one area of impairment in MDD. In the current study, clinically depressed (MDD: n = 15) and never depressed (non-MDD: n = 22) participants' line of visual gaze was assessed while participants viewed positive and negative word pairs. For each word pair, participants were instructed to attend to one word (target) and ignore one word (distracter). Free recall of study stimuli was then assessed. Depressed individuals displayed greater recall of negatively valenced target words following the task. Although there were no group differences in attentional control in the context of negative words, attention to negative targets mediated the relationship between depression status and recall of negative words. Results suggest a stronger link between attention and memory for negative material in MDD.     

情绪效价的记忆增强效应:存储或提取优势?

情绪效价和情绪唤醒是描述情绪的两个维度。情绪增强记忆效应表明情绪唤醒事件的记忆往往优于非情绪唤醒事件的记忆,但关于积极情绪记忆和消极情绪记忆哪个在记忆中处于优势仍存在争论。实验以情绪词对和中性词对为实验材料。实验一探讨积极情绪词语或消极情绪词语的记忆优势; 实验二探讨积极情绪环境或消极情绪环境中中性词语的记忆优势。在两种实验条件下,积极情绪下的自由回忆都优于消极情绪下的自由回忆; 多项加工树的存储—提取模型使用实验自由回忆和线索回忆的结果将记忆的存储和提取优势分离开来,结果表明:积极情绪事件记忆优势发生在存储阶段,而积极情绪环境记忆优势发生在存储和提取阶段; 积极情绪事件记忆偏向支持“刺激后编码增强假设”,积极情绪环境记忆偏向支持“唤醒—偏向竞争假设”。     

Age of acquisition's effect on memory for semantically associated word pairs

This experiment investigated the effects of age of acquisition (AoA) in memory for associated word pairs in a cued recall task. Participants studied a list of frequency-controlled early- and late-acquired words in semantically related pairs and then were asked to recall the second word of the pair when cued with the first. Reaction time effects were found, showing that a late-acquired cue for an early-acquired target word was responded to significantly faster than other combinations. Additionally, late-acquired target words resulted in significantly more accurate responses. As significant differences were found even when frequency was controlled, the effects must therefore stem from the manipulations of AoA. Given this evidence, the implications for AoA's effects on the organization of semantic memory are explored.     

Primacy and recency in primed free association and associative cued recall

Two experiments compared the serial positions of primed words in an implicit free association test with words recalled in a cued recall test. In both tests, weakly or strongly related word pairs were studied, and the first words of each pair formed the test cues. In the implicit test, weakly related words pairs showed primacy and extended recency effects but strongly related word pairs did not. In the explicit test, both weakly and strongly related word pairs showed primacy and extended recency effects. These functional dissociations between implicit and explicit memory tests indicate that strongly related word pairs are encoded together because they have unitized memory representations that function as integrated units without requiring any additional associative links to be made, but that an additional system or process is required to strengthen weakly related word pairs during encoding. In addition, a further additional system or process is accessed by explicit retrieval.     

An item/order trade-off explanation of word length and generation effects

The item-order hypothesis suggests that under certain conditions increased item processing can lead to deficits in order processing, and that this produces a dissociation in performance between item and order tasks. The generation effect is one such example. The word length effect is seen as another instance where this trade-off might be observed. The following experiments compare word length and generation effects under serial recall and single item recognition conditions. Short words are better recalled than long words on the serial recall task but long words were better recognised than short words. The results are consistent with the item-order approach and support a novel explanation for the word length effect.     

An item/order trade‐off explanation of word length and generation effects

The item‐order hypothesis suggests that under certain conditions increased item processing can lead to deficits in order processing, and that this produces a dissociation in performance between item and order tasks. The generation effect is one such example. The word length effect is seen as another instance where this trade‐off might be observed. The following experiments compare word length and generation effects under serial recall and single item recognition conditions. Short words are better recalled than long words on the serial recall task but long words were better recognised than short words. The results are consistent with the item‐order approach and support a novel explanation for the word length effect.     

Determ inants of Positive and Negative Generation Effects in Free Recall

Better retention of self-produced as opposed to experimenter-presented material is called generation effect ; the reverse phenomenon is the negative generation effect. Both are found in intentional-learning experiments in which generating versus reading is manipulated between subjects. The present article presents an overview of those findings and aims at clarifying the conditions under which these effects emerge. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that if cuetarget relations are manipulated within one list, a negative generation effect in free recall can be obtained for all items, no matter which cue-target relation they bear. In Experiment 3, cue-target relations were manipulated between lists. Here, a negative generation effect in free recall was found only in lists in which items were cued with words that mismatched the intertarget relations, whereas a positive generation effect was observed in those lists in which the generation cues matched the inter-target relations. A subsequent cued-recall test demonstrated that in cases of mismatch of relations, participants in the generate condition process cue-target relations at the expense of inter-target relations. The three-factor theory can be integrated with the task-demand account in a transfer-appropriate processing framework to accommodate these findings.     

Word frequency effects in associative and item recognition

The word frequency effect (WFE) has been taken as evidence that recall and recognition are in some way fundamentally different. Consequently, most models assume that recall and recognition operate via very different retrieval mechanisms. Experiment 1 showed that the WFE reverses for associative recognition, which requires discrimination between intact test pairs and recombinations of study list words from different study pairs. Experiment 2, in which word triples were used, revealed an interaction between word frequency and test type: for item recognition, performance was better for low-frequency words; however, for associative recognition and free recall, performance was better for high-frequency words. In Experiment 3, item recognition was tested: although overall performance was better for low-frequency words, the recognition advantage for items in intact pairs was larger for high-frequency words, suggesting two components in recognition memory. These results imply common mechanisms in recall and recognition. Theoretical implications are discussed within the framework of the SAM model.     

Distinctiveness effects in recall:

Unusual information is generally recalled better than common information (the distinctiveness effect). Differential processing accounts propose that the effect occurs because unusual material elicits encoding processes that are different from those elicited by common material, and strong versions of these accounts predict distinctiveness effects in between-list as well as within-list designs. Experiment 1 employed a between-list design and manipulated presentation rate. Contrary to differential processing predictions, no distinctiveness effect emerged, nor did recall patterns for atypical versus common sentences differ as a function of presentation rate. Experiment 2 further tested differential processing accounts as well as representation accounts via a within-list manipulation and conditions that included experimenter-provided elaborations. Distinctiveness effects emerged in all conditions and, contrary to differential processing predictions, the pattern of recall in the elaborated conditions did not differ from that in the unelaborated conditions. Taken together, the results of this study lend more support to a representation view that suggests mechanisms related to the representation and subsequent retrievability of elements in the memory record play a major role in the distinctiveness effect.     

The emergent generation effect and hypermnesia: influences of semantic and nonsemantic generation tasks

The generation effect is moderated by experimental design, affecting recall in within-subjects designs but typically not in between-subjects designs. However, N. W. Mulligan (2001) found that the generation effect emerged over repeated recall tests in a between-subjects design, calling into question the generality of this limiting condition. In addition, the generate condition but not the read condition produced hypermnesia (increased recall over tests). The present experiments demonstrate that semantic-based (semantic-associate and category-associate) generation tasks produce this pattern of results whereas nonsemantic (letter transposition, rhyme, word fragment) generation tasks do not. Thus, the emergent generation effect appears to be a byproduct of semantic elaboration rather than a direct product of generation. In addition, high- and low-imagery words produced equivalent hypermnesia and emergent generation effects, arguing against a mediating role for imagistic encoding. Finally, there is no evidence of an emergent generation effect for nonwords, another traditional limiting condition of the generation effect.     

Retrieval contexts and the concreteness effect: Dissociations in memory for concrete and abstract words

Decades of research on the concreteness effect, namely better memory for concrete as compared with abstract words, suggest it is a fairly robust phenomenon. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to limiting retrieval contexts. Two experiments evaluated intentional memory for concrete and abstract word lists in three retrieval contexts: free recall, explicit word-stem completion, and implicit word-stem completion. Concreteness effects were observed in free recall and in explicit word-stem completion, but not in implicit word-stem completion. These findings are consistent with both a bidirectional version of the relational-distinctiveness processing framework (Ruiz-Vargas, Cuevas, & Marschark, 1996) and a second framework combining insights from dual coding theory (Paivio, 1971, 1986) and the transfer appropriate processing framework (Roediger, Weldon, & Challis, 1989). Also, consistent with the relational-distinctiveness framework, the second experiment suggested that concreteness effects might depend on relational processing at encoding: Concreteness effects were observed in explicit memory for related word lists but not for unrelated word lists.     

Initial-retrieval “depth” and the negative recency effect

A novel variation of the probed recall, negative recency paradigm was employed to test the general hypothesis that the amount of learning from an initial recall test is a function of the level of processing used during initial retrieval, and to test specific predictions concerning the role of initial tests in the production and elimination of the negative recency effect. On each of 32 trials, 32 subjects each saw four words followed by a search-mode signal and a probe word. The level of initial retrieval processing (acoustic or semantic) was controlled by the search-mode signal. Initial test response latencies were recorded, and the learning derived from initial tests was assessed by an unexpected final free recall test. Final recall of words initially retrieved in the semantic-search condition showed no negative recency, while final recall of words initially retrieved in the acoustic-search condition did show negative recency. Conditional analyses showed that memory was incremented more by semantic-level initial retrieval than by acoustic-level initial retrieval. Implications of these results for an explanation of negative recency effects and for other learning-from-tests effects are discussed.     

Cognitive bias in dizziness: emotional Stroop and autobiographical memories

Dizziness is commonly associated with anxiety, and is often caused by a dysfunction of the balance system. While a link between dizziness and both anxiety disorders and depression has been established, less is known about information processing in dizziness. In the first experiment we tested whether 15 patients with dizziness would display an emotional Stroop effect for panic-related words. Also included was a control group of 15 persons. The Stroop task was preceded by ratings of personal relevance of the Stroop words and followed by a surprise free recall of the words. Results showed a Stroop effect for panic-related words in the dizziness group, but the interaction did not reach significance (p = 0.08). Separate analysis of dizziness-related panic words however resulted in a significant group x condition interaction. In the free recall of Stroop words a main effect of word category was found, with more panic-related words being recalled. The second experiment investigated autobiographical memories in 14 patients with dizziness and 14 matched controls. Results showed a group x condition interaction with less specific memories being recalled following positive cue-words in the dizziness group. The overall pattern of results suggests that dizziness is related to deficits in information processing, which could be targeted in treatment.     

A reexamination of the role of imagery in learning and memory

Five experiments were conducted to examine whether the superior recall of concrete over abstract words might be better accounted for in terms of relative differences in the processing of relational and distinctive information rather than redundant verbal and imaginal memory codes. Concrete and abstract word pairs were presented in the standard paired-associated learning task or under conditions intended to affect the nature and extent of relational processing between pair members. Concreteness effects were attenuated or eliminated when relational processing was prevented at encoding (Experiments 3, 4, and 5) or when the use of encoded relations within pairs was prevented at recall (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). The results indicated the viability of an account of concreteness effects in paired-associate learning based on the joint functions of distinctive and relational information. They also remove theoretical constraints imposed on imagery theories by the incorrect assumption of a uniform presence of concreteness effects in memory for word lists.     

The distinctiveness of emotion concepts: a comparison between emotion, abstract, and concrete words

Are the concepts represented by emotion words different from abstract words in memory? We examined the distinct characteristics of emotion concepts in 3 separate experiments. The first demonstrated that emotion words are better recalled than both concrete and abstract words in a free recall task. In the second experiment, ratings of abstract, concrete, and emotion words were compared on concreteness, imageability, and context availability scales. Results revealed a difference between all 3 word types on each of the 3 scales. The third experiment investigated priming in a lexical decision task for homogeneous (abstract-abstract and emotion-emotion) and heterogeneous (abstract-emotion and emotion-abstract) associated word pairs. Priming occurred only for the homogeneous and heterogeneous abstract-emotion word pair conditions. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed in terms of the circumplex, hierarchical, and semantic activation models. The results are most consistent with the predictions of the semantic activation model.     

Emotional true and false memories in children with callous-unemotional traits

Several studies have found that children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits have a deficit in processing emotionally negative material. The present study examined whether this deficit also affects emotional memory. Twenty-two children with low CU traits and 24 children with high CU traits between 8 and 12 years of age were selected from a community sample and presented with neutral and negative emotional words, using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm. On true recall, there was no difference between the groups. Both groups had higher true recall rates for the neutral word lists than for the negative lists. However, on false recall, although there were no group differences for neutral word lists, the high CU group recalled significantly fewer critical lures on the negative word lists than the low CU group. Furthermore, the high CU group had significantly less false recall on the negative word lists compared to the neutral word lists, while the low CU group showed no difference in false recall between the word lists. These results indicate that children with high CU traits have no deficiencies in true memory performance, yet are less susceptible to developing false memories concerning emotionally negative material.