The role of inhibitory processes in part-list cuing

Providing a subset of studied items as retrieval cues can have detrimental effects on recall of the remaining items. In 2 experiments, the authors examined such part-list cuing impairment in a repeated testing situation. Participants studied exemplars from several semantic categories and were given 2 successive cued-recall tests separated by a distractor task of several minutes. Part-list cues were provided in the 1st test but not the 2nd. Noncue item recall was tested with the studied category cues (same probes) in the 1st test, but novel, unstudied retrieval cues (independent probes) in the 2nd test. The authors found detrimental effects of part-list cues in both the 1st (same-probe) test and the 2nd (independent-probe) test. These results show that part-list cuing impairment can be lasting and is not eliminated with independent probes. The findings support the view that the impairment was caused by retrieval inhibition.     

部分线索效应中的记忆监控

通过三个实验,利用学习时间分配作为指标,考察了学习者对部分线索效应记忆监控的状况。实验1考察被试在单次学习条件下的学习时间分配情况,结果发现被试在两种条件下所使用的学习时间没有明显差异。这说明在一次学习后被试还不能对部分线索的消极作用进行有效控制。实验2中,经过多次学习后,被试在部分线索条件下使用了更多的学习时间。实验3在自控步调学习前加入回溯性任务难度判断任务,结果发现经过一次学习,部分线索组和自由回忆组的判断值虽无显著差异,但部分线索组的自控步调学习时间显著长于自由回忆组,并且其回忆成绩也显著提高,说明回溯性任务难度判断过程本身是学习时间分配的制约因素。研究说明,为了加速主体对部分线索的消极影响的控制,引导主体对学习任务进行难度判断是一种有效的手段。     

Congruency effects in part-list cuing inhibition.

In demonstrations of part-list cuing inhibition, subjects who are shown a subset of studied list words recall fewer noncue words than subjects not shown such part-list cues. We propose that part-list inhibition is governed in part by an incongruency principle: Inhibition occurs to the extent that part-list cues induce a retrieval framework different from that used to encode list items. In Experiment 1, word lists were studied followed by a test of free recall either without cues, or with cue words serially organized to be either congruent or incongruent with the order of studied items. In Experiments 2-4, cues consisted of every second study item in the original presentation order (congruent ones) or reordered to form famous names or familiar idioms that had been hidden in the study list (incongruent cues). More part-list inhibition was observed with incongruent cues than congruent cues in all 4 experiments.     

工作记忆中的部分线索效应:任务呈现方式的影响

以往研究主要在长时记忆中考察部分线索效应,很少关注工作记忆中的部分线索效应及其作用机制。本研究采用项目再认任务,考察了工作记忆中提供部分学习项目作为提取线索,对存储在工作记忆中的已有表征的影响。结果发现：有、无部分线索试次分组呈现时,相较于无部分线索条件,有部分线索条件下再认正确率和d'降低,β升高,反应时间延长;有、无部分线索试次随机混合呈现时,有部分线索条件下再认正确率降低,β升高,但反应时间并无显著延长。结果表明：工作记忆中部分线索的提供降低了目标项目的表征强度;研究结果可用提取抑制假说解释,但工作记忆中部分线索的作用可能受注意资源有限性制约。     

Part-list cuing can be transient and lasting: the role of encoding

The presentation of a subset of learned items as retrieval cues can have detrimental effects on recall of the remaining items. For 2 types of encoding conditions, the authors examined in 3 experiments whether such part-list cuing is a transient or a lasting phenomenon. Across the experiments, the detrimental effect of part-list cues was consistently found to be transient with a high degree of interim associations and lasting with a low degree. These results indicate that the persistence of part-list cuing depends on encoding, thus challenging both strategy disruption and retrieval inhibition as general accounts of part-list cuing. A 2-mechanism account is provided according to which the 2 mechanisms mediate the effect in different encoding conditions.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and part-list cuing in associatively structured lists

Using DRM lists (Roediger & McDermott, 1995) in two experiments, we compared the effects of retrieval practice on a subset of the items and of the presentation of those items as retrieval cues at test on recall of the lists' critical items. In Experiment 1, the critical items were part of the studied lists, thus addressing these items' veridical recall; in Experiment 2, they were not studied, thus addressing these items' false recall. Three major results emerged. First, retrieval practice and part-list cuing reduced both veridical and false recall. Second, the two manipulations induced an integration effect in veridical recall, with substantial forgetting in lists with low false recall levels and no forgetting in lists with high false recall levels. Third, retrieval practice and part-list cuing created the same effects on recall, qualitatively and quantitatively. These results suggest that the detrimental effects of retrieval practice and part-list cuing were mediated by similar mechanisms. They are consistent with the view that not only retrieval-induced forgetting, but also part-list cuing is caused by inhibitory processes.     

任务难度与部分线索效应

部分线索效应是指在学习一个词表后,呈现已学项目中的一部分作为回忆线索去回忆其他项目时,回忆效果反而不如没有线索组的效果好。研究通过三个实验探讨了不同任务难度的部分线索效应。结果表明：（1）在中文词表记忆中存在部分线索效应;（2）随着学习材料难度的提高由部分线索造成的提取成绩的削减量降低。这一研究结果支持了部分线索效应的策略破坏假说。     

Intact retrieval inhibition in children’s episodic recall

Young children are assumed to be inefficient inhibitors in a number of cognitive tasks. In two experiments, we examined whether such deficits extend to children's episodic recall. We used two inhibition paradigms: retrieval-induced forgetting, the detrimental effect of retrieval practice with a subset of learned items on recall of the unpracticed items, and part-list cuing, the detrimental effect of the presentation of a subset of learned items on recall of the remaining items. In both experiments, the inhibitory effects were compared across three age groups: first or second graders, fourth graders, and young adults. The two children groups showed the same amounts of retrieval-induced forgetting and part-list cuing as the adult group, pointing to intact retrieval inhibition in young children's episodic recall. These results parallel very recent results on older adults' episodic recall, suggesting that both retrieval-induced forgetting and part-list cuing develop early in life and remain intact for the greater part of the lifespan.     

Part-list cuing in amnesic patients: evidence for a retrieval deficit

Part-list cuing--the detrimental effect of the presentation of a subset of learned items on recall of the remaining items--was examined in amnesic patients and healthy control subjects. Subjects studied two types of categorized item lists: lists in which each category consisted of strong and moderate items and lists in which each category consisted of weak and moderate items. The subjects recalled a category's strong and weak items in either the presence of or absence of the moderate items serving as retrieval cues. In healthy subjects, part-list cuing impaired recall of the strong items but not of the weak items; in amnesics, part-list cuing impaired recall of both types of items. Part-list cuing is often attributed to a change in the retrieval process from a more effective one when cues are absent to a less effective one when they are present. On the basis of this view, our results indicate that part-list cuing causes a stronger retrieval inefficiency in amnesic patients than in healthy people.     

Part-list cuing as instructed retrieval inhibition

The reexposure of a subset of learned material as a retrieval cue can impair recall of the remaining material. Like part-list relearning--the reexposure of learned material for additional learning--this part-list cuing is often assumed to be the result of output order biases at test, caused by the increased strength of the reexposed material. We directly compared the effects of cuing and relearning when controlling for output order biases. In addition, we compared the two forms of reexposure with the effect of part-list retrieval. Both part-list cuing and part-list retrieval reduced recall performance for the remaining material. By contrast, part-list relearning had no such detrimental effect. These results indicate that the effect of reexposure depends on whether material is reexposed as a cue or for relearning, suggesting that part-list cuing reflects an instructional effect. Evidence is provided that part-list cuing leads to instructed covert retrieval of cue items and causes retrieval inhibition of noncue items, similar to how overt retrieval inhibits nonretrieved items.     

图片部分线索效应的学习时间分配的发展

部分线索效应指让学习者学习一系列材料, 在随后的测试阶段, 给学习者提供先前所学材料的一部分作为提取线索, 让其回忆剩余的材料, 回忆成绩反而比没有提取线索时回忆成绩差的现象。通过3个实验, 以图片为实验材料, 考察了图片部分线索效应学习时间分配的发展特点。实验1考察了图片部分线索效应的边界条件, 结果发现：图片学习中, 以物体名称为线索时, 不存在部分线索效应; 而以图片为线索时, 存在部分线索效应。结果表明：跨域线索是图片部分线索效应的边界条件。实验2利用图片作线索, 考察了图片部分线索效应的发展特点, 结果发现：图片学习中, 不同年龄被试均存在部分线索效应。结果表明：年龄不是图片部分线索效应的边界条件。实验3考察不同年龄被试对部分线索消极作用的记忆监控的发展变化趋势, 结果发现：小学二年级儿童即使经过多次学习, 也不能意识到部分线索的消极作用; 小学五年级儿童经过二次学习后, 方可意识到这种消极作用, 并在部分线索条件下安排了更多的学习时间; 初二和高二年级学生经过一次学习, 即可意识到部分线索的消极作用, 他们均在部分线索条件下安排了更长的学习时间。结果表明：儿童的学习时间分配决策能力在小学二年级到小学五年级之间有一个质的提高; 与初二学生相比, 高二学生对部分线索带来的消极影响做了更多的时间补偿。     

Influences of part-list cuing on different forms of episodic forgetting

Across 3 experiments, we examined the interplay of part-list cuing and forgetting, employing 3 different methods to induce episodic forgetting-list--method directed forgetting, context-dependent forgetting, and proactive interference. For each form of forgetting, participants were asked at test to recall the target items of a previously studied list in the presence or the absence of the list's remaining items serving as retrieval cues. We found such part-list cuing to amplify the forgetting in proactive interference but to diminish the forgetting in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting. These results show that the effects of part-list cuing on forgotten memories depend critically on the circumstances surrounding the forgetting. If the forgetting reflects impaired access to the original encoding context, as has been suggested in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting (but not in proactive interference), part-list cues improve access to forgotten memories; if the forgetting does not reflect such a contextual effect, no such beneficial effects emerge, and access to forgotten memories may even be impaired.     

Part-set cuing of false memories

Part-set cuing inhibition describes the common finding that re-presenting items from a word list can reduce subjects’ overall recall performance for studied items. Do part-set cuing effects occur for false memories as well? In the present experiments, subjects studied lists of words drawn from Roediger and McDermott (1995). After studying each list, subjects completed math problems and then recalled the list items either with or without accompanying list cues. In Experiment 1, the recall cues consisted of items drawn randomly from the original list. In Experiment 2, an additional type of cued recall task was added in which the even numbered list items were used as cues. Taken together, these experiments demonstrate robust part-set cuing effects for critical nonpresented items. In addition, they show that whereas recall of critical words is reduced by the presence of cues at test, retrieval cues do not affect critical words and studied words in exactly the same manner.     

部分线索对记忆提取的影响:认知抑制能力的作用

在回忆时,以刚刚学过的部分项目作为提取线索,被试的回忆成绩反而比没有任何线索时的回忆成绩差,这一现象被称为部分线索效应。该效应通常被认为是抑制执行控制过程对非线索项目记忆表征强度抑制的结果。本研究以Stroop效应量(实验1)和工作记忆容量(实验2)为指标,从个体差异角度考察了认知抑制能力对部分线索效应的影响。结果发现,Stroop效应量与部分线索效应各指标呈显著负相关,Stroop效应量越小,部分线索效应各指标的值越大;工作记忆容量与部分线索效应各指标呈显著正相关,高工作记忆容量个体的部分线索效应各指标的值也更大。结果表明,认知抑制能力越强,部分线索对回忆的破坏作用越大,研究结果支持部分线索效应的提取抑制假说。     

Part-list cuing with and without item-specific probes: The role of encoding

Part-list cuing—the detrimental effect of the presentation of a subset of studied items on recall of the remaining noncue items—was examined in three different study conditions and in the presence and absence of the noncues’ initial letters serving as item-specific probes. With a single study trial, part-list cuing was observed both with and without item-specific probes. By contrast, when participants received two study-test cycles or interrelated list items to a common story, part-list cues were found to be detrimental only in the absence of item-specific probes, but not in their presence. These results indicate that the role of item-specific probes in part-list cuing depends on encoding. The findings are consistent with a recent two-mechanism account of part-list cuing (Bäuml &; Aslan, 2006), according to which two different mechanisms mediate the effect in different encoding situations.     

The self-choice effect from a multiple-cue perspective

The self-choice effect refers to the fact that self-chosen items are remembered better than experimenter-assigned items (Takahashi, 1991). The present study investigated the hypothesis that (a) response choice involves relational processing as activation of both target and context items, and (b) such activated context items are effective as potential retrieval cues for recall of target items. In the experiment, participants chose (choice condition) or were assigned (force condition) a target to remember for each trial. Prior to free recall of the target items, context words, related new words, or unrelated words were presented in a recognition task as potential retrieval cues. The results of a subsequent free recall test indicated that the incidental cues were more effective in the choice condition than in the force condition. Also, recognition resulted in a greater rate of successfully recognized context words at the cost of increasing falsely recognized related new words in the choice condition in comparison with the force condition. These results indicated that response choice activates context items at encoding, which operate as potential retrieval cues for recall of target items. Such cuing mechanisms operative in the self-choice effect are consistent with the multiple-cue theory proposed by Soraci et al. (1994; see also Soraci et al., 1999) for generative processing.     

The role of item similarity in part-list cueing impairment

The presentation of a subset of studied items as retrieval cues can have detrimental effects on recall of the remaining (target) items. In three experiments we examined whether such part-list cueing impairment depends on the similarity between cue and target items. Item similarity was manipulated by making use of pre-experimental semantic similarities between cue and target items (Experiments 1 and 2), or was episodically induced through a similarity-encoding task, in which participants were asked to interrelate cue and target items in a meaningful way (Experiment 3). In all three experiments reliable part-list cueing impairment arose when the similarity between cues and targets was low, but no impairment was found when the similarity between cues and targets was high. Inhibitory as well as non-inhibitory explanations of the findings are discussed.     

Remembering can cause inhibition: retrieval-induced inhibition as cue independent process

Previous experiments have mostly relied on recall as a dependent measure to assess whether retrieval of information from memory causes inhibition of related information. This study aimed to measure this inhibition in a more direct way. In Experiment 1, it was shown that repeated retrieval of exemplars from a category resulted in longer recognition latencies to nonretrieved exemplars from that same category, compared with recognition latencies to control exemplars. Experiment 2 obtained the same pattern of results using a lexical decision task. This was the 1st time that retrieval-induced forgetting was demonstrated on an implicit test of memory. To exclude noninhibitory explanations of the data, the exemplars were presented in both experiments without their categories as cues.     

Effects of correspondence between encoding and retrieval organization in social memory

Memory research has shown impaired recall performance when a subset of the studied stimuli is presented at recall (the part-list cueing effect, Slamecka, 1968) or when the recall is collaborative (collaborative-inhibition effect, Weldon & Bellinger, 1997). In two experiments we explore these effects in an impression-formation context and compare two prominent accounts (retrieval blocking versus strategy disruption) for them. We varied the correspondence between item organization at encoding and retrieval, either by manipulating the organization of part-list cues (Experiment 1) or the organization of the stimulus list that was later recalled collaboratively (Experiment 2). Results showed that when encoding and recall organizations did not correspond recall was impaired, replicating part-list cueing and collaborative-inhibition effects. However, when encoding and retrieval organization corresponded, these effects were greatly reduced. Such results support the recall strategy disruption hypothesis and challenge the retrieval blocking account. Implications for understanding memory in a social context are discussed.     

Part-list cuing of associative chains: tests of strategy disruption

Three experiments assess the veracity of the strategy disruption explanation of part-list cuing impairment. Experiment 1 demonstrated no mnemonic detriment in recall as a result of significant disruption of the participants' self-selected forward associative seriation retrieval strategy. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 while reducing overall performance levels in an attempt to reveal any possible detrimental effects. Experiment 3 ruled out 2 possible alternative explanations by demonstrating the typical part-list cuing impairment within this experimental context. It is concluded that the results challenge a strict version of the strategy disruption hypothesis.