A developmental study of semantic effects on recognition memory

Three experiments evaluated color specificity knowledge and related semantic effects on recognition memory. Experiment I provided the necessary baseline data to show that preschool and college students know the appropriate color of objects. Experiment II revealed semantic effects on recognition of children but not adults. In Experiment III a delay was introduced and adults showed semantic effects as well. The chroma of color-specific and non-color-specific items was remembered relatively well, although chroma recognition for these item types was somewhat different. The semantic effects on very young children's memory suggest deep level interpretive processing in children younger than those generally showing deliberate deployment of memory strategies.     

A mega recognition memory study of 2897 disyllabic words

Following the studies by Cortese, Khanna, and Hacker (2010) on recognition memory for monosyllabic words, recognition memory estimates (e.g., hits, false alarms, hits minus false alarms) for 3000 disyllabic words were obtained from 120 subjects and 2897 of these words were analysed via multiple regression. Participants studied 30 lists of 50 words and were tested on 30 lists of 100 words. Of the subjects, 60 received a constant study time of 2000?ms per item and 60 studied items at their own pace. Specific predictor variables included log word frequency, word length, imageability, age of acquisition, orthographic similarity, and phonological similarity. The results were similar to those of Cortese et al. (2010). Specifically, in the analysis of hits minus false alarms, the entire set of predictor variables accounted for 34.9% of the variance. All predictor variables except phonological similarity were related to performance, with imageability, length, orthographic similarity and frequency all being strong predictors. These results are mostly compatible with the predictions made by single- and dual-process theories. However, across items hit rates were not correlated with false alarms. Given that most variables produced the standard mirror pattern, this latter outcome poses a major challenge for recognition memory theories.     

A developmental study of semantic elaboration and interpretation in recognition memory

Two experiments examined semantic elaboration and interpretation in recognition memory of 4-year-olds and college students. Subjects were presented pictures of color-specific and non-color-specific items, and then tested for their recognition of the chroma of the items. In Experiment 1, one-half of the presentation items were black and white and one-half colored, and testing always involved one black and white and one colored choice. In Experiment 2, all of the presentation items were colored, and testing always involved two colored choices. In both studies, the pattern of results of the two age groups was similar. Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that recognition judgments were based on representations that were elaborated with preexperimentally acquired semantic color information, and Experiment 2 also indicated that recognition judgments were based on representations that contained interpretive information about the appropriateness of the colors of the items. The results were considered to support and extend the view that when young children and adults share a common knowledge base, they are likely to engage in similar and extensive semantic processing.     

Individual differences in shifting decision criterion: A recognition memory study

An ability to flexibly shift a decision criterion can be advantageous. For example, a known change in the base rate of targets and distractors on a recognition memory test will lead optimal decision makers to shift their criterion accordingly. In the present study, 95 individuals participated in two recognition memory tests that included periodic changes in the base rate probability that the test stimulus had been presented during the study session. The results reveal a wide variability in the tendency to shift decision criterion in response to this probability information, with some appropriately shifting and others not shifting at all. However, participants were highly reliable in their tendency to shift criterion across tests. The goal of the present study was to explain what factors account for these individual differences. To accomplish this, over 50 variables were assessed for each individual (e.g., personality, cognitive style, state of mind). Using a regression model that incorporated different sets of factors, over 50?% of the variance was accounted for. The results of the analysis describe the total, direct, and mediating effects on criterion shifting from factors that include memory strength, strategy, and inherent characteristics such as a fun-seeking personality, a negative affect, and military rank. The results are discussed with respect to understanding why participants rarely chose an optimal decision-making strategy and provide greater insight into the underlying mechanisms of recognition memory.     

Group collaboration in recognition memory

Group collaboration was examined in item and associative recognition. The present study distinguishes between group effects versus collaborative processes and defines the latter as interactive information exchange among group members. By that definition, many group effects do not involve collaboration. For example, group performance can exceed individual performance by pooling the increased resources of the group. Specifically, a group advantage can be obtained by deferring to a majority vote or to the group's best member. For both item and associative recognition, a group advantage was obtained that could not be accounted for by resource pooling. Collaborative facilitation was shown reliably in recognizing targets but not for rejecting distractors.     

Response reversals in recognition memory

Using a dynamic sequential sampling model and a recently proposed model for confidence judgments in recognition memory (T. Van Zandt, 2000b), the authors examine the tendency for rememberers to reverse their responses after a primary decision. In 4 experiments, speeded "old"-"new" decisions were made under bias followed by a 2nd response', either a confidence judgment or another simple choice. The data from these experiments showed that participants know when they have made a mistake and that they respond to this knowledge by reversing their responses. Response reversals are thus shown to be important for constructing models of the response-selection process in recognition memory.     

Age differences in recognition memory

It is generally believed that short-term memory (STM) performance decreases from maturity to old age, but the present paper questions the generality of this conclusion. The first experiment reported is a short-term recognition probe study—no significant age differences were found in either acquisition or the rate of forgetting. It is suggested that age decrements in STM are limited to situations where attention is divided at input or where the material must be manipulated during storage. Experiment II confirmed previous findings of minimal age losses in secondary memory word recognition. The results of this second study support the conclusion that there is poorer accessibility to stored verbal material with advancing age.     

Measuring recognition memory.

Recent years have seen an expanded interest in recognition memory tasks. This resurgence of interest has also renewed concerns with measurement problems. Comparing 4 models of recognition memory, Snodgrass and Corwin (1988) found that measures of bias from the distribution-free (nonparametric) model were inadequate. However, their analysis was based on bias measures that can be shown a priori to be nonindependent of discrimination. This article traces the history of the nonparametric model and develops a better measure of bias. The consequence of developing this better measure is that the nonparametric model deserves serious consideration.     

Stimulus-form effectsin recognition memory

In two experiments, recognition memory was tested using memorized lists of items containing from 2 to 32 nominal concepts. Stimulus form was manipulated by using the names of the items on word trials and outline drawings of the items on picture trials. In terms of an information processing stage model of recognition memory, stimulus form affected only an identification or encoding stage of processing. Subsequent memory-search, decision, and response processes were largely the same for all stimuli once the words or pictures were encoded. The results are consistent with the hypothesized role of stimulus form in processes underlying long-term recognition. However, our results are inconsistent with those of a number of studies involving stimulus-form effects in short-term recognition memory.     

Short-term recognition memory of tones

Four Os participated in a recognition memory experiment for a period of 5 weeks. The task required O to judge whether two temporally sequenced tones (ISI = 0.5, 2.0, or 8.0 sec) were the “same” or “different ” Latencies and confidence ratings were obtained for each judgment. TSD analyses applied to individual O’s data indicated consistent and rapidly decreasing d’s as a function of ISI. ROC functions generated from the latencies and ratings produced comparable results, indicating the feasibility of using latency measures along with the type of judgments made to obtain sensitivity measures. Response bias, as indicated by the differences in the latencies between “same” and “different” judgments, did not produce consistent trends.     

Response set effects in recognition memory

In three experiments, Ss responded to individual digits or letters according to whether or not each was in some prememorized list. There were either two possible responses (yes-no condition) or a single response (yes-only and no-only conditions). With memory sets of one, two, or four digits, RT was a linear function of memory set size. The slope of the function was least under the yes-only condition and greatest under the yes-no condition. Nonspecific practice had little effect on any of the slopes. With memory sets of 4, 8, or 12 letters, the slopes under the yes-only and yes-no conditions did not seem to differ, and practice with specific sets flattened the function considerably in both cases. Overall, the errors under the yes-no condition were mostly false alarms, those under the no-only condition mostly misses, and those under the yes-no condition were divided about equally. The results are interpreted partially in terms of a multiple-observations model of decision time.     

Strategic processes in false recognition memory

In two experiments, the response signal technique (Reed, 1973) was combined with the DRM paradigm (e.g., McDermott & Roediger, 1998) to investigate the time course of false recognition memory— in particular, how this effect varies along the time course of generating a recognition judgment. Across the experiments, in addition to standard instructions, there were forewarning instructions encouraging the participants to avoid this effect, as well as inclusion instructions intended to enhance this tendency. It was found that the false memory effect was at its strongest at earlier response signals, diminishing when more time was given to make a recognition judgment. The forewarning instructions led to a more conservative overall response bias, rather than to a reduction of the effect. However, the participants were able to exaggerate this effect in the inclusion condition. The results are discussed in terms of the role of strategic processing in recognition memory. Part of this research was presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Orlando, in November 2001. It was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom.     

Feature frequency effects in recognition memory

Rare words are usually better recognized than common words, a finding in recognition memory known as the word-frequency effect. Some theories predict the word-frequency effect because they assume that rare words consist of more distinctive features than do common words (e.g., Shiffrin & Steyvers's, 1997, REM theory). In this study, recognition memory was tested for words that vary in the commonness of their orthographic features, and we found that recognition was best for words made up of primarily rare letters. In addition, a mirror effect was observed: Words with rare letters had a higher hit rate and a lower false-alarm rate than did words with common letters. We also found that normative word frequency affects recognition independently of letter frequency. Therefore, the distinctiveness of a word's orthographic features is one, but not the only, factor necessary to explain the word-frequency effect.     

Strength-based criterion shifts in recognition memory

In manipulations of stimulus strength between lists, a more lenient signal detection criterion is more frequently applied to a weak than to a strong stimulus class. However, with randomly intermixed weak and strong test probes, such acriterion shift often does not result. A procedure that has yieldeddelay-based within-list criterion shifts was applied to strength manipulations in recognition memory for categorized word lists. When participants made semantic ratings about each stimulus word, strength-based criterion shifts emerged regardless of whether words from pairs of categories were studied in separate blocks (Experiment 1) or in intermixed blocks (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, the criterion shift persisted under the semantic-rating study task, but not under rote memorization. These findings suggest that continually adjusting the recognition decision criterion is cognitively feasible. They provide a technique for manipulating the criterion shift, and they identify competing theoretical accounts of these effects.     

Articulation effects in melody recognition memory

Various surface features—timbre, tempo, and pitch—influence melody recognition memory, but articulation format effects, if any, remain unknown. For the first time, these effects were examined. In Experiment 1, melodies that remained in the same, or appeared in a different but similar, articulation format from study to test were recognized better than were melodies that were presented in a distinct format at test. A similar articulation format adequately induced matching processes to enhance recognition. Experiment 2 revealed that melodies rated as perceptually dissimilar on the basis of the location of the articulation mismatch did not impair recognition performance, suggesting an important boundary condition for articulation format effects on memory recognition—the matching of the memory trace and recognition probe may depend more on the overall proportion, rather than the temporal location, of the mismatch. The present findings are discussed in terms of a global matching advantage hypothesis.