Memory for discourse: Loci mnemonics and the oral presentation effect

The help given by loci mnemonics in memorizing isolated items is widely known, whereas there is no doubt as to whether mnemonics are useful for learning meaningful passages. In the present research it is argued that past failures to find a loci effect with text may have been due to the limited range of conditions explored during analysis of the problem. In the present research the modality of presentation of the text was hypothesized to be particularly relevant. In two experiments groups of trained and non-trained students were asked to memorize two different passages, either using loci mnemonics or not. Loci mnemonics facilitated memory of passages, the increase being greater for oral presentation of text than after private study of a written text.     

Influence of recall procedures on the modality effect with numbers and enumerated stimuli

Experiment 1 extended J. S. Nairne and W. L. McNabb's (1985) counting procedure for presenting numerical stimuli to examine the modality effect. The present authors presented participants with dots and beeps and instructed participants to count the items to derive to-be-remembered numbers. In addition, the authors presented numbers as visual and auditory symbols, and participants recalled items by using free-serial written recall. Experiment 1 demonstrated primacy effects, recency effects, and modality effects for visual and auditory symbols and for counts of dots and beeps. Experiment 2 replicated the procedure in Experiment 1 using strict-serial written recall instead of free-serial written recall. The authors demonstrated primacy and recency effects across all 4 presentation conditions and found a modality effect for numbers that the authors presented as symbols. However, the authors found no modality effect when they presented numbers as counts of beeps and dots. The authors discuss the implications of the results in terms of methods for testing modality effects.     

The Effect of Exhaust Gas on the Performance in Certain Psychological Tests

The effects of imagery on immediate and long term recall and organization (i.e., clustering) were studied with regard to high and low imagery concrete stimulus nouns from the same generic categories, imagery and no imagery instructions, number of recall trials, and two presentation rates. Three major aspects were involved: (a) establishment of imagery norms for 80 categorically related nouns, (b) behavioral analysis of these norms, and (c) a verbal free recall experiment conducted with 960 sixth and eighth grade boys and girls to compare the verbal and imaginal symbolic processes. Recall and organization were found to be facilitated by imagery nouns or instructions. Eighth graders not only recalled and organized better than sixth graders, but also used imagery more effectively. Four written trials were better than one, and a five second presentation rate was better than 2.5 seconds. These trends held in immediate and long term recall. Results were discussed in terms of the code availability hypothesis of Paivio's two-process theory. It was concluded that imagery is an important factor in free recall and organization and functions analogously to verbal processes.     

Learning from Texts or Lectures: Loci Mnemonics can Interfere with Reading but not with Listening

In this study, we explore to what extent loci mnemonics can help learning from textual information and examine the extent and possible causes of the oral presentation effect (Cornoldi & De Beni, 1991); that is, the loci method is more useful when the presentation modality is oral rather than written. The hypothesis presented is that the effect is due to selective interference between reading and visuo-spatial imagery in the use of loci mnemonics. We carried out three experiments, varying the modalities of presentation and of testing. In a series of sessions, subjects were trained in the use of loci mnemonics and verbal repetition, and were then tested for memory of texts presented in either a written or oral form. Our results showed that loci mnemonics can also enhance memory for texts when presentation time is controlled, if the modality of presentation is oral. This last result supports the selective interference explanation of the oral presentation effect.     

Memory and rehearsal characteristics of profoundly deaf children

This study examined whether a deficiency in spontaneous strategy use accounts for deaf children's verbal short-term memory performance. Various colors were presented for 3 s each, followed by a 15-s recall delay. The delay was either unfilled, or subjects were induced to rehearse or were prevented from rehearsing. Sixty-four deaf students from oral and total communication settings, 5 to 15 years of age, were tested. The spontaneous rehearsal of both deaf samples seemed to emerge later than the hearing sample's, and it was both inefficiently implemented and less effective in mediating recall than hearing children's. However, when rehearsal was prevented or was induced in all samples, the deaf recalled as well as, or better than, the hearing. Implications discussed include the need to compare both spontaneous and controlled strategy use in developmental memory studies, and the need to provide additional training for deaf children in the strategies of remembering, as opposed to the content material.     

Effects of contextual cues in recall and recognition memory: The misinformation effect reconsidered

Research in semantic word list‐learning paradigms suggests that presentation modality during encoding may influence word recognition at test. Given these findings, it is argued that some previous misinformation effect research might contain methodologies which are problematic. Misleading information groups typically receive erroneous information in written narratives, which may be further impeded by written tests. Results may therefore be explained by misinformation or encoding specificity. In two experiments, participants received restated, neutral, and misleading post‐event information through auditory or written modalities. Participants' recognition and recall of critical details about the source event were tested. In a recognition test using the standard testing procedure, there were no condition differences for post‐event information presented via an auditory modality. However, for post‐event information presented in the text modality, recognition performance was more accurate for restated information relative to neutral information, which in‐turn was better than the misled condition. Using the modified testing procedure, the differences were again limited to the text condition. Better performance was evident in the restated condition relative to the average of the neutral and the misled conditions, and there was no difference in performance between the neutral and the misled conditions. Using a recall test, however, there was no effect of modality. Memory was significantly better for restated information than for the average of the neutral and the misled conditions and poorer in the misled condition relative to the neutral condition. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of contextual cues at test, and methodological and interpretational limitations associated with previous research.     

SenseCam improves memory for recent events and quality of life in a patient with memory retrieval difficulties

A wearable camera that takes pictures automatically, SenseCam, was used to generate images for rehearsal, promoting consolidation and retrieval of memories for significant events in a patient with memory retrieval deficits. SenseCam images of recent events were systematically reviewed over a 2-week period. Memory for these events was assessed throughout and longer-term recall was tested up to 6 months later. A written diary control condition followed the same procedure. The SenseCam review procedure resulted in significantly more details of an event being recalled, with twice as many details recalled at 6 months follow up compared to the written diary method. Self-report measures suggested autobiographical recollection was triggered by the SenseCam condition but not by reviewing the written diary. Emotional and social wellbeing questionnaires indicated improved confidence and decreased anxiety as a result of memory rehearsal using SenseCam images. We propose that SenseCam images provide a powerful boost to autobiographical recall, with secondary benefits for quality of life.     

How verbal memory loads consume attention

According to a traditional assumption about working memory, participants retain a series of verbal items for immediate recall using covert verbal rehearsal, without much need for attention. We reassessed this assumption by imposing a speeded, nonverbal choice reaction time (CRT) task following the presentation of each digit in a list to be recalled. When the memory load surpassed a few items, performance on the speeded CRT task became increasingly impaired. This CRT task impairment depended only on attention-related components of working memory; it was not alleviated by the presence of an auditory memory trace that automatically helped the recall of items at the ends of spoken lists. We suggest that attention-demanding refreshing of verbal stimuli occurs along with any covert rehearsal.     

An extension of the keyword method facilitates the acquisition of simple Spanish sentences

Subjects were taught Spanish-English paired-associates by using the keyword method. The item pairs ranged in length from one to four words. Subjects using the keyword method recalled many more constituents of n-a-v-n Spanish sentences than subjects spontaneously using rehearsal, but no more than subjects spontaneously using imagery. The results of the study suggest that the keyword method facilitates recall by inducing subjects to process item-specific information for individual words.     

The relationship between memory performance and the number of rehearsals in free recall

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the number of rehearsals and long-term recall performance by means of an overt rehearsal procedure. Subjects were induced to concentrate their rehearsal activity on specific items in free recall tasks. In Experiment 1, both the primacy and the recency items that had received additional rehearsals were recalled with higher probability than were the ordinarily rehearsed items in immediate recall but not in final recall. Experiment 2 was designed to extend the occasions for subjects’ rehearsal by manipulating the rate of item presentation. The overall pattern of resulting data shewed that for neither recency items nor primacy items does the additional overt rehearsal reliably lead to facilitative effects on long-term recall performance. The possibility of a qualitative change in rehearsal is discussed.     

The use of the cumulative rehearsal strategy: A developmental study

This study was designed to address two issues: (1) At what age do children spontaneously use a cumulative rehearsal strategy; and (2) What effect does the use of the strategy have on their performance?Twenty-eight children at each of five grade levels (nursery, kindergarten, 1, 3, and 5) were tested in a serial-position recall task. Stimuli were pictures of common objects and animals whose labels were one or two syllables in length. Following testing, the children were asked to report the memory strategy they had used.The assumption was made that children who were using a cumulative rehearsal strategy would perform better on series of one-syllable items than on series of two-syllable items. As predicted, nursery, kindergarten, and first-grade subjects correctly recalled as many two-syllable as one-syllable items: Both third- and fifth-graders recalled significantly more one-syllable than two-syllable items. Results indicated that (1) young children do not spontaneously use a cumulative rehearsal strategy until after first grade, and (2) the use of rehearsal did not facilitate overall performance of the rehearsers relative to the nonrehearsers at any grade level. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for the study of memory development.     

Finding the right case: the role of predictive features in memory for aviation accidents

Three experiments examined the role of story structure in memory for written aviation accident reports by both pilots and nonpilots. Accident reports follow a standard format providing setting, complication, decision and outcome information. Following the ‘predictive features’ model, it was hypothesized that expertise would facilitate recall, and that pilots would recall most effectively with the complication feature. Pilot and nonpilot participants read and recalled 4 (Experiment 1) or 8 (Experiment 2) accident reports. With four cases, pilots recalled more than nonpilots, but no difference was found with eight cases. A primacy effect for pattern of recall was found in Experiment 1 with the setting and complication features most effective in triggering case recall. When task difficulty was increased (Experiment 2), the complication feature alone was the most effective. In Experiment 3, we manipulated text structure and found that complication and decision features were better recognized than setting or outcome features by nonpilots. The finding across three studies that the complication feature was consistently the most effective for retrieving aviation accident reports supports the ‘predictive features’ model. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rehearsal in immediate serial recall

We report for the first time overt rehearsal data in immediate serial recall (ISR) undertaken at three presentation rates (1, 2.5, and 5 sec/word). Two groups of participants saw lists of six words for ISR and were required either to engage in overt rehearsal or to remain silent after reading aloud the word list during its presentation. Typical ISR serial position effects were obtained for both groups, and recall increased with slower rates. When participants rehearsed, they tended to do so in a cumulative forward order up to Serial Position 4, after which the amount of rehearsal decreased substantially. There were similarities between rehearsal and recall data: Both broke down toward the end of longer sequences, and there were strong positive correlations between the maximum sequence of participants' rehearsals and their ISR performance. We interpret these data as suggesting that similar mechanisms underpin both rehearsal and recall in ISR.     

Distinctiveness revisited: Unpredictable temporal isolation does not benefit short-term serial recall of heard or seen events

The notion of a link between time and memory is intuitively appealing and forms the core assumption of temporal distinctiveness models. Distinctiveness models predict that items that are temporally isolated from their neighbors at presentation should be recalled better than items that are temporally crowded. By contrast, event-based theories consider time to be incidental to the processes that govern memory, and such theories would not imply a temporal isolation advantage unless participants engaged in a consolidation process (e.g., rehearsal or selective encoding) that exploited the temporal structure of the list. In this report, we examine two studies that assessed the effect of temporal distinctiveness on memory, using auditory (Experiment 1) and auditory and visual (Experiment 2) presentation with unpredictably varying interitem intervals. The results show that with unpredictable intervals temporal isolation does not benefit memory, regardless of presentation modality.     

Examining the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall: Similar patterns of rehearsal and similar effects of word length,presentation rate,and articulatory suppression

In five experiments, rehearsal and recall phenomena were examined using the free recall and immediate serial recall (ISR) tasks. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with lists of eight words, were precued or postcued to respond using free recall or ISR, and rehearsed out loud during presentation. The patterns of rehearsal were similar in all the conditions, and there was little difference between recall in the precued and postcued conditions. In Experiment 2, both free recall and ISR were sensitive to word length and presentation rate and showed similar patterns of rehearsal. In Experiment 3, both tasks were sensitive to word length and articulatory suppression. The word length effects generalized to 6-item (Experiment 4) and 12-item (Experiment 5) lists. These findings suggest that the two tasks are underpinned by highly similar rehearsal and recall processes.     

Presentation modality and mode of recall in verbal false memory

False memories were investigated for aurally and visually presented lists of semantically associated words. In Experiment 1, false written recall of critical intrusions was reliably lower following visual presentation compared with aural presentation. This presentation modality effect was attributed to the use of orthographic features during written recall to edit critical intrusions from visually presented lists. As predicted by this hypothesis, the modality effect was eliminated when the mode of recall was spoken rather than written. In Experiment 2, the modality effect in written recall was again replicated and then eliminated with an orienting task that ensured orthographic encoding even of aurally presented words. Thus, the modality effect appears to depend on using orthographic information to distinguish true from false verbal memories.     

Recall of short word lists presented visually at fast rates: Effects of phonological similarity and word length

Phonological similarity of visually presented list items impairs short-term serial recall. Lists of long words are also recalled less accurately than are lists of short words. These results have been attributed to phonological recoding and rehearsal. If subjects articulate irrelevant words during list presentation, both phonological similarity and word length effects are abolished. Experiments 1 and 2 examined effects of phonological similarity and recall instructions on recall of lists shown at fast rates (from one item per 0.114-0.50 sec), which might not permit phonological encoding and rehearsal. In Experiment 3, recall instructions and word length were manipulated using fast presentation rates. Both phonological similarity and word length effects were observed, and they were not dependent on recall instructions. Experiments 4 and 5 investigated the effects of irrelevant concurrent articulation on lists shown at fast rates. Both phonological similarity and word length effects were removed by concurrent articulation, as they were with slow presentation rates.     

Imagery,rehearsal, and the compatibility of input-output tasks

Two experiments tested the proposition that recall in an imagery task would be facilitated when the processes instigated during original input and during a rehearsal interval were similar to (compatible with) processes assumed to be initiated by two retrieval formats. In both experiments the subjects listened to tape-recorded messages which described the placements of numbers in an imaginary mental matrix. Experiment 1 used four modes of presenting the original information about the placement of the numbers. Two of the input modes were expected to foster the use of imagery: listening to the tape-recorded messages (L), and listening while shadowing (vocalizing) the messages (LV). The other modes of presentation were expected to encourage verbalized rather than imaginal encoding: listening plus silent reading (LR), and listening plus reading aloud (LRV). Two types of recall tasks were used, one which emphasized imaginal coding (matrix recall) and one which emphasized verbal coding (direction recall). Recall was highest when the input and output tasks were assumed to involve similar types of processing. Thus, Groups L and LV showed higher recall than Groups LR and LRV on the matrix task, but the converse was true for the direction task. In addition, rotation of the information yielded different characteristics for the input-output conditions. Experiment 2 introduced rehearsal instructions. Visualizing rehearsal was more beneficial to matrix recall than verbalizing rehearsal or no explicit rehearsal instructions, and verbalizing rehearsal aided direction recall more than visualizing rehearsal. Various models were discussed.