Conjunction error rates on a continuous recognition memory test: little evidence for recollection

Two experiments examined conjunction memory errors on a continuous recognition task where the lag between parent words (e.g., blackmail, jailbird) and later conjunction lures (blackbird) was manipulated. In Experiment 1, contrary to expectations, the conjunction error rate was highest at the shortest lag (1 word) and decreased as the lag increased. In Experiment 2 the conjunction error rate increased significantly from a 0- to a 1-word lag, then decreased slightly from a 1- to a 5-word lag. The results provide mixed support for simple familiarity and dual-process accounts of recognition. Paradoxically, searching for an item in memory does not appear to be a good encoding task.     

Familiarity from orthographic information: Extensions of the recognition without identification effect

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of letter location information in recognition memory judgments. The experiments used the recognition without identification paradigm (Peynircioglu, 1990), in which participants first attempt to identify the test item and then make a recognition decision as to whether or not the item was studied. In these studies, items that are not identified but that correspond to items that were presented are typically still rated as more likely to have been studied than those that were not presented. The present experiments demonstrated this finding with a variant of the conjunction lure paradigm. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were tested with word fragments that were made from the letters of two words. When the letters were from studied items, fragments were rated higher than when the test items were derived from two unstudied items, or one studied item and one unstudied item, suggesting that recognition without identification is prone to the same types of errors as recognition with identification. Results are discussed in terms of familiarity effects in recognition memory.     

Memory conjunction clusters: Influence of familiarity and recollection

In the memory conjunction paradigm, the number of times that constituents of conjunction lures were studied and the method of presentation were varied. In two experiments, participants were presented with eight parent items that could be recombined at test to form a conjunction lure. The constituents that were shared between the parent items and the conjunction lures were either presented in the same words (e.g., blackmail and jailbird presented four times each for the conjunction lure blackbird) or in different words (e.g., the targets footstool, footlocker, foothill, footbridge, baseball, softball, basketball, and golfball for the conjunction lure football). In both experiments, rates of false recognition were higher in the Different condition as opposed to the Same condition. These results provide evidence that participants in the Same condition were able to utilise a recall-to-reject strategy by remembering the repeatedly presented parent word. In the Different condition, participants were not able to utilise that strategy and instead relied on the familiarity of the repeatedly presented constituents which led to higher rates of false recognition.     

Generation difficulty and memory for source

The role of the word predictability from sentence context for reality monitoring and external source monitoring was examined in two experiments. In a reality-monitoring task, discrimination of an internal source was better in the hard than in the easy condition. It is probable that extra cognitive operations engaged during word generation in the hard condition were effective cues for reality-monitoring judgements. In contrast, in an external source-monitoring task (recognition memory of item's colour), the hard condition resulted in worse source memory for generated words than did the easy condition. This result is consistent both with an item–context trade-off hypothesis and a processing hypothesis. Greater effort involved at the time of generation might limit resources available for encoding of an external source. It is also possible that for generated words, the hard condition promoted conceptual processing instead of perceptual processing; therefore the item's colour was not effectively encoded.     

错误记忆的自我参照效应：易化的作用

采用DRM范式,设置三种参照对象条件（自我、他人和中性参照）,考察错误记忆是否存在自我参照效应。结果发现：（1）与正确记忆一样,错误记忆中亦存在自我参照效应;（2）无论是正确记忆还是错误记忆,自我参照条件下的回忆成分均显著多于他人参照和中性参照,但熟悉性成分在三种不同参照对象条件下没有显著差异;（3）当词表中学习项目由分组呈现变为随机呈现时,错误记忆的自我参照效应仍稳定存在。结果揭示,自我参照效在促进正确记忆的同时,亦可易化错误记忆效应。     

Feature and conjunction effects in recognition memory: Toward specifying familiarity for compound words

In three experiments, we evaluated potential sources of familiarity in the production of feature and conjunction errors with both word (Experiments 1 and 3) and nonword (Experiment 2) stimuli and related this work to various dual-process models of memory. The contributions of letter, syllable, lexical morpheme, and conceptual information were considered. Lexical morpheme information was consistently more potent than syllable information in leading to feature and conjunction errors across Experiments 1 and 2, and a word length explanation did not account for this consistent finding. In addition, there was no impact of conceptual information on these errors (Experiments 1-3). The results support a familiarity-based interpretation of feature and conjunction errors and a lexical morpheme basis for the familiarity in compound words. In order to be more comprehensive, memory models may need to account for a lexical morpheme source of familiarity.     

合体字与复合词中联结编码和项目编码的关系

本研究通过考察合体字和复合词加工过程中联结记忆和项目记忆的变化,探究了在将不同项目绑定为整体的过程中联结编码和项目编码间的关系,并结合脑电技术比较了合体字和复合词的加工过程在神经机制上的差异。行为结果显示:与不能组成字或词的编码条件相比,合体字和复合词编码条件下的联结记忆成绩有显著提升,且项目记忆成绩没有下降;与复合词编码相比,合体字编码条件下的联结记忆和项目记忆成绩都显著更好。脑电结果显示:复合词编码时晚期负成分(LNC)主要位于额区且发生较早,而合体字编码时的LNC主要位于枕区且发生更晚;合体字编码比复合词编码在α/β频段的神经振荡去同步化更强。这些结果表明,将不同项目绑定为整体的操作可以强化大脑对联结信息的加工,同时不会损害对项目的加工,支持了“只有收益”的观点。本研究也从实证的角度为汉语学习材料的编排提供了参考。     

When false recognition is out of control: The case of facial conjunctions

In three experiments, a dual-process approach to face recognition memory is examined, with a specific focus on the idea that a recollection process can be used to retrieve configural information of a studied face. Subjects could avoid, with confidence, a recognition error to conjunction lure faces (each a reconfiguration of features from separate studied faces) or feature lure faces (each based on a set of old features and a set of new features) by recalling a studied configuration. In Experiment 1, study repetition (one vs. eight presentations) was manipulated, and in Experiments 2 and 3, retention interval over a short number of trials (0\2-20) was manipulated. Different measures converged on the conclusion that subjects were unable to use a recollection process to retrieve configural information in an effort to temper recognition errors for conjunction or feature lure faces. A single process, familiarity, appears to be the sole process underlying recognition of conjunction and feature faces, and familiarity contributes, perhaps in whole, to discrimination of old from conjunction faces.     

Editing (out) generated study words in a recognition exclusion task: Effects of response signal delay and generation procedure

Three experiments investigated participants' ability to exclude generated study words from "old" judgements on an exclusion task in which a response signal delay (RSD) was manipulated. In Experiment 1, words were generated by mentally conjoining components of two compound words, and a conjunction test condition was included (e.g., presentation of the lure checkpoint after studying checklist and needlepoint without generating the target). The exclusion error rate for generated words was higher than the conjunction error rate for a short RSD group but lower than the conjunction error rate for a long RSD group. The decrease in the familiarity effect across RSDs was extended to a conceptual cue generation procedure in Experiments 2 and 3, but an anagram generation procedure did not show similar evidence of recollection-based exclusions. The earliest indication of recollection-based editing of generated words occurred in a 2250-ms RSD (Experiment 3). An extension of a multi-factor transfer appropriate processing theory (deWinstanley, Bjork, & Bjork, 1996) of generation effects that incorporates influences of familiarity and recollection is advocated.     

Pictorial encoding reduces false recognition of semantic associates

High levels of false recognition can be observed after people study lists of semantic associates that all converge on a nonpresented lure word. To test the idea that encoding distinctive perceptual information would help to reduce false recognition, we presented a line drawing representing each associated word during study list presentation and later tested recognition of studied words and lure words. Two experiments revealed marked reductions in false recognition after pictorial encoding, relative after to word encoding. Results suggest that people reject related and unrelated lures because these items lack the distinctive qualities associated with remembered pictures.     

Divided attention and prerecognition processing of spoken words and nonwords

Three recognition memory experiments examined phonemic similarity and false recognition under conditions of divided attention. The manipulation was presumed to have little effect on automatic, perceptual influences of memory. Prior research demonstrated that false recognition of a test word (e.g., discrepancy) was higher if the study list included a nonword derived from the future test word by changing a phoneme near the end of the item (e.g., discrepan/l/y) relative to an early phoneme change (e.g., /l/iscrepancy). The difference has been attributed to automatic, implicit activation of test words during prerecognition processing of related nonwords. Three experiments demonstrated that the late-change condition also contributed to higher false recognition rates with divided attention at encoding. Dividing attention disrupted recognition memory of studied words in Experiments 1 and 3. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance for an interpretation emphasizing the automatic, implicit activation of candidate words that occurs in the course of identifying spoken words and nonwords.     

Conjunction errors and semantic transparency

Memory conjunction errors occur when aspects of two different events are falsely recognized or recalled as having occurred as parts of the same event. One theoretical account of conjunction errors is rooted in traditional dual-process models of recognition judgments, in which responses are based on an item’s familiarity or the retrieval of recollected details associated with the encoding of that item. We manipulated the familiarity of test probes by varying their semantic overlap with studied items, taking advantage of the inherent semantic transparency of compound words. Transparent compounds are those whose component parts (lexemes) are semantically related to the meaning of the entire word. In contrast, opaque compounds’ lexemes do not contribute directly to the meaning of the compound. We showed that the familiarity of semantically transparent assembly lures created from their lexemes (study dog and house, test on doghouse) is greater than the familiarity of opaque assembly lures (study back and draw, test on drawback). A response-signal experiment revealed no evidence for the use of a recall-to-reject process for either semantically transparent or opaque lures.     

Generation and memory for contextual detail

Generation enhances item memory but may not enhance other aspects of memory. In 12 experiments, the author investigated the effect of generation on context memory, motivated in part by the hypothesis that generation produces a trade-off in encoding item and contextual information. Participants generated some study words (e.g., hot-c__) and read others (e.g., hot-cold). Generation consistently enhanced item memory but did not enhance context memory. More specifically, generation disrupted context memory for the color of the target word but did not affect context memory for location, background color, and cue-word color. The specificity of the negative generation effect in context memory argues against a general item-context trade-off. A processing account of generation meets greater success. In addition, the results provide no evidence that generation enhances recollection of contextual details.     

Word attributes and lateralization revisited: Implications for dual coding and discrete versus continuous processing

Three attributes of words are their imageability, concreteness, and familiarity. From a literature review and several experiments, I previously concluded (Boles, 1983a) that only familiarity affects the overall near-threshold recognition of words, and that none of the attributes affects right-visual-field superiority for word recognition. Here these conclusions are modified by two experiments demonstrating a critical mediating influence of intentional versus incidental memory instructions. In Experiment 1, subjects were instructed to remember the words they were shown, for subsequent recall. The results showed effects of both imageability and familiarity on overall recognition, as well as an effect of imageability on lateralization. In Experiment 2, word-memory instructions were deleted and the results essentially reinstated the findings of Boles (1983a). It is concluded that right-hemisphere imagery processes can participate in word recognition under intentional memory instructions. Within the dual coding theory (Paivio, 1971), the results argue that both discrete and continuous processing modes are available, that the modes can be used strategically, and that continuous processing can occur prior to response stages.     

Conjunction errors, recollection-based rejections, and forgetting in a continuous recognition task

Six experiments investigated conjunction memory errors (e.g., falsely remembering blackbird after studying parent words blackmail and jailbird) in a continuous recognition procedure with a parent-conjunction lag manipulation. In 4 experiments (1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B) "recollect" judgments, which indexed recall of parent words, showed that participants can use recollection to prevent conjunction errors. "Recollect" judgments, as well as overt recall of parent words (in Experiments 2A and 2B), dropped sharply from a lag of 0 to 1 word, then stabilized from a lag of 1 to 20 words. Thus, the "recollect" responses and overt recall demonstrate a step function of forgetting over short intervals. These data generalized to cued recall in Experiments 3A and 3B with the first morpheme (e.g., black) as the cue, though recall conjunction errors occurred infrequently relative to recognition conjunction errors. Overall, the results support the idea that automatic and controlled processes contribute to memory performance.     

The generation effect: dissociating enhanced item memory and disrupted order memory

Generating stimuli at encoding typically improves memory for occurrence (item memory) but might disrupt memory for order. In three experiments, the relationship between generation and order memory was examined by using familiar stimuli, which give rise to the standard generation advantage in item memory, and unfamiliar stimuli, which do not. The participants generated or read words and non-words in Experiments 1 and 2 and familiar and unfamiliar word compounds in Experiment 3. For the familiar stimuli, generation enhanced item memory (as measured by recognition) but disrupted performance on the order-reconstruction test. For the unfamiliar stimuli, generation produced no recognition advantage and yet persisted in disrupting order reconstruction. Thus, the positive effects of generation on item memory were dissociated from its negative impact on order memory.     

Eye movements,word familiarity,and vocabulary acquisition

Two experiments examined the effects of word familiarity on word recognition and text comprehension during silent reading. Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences containing words that varied in familiarity as assessed by printed estimates of word frequency, subjective ratings of familiarity, and a multiple‐choice test of meaning knowledge. Effects of word frequency were unaffected by differences in subjective familiarity rating for high frequency words. Differential effects of familiarity rating were observed in low frequency conditions. In addition, processing time on high and low frequency words did not differ when familiarity was held constant for moderately familiar words. Readers spent more initial processing time on novel words than familiar words. Performance on a vocabulary test administered after the reading session demonstrated that readers successfully acquired and retained new word meanings. Finally, reanalysis of word processing time as a function of vocabulary test performance demonstrated a systematic relationship between online processing patterns and memory for novel word meaning.     

Generation difficulty and memory for source

The role of the word predictability from sentence context for reality monitoring and external source monitoring was examined in two experiments. In a reality-monitoring task, discrimination of an internal source was better in the hard than in the easy condition. It is probable that extra cognitive operations engaged during word generation in the hard condition were effective cues for reality-monitoring judgements. In contrast, in an external source-monitoring task (recognition memory of item's colour), the hard condition resulted in worse source memory for generated words than did the easy condition. This result is consistent both with an item-context trade-off hypothesis and a processing hypothesis. Greater effort involved at the time of generation might limit resources available for encoding of an external source. It is also possible that for generated words, the hard condition promoted conceptual processing instead of perceptual processing; therefore the item's colour was not effectively encoded.     

Encoding specificity revisited: the role of semantics.

Three experiments examined the effects of semantic characteristics of word pairs on memory using the encoding specificity paradigm. The paradigm involved four phases: (a) an encoding phase to relate cues and targets, (b) a phase in which words were generated to new cues, (c) a phase for recognition of generated targets, and (d) a cued-recall phase using the original encoding cues. Encoding pairs were classified a priori as either semantically similar (e.g., alluring-PRETTY), semantically contrasting (e.g., drab-PRETTY), or semantically unrelated (e.g., sore-PRETTY). Generation pairs were classified a priori as either semantically similar (e.g., beautiful-PRETTY) or semantically contrasting (e.g., ugly-PRETTY). For recall, the results showed that both the semantic relations between the encoding cue and target and the reprovision of the encoding cue at retrieval were important factors. In the case of recognition, however, both the semantic congruence between the encoding and generation contexts and the amount of semantic elaboration provided by the encoding context were important factors.