提取练习在定向遗忘中的作用

根据汉字特点采用义同、形似、音同、无关四种实验材料,采用字表范式探讨不同提取练习次数(0、1、3次)在定向遗忘中的作用及是否会受到材料关系的影响.实验结果发现: (1)对于形似、音同材料,提取练习提高了最后回忆成绩.对于义同、无关材料,提取练习对不同组别两列字表的最后回忆成绩影响不同; (2)提取练习0次时,义同、音同、无关材料都表现出定向遗忘效应.提取练习1次时,无关材料表现出定向遗忘效应.提取练习3次时,形似、音同材料下表现出定向遗忘效应.义同、无关材料定向遗忘效应随着提取练习次数的增加而消失,形似材料随着提取练习次数的增加出现定向遗忘效应; (3)对于四种材料,遗忘组被试都没有随提取练习次数的增加而更多抑制字表1回忆,即字表l的回忆成绩都没有表现出随提取练习次数的增加而降低的趋势,所以能否用提取诱发遗忘来解释定向遗忘的提取抑制还需要进一步的实验验证.     

听力正常人与聋人长时记忆的比较研究

以视觉系列呈现,序列回忆和自由回忆的方法比较了音、形、义三维编码维量在听力正常人与聋人短时记忆和长时记忆加工过程中的相对效用。结果是听力正常组产生了明显的语音相似性效应,聋人组突出地显示出形码的相似性干扰。在短时记忆和长时记忆加工过程中两组被试都显示出了形义两维编码维量的作用最强,而音码的作用相对比较弱。两组被试也都显示出了明显的系列位置效应及大体相同的长时保持。     

SPT效应的自动突显机制:来自输出监测的证据

研究采用"对回忆的再认"范式,从输出监测的角度考察了操作效应的提取机制。实验1结果显示,被试操作任务条件下的自由回忆的系列位置成绩缺乏首因效应,却拥有扩展的近因效应;被试操作任务条件下的"对回忆的再认"成绩显著差于语词任务下的成绩,差异具体表现在组块2~9、10、11和12上,表明在上述组块,被试操作任务条件下的提取存在自动突显,即操作效应得益于这些组块在提取时的自动突显。实验2结果显示,在类别测验下,被试操作任务和语词任务的自由回忆成绩拥有相似的系列位置曲线,而"对回忆的再认"结果同实验1。研究认为自由回忆的系列位置效应与自动突显机制之间不存在直接的因果关系,而"对回忆的再认"范式则能敏感地测量出操作效应的提取机制。     

听力正常人与聋人短时记忆的比较研究

以视觉系列呈现,自由回忆的方法比较了听力正常人与聋人对分别被强化的厂类相似性汉语字表的短时记忆获得量。从总的平均获得量来看,两组结果没有显著差异,而从每一编码维量在短时记忆的加工过程中的作用来看,两组被试都显示出了形、义两维编码维量的作用最强,而音码的作用相对比较弱。两组被试也都显示出了明显的系列位置效应,但聋人组的次级记忆容量明显地低于听力正常组,而初级记忆容量两组没有显著差异。并对可能的机制进行了讨论。     

分配注意与发音抑制对视觉工作记忆的影响

本研究通过两个实验考察了分配注意与发音抑制对视觉工作记忆再认能力的影响.结果表明,保持阶段的分配注意与编码阶段的分配注意相比,对视觉工作记忆成绩影响更大;双任务条件下,被试正确回忆言语刺激时,视觉作业的正确率高,而错误回忆言语刺激时,视觉作业的正确率会降低;发音抑制与视觉工作记忆成绩无关.     

自由回忆和线索回忆测验中的系列位置效应

本文以96个中国汉字为材料,使用自由回忆和线索回忆测验方法,对20名被试进行6组分测验和最后所有汉字的总测验。发现自由回忆分测验中存在明显的系列位置效应,总测验出现负近因现象;线索回忆分测验也表现出明显的系列位置效应,但最后的总测验没有出现负近因现象。上述结果验证了Bjork和Whitten（1974）提出的顺序或情景理论。     

对汉字短时记忆编码的实验研究

本文以汉字为材料,通过将显示通道由听觉转换成视觉或由视觉转换成听觉从而引起短时记忆前摄抑制释放的方法进行研究,被试由中国学生和刚学习中文的美国学生组成。结果表明:(1)视觉显示比听觉显示条件下的回忆成绩好。(2)两类被试在显示通道双向转换时都出现明显的前摄抑制释放。本文与用英文材料作类似实验的结果作比较,提出中英文短时记忆编码操作不同的看法。     

关于复述效应中材料因素的实验研究

本文在无意学习条件下探讨了汉字材料的语义特征对复述效应的影响.实验结果表明,当提取方式为自由回忆时,材料性质对保持水平有显著影响,材料性质与复述时间存在相互作用;当提取方式为再认时,材料性质对保持水平的影响仅出现在语义复述条件下.讨论表明,复述水平、复述范式、材料性质和提取任务对复述效应的影响可以在加工深度理论框架内得到合理解释.     

空白间隔对汉字知觉干扰效应的影响

采用辨认残缺汉字的方法考察空白间隔对汉字知觉干扰效应的影响。两个实验分别考察了空白间隔的长短和不同的插入位置对汉字知觉干扰效应的影响,结果发现:(1)适当长度的空白间隔(大于等于600ms)能导致干扰效应的消失;(2)该空白间隔的位置越接近递进进程最后阶段,残缺汉字的辨认成绩越好,越不容易出现干扰。实验结果支持竞争激活假说,不支持失匹配假说。     

汉字认知过程中整字对部件的影响

英文研究中,"字优效应"是单词促进字母加工的一个重要依据。但中文研究中还存在一些争议。本研究通过两个实验考查了汉字的部件认知中,汉字整体对局部(部件)的影响。实验刺激材料分为三种,即左右结构或上下结构的真字、假字与部件字。目标部件为既能够放置于三种字符的左侧,又能放置于右侧(上部或下部)的汉字部件。实验一采用Reicher-Wheeler实验任务,先呈现刺激材料350ms,掩蔽后再呈现需要判断的目标部件,被试对目标部件进行按键反应。实验二中采用部件判断实验任务,先呈现需要判断的目标部件,再呈现刺激材料,被试对刺激材料中是否包含目标部件进行按键反应。记录反应时与正确率。27位健康女性大学生参与本实验。结果显示:(1)不论是Reicher-Wheeler实验任务还是部件判断实验任务,均显示部件字的部件认知判断速度最快。真字与假字相比,无"字优效应"。真字与部件字相比,存在着"字劣效应"。这些结果表明,汉字整字对汉字部件认知加工起到抑制作用;(2)两个实验任务均表现出汉字结构方式效应,即对左右结构的汉字的部件认知比上下结构的汉字更快;(3)部件的空间位置对部件识别存在影响。实验一中对下部件分辨最困难,分辨时间最长;实验二中发现对左部件的反应最快。字符结构方式效应与部件空间位置效应既存在于真字中,也存在于假字中。     

Retroactive effects of irrelevant speech on serial recall from short-term memory

The authors report 5 serial-recall experiments. In 4 of the 5 experiments, they show that irrelevant sound (IS) has a retroactive effect on material already in memory. In Experiment 1, IS presented during a filled retention interval had a reliable effect on list recall. Four further experiments, 3 of which used retroactive IS, showed that IS continued to-have an effect on recall following a long, filled retention interval. Articulatory suppression during visual input was found to abolish the long-lasting, retroactive effect of IS, supporting the idea that IS affects the phonological-loop component of short-term memory. IS also, therefore, seems to affect a longer term memory system with which the loop interacts.     

Serial recall of rhythms and verbal sequences: Impacts of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sound

Rhythmic grouping enhances verbal serial recall, yet very little is known about memory for rhythmic patterns. The aim of this study was to compare the cognitive processes supporting memory for rhythmic and verbal sequences using a range of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sounds. In Experiment 1, both concurrent articulation and paced finger tapping during presentation and during a retention interval impaired rhythm recall, while letter recall was only impaired by concurrent articulation. In Experiments 2 and 3, irrelevant sound consisted of irrelevant speech or tones, changing-state or steady-state sound, and syncopated or paced sound during presentation and during a retention interval. Irrelevant speech was more damaging to rhythm and letter recall than was irrelevant tone sound, but there was no effect of changing state on rhythm recall, while letter recall accuracy was disrupted by changing-state sound. Pacing of sound did not consistently affect either rhythm or letter recall. There are similarities in the way speech and rhythms are processed that appear to extend beyond reliance on temporal coding mechanisms involved in serial-order recall.     

Serial recall of rhythms and verbal sequences: Impacts of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sound

Rhythmic grouping enhances verbal serial recall, yet very little is known about memory for rhythmic patterns. The aim of this study was to compare the cognitive processes supporting memory for rhythmic and verbal sequences using a range of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sounds. In Experiment 1, both concurrent articulation and paced finger tapping during presentation and during a retention interval impaired rhythm recall, while letter recall was only impaired by concurrent articulation. In Experiments 2 and 3, irrelevant sound consisted of irrelevant speech or tones, changing-state or steady-state sound, and syncopated or paced sound during presentation and during a retention interval. Irrelevant speech was more damaging to rhythm and letter recall than was irrelevant tone sound, but there was no effect of changing state on rhythm recall, while letter recall accuracy was disrupted by changing-state sound. Pacing of sound did not consistently affect either rhythm or letter recall. There are similarities in the way speech and rhythms are processed that appear to extend beyond reliance on temporal coding mechanisms involved in serial-order recall.     

The irrelevant sound effect under articulatory suppression: is it a suffix effect?

An experiment is reported that investigates the relation between the suffix effect and the effect of irrelevant sound on the serial recall of short sequences of spoken material. The main issue was whether there is an effect of irrelevant sound under articulatory suppression in the presence of a spoken suffix. As in Hanley and Bakopoulou (2003), the irrelevant sound comprised speech that was presented during the retention interval. When a spoken suffix appeared at the end of the list, a significant effect of irrelevant sound remained when participants were able to rehearse list items. However, it disappeared under articulatory suppression. The effects of irrelevant sound remained significant under suppression when the suffix was an auditory tone but was confined to the final position of the serial position curve. These results parallel those reported by Jones, Macken, and Nicholls (2004) and Jones, Hughes, and Macken (2006) when they examined the effect of articulatory suppression on the phonological similarity effect. The results are consistent with Jones et al.'s (2006, 2004) view that an acoustic-perceptual representation of the terminal list items is the source of the effects of irrelevant sound and phonological similarity when they occur in the presence of articulatory suppression.     

Manipulations of irrelevant information: Suffix effects with articulatory suppression and irrelevant speech

Numerous studies have demonstrated impaired recall when the to-be-remembered information is accompanied or followed by irrelevant information. However, no current theory of immediate memory explains all three common methods of manipulating irrelevant information: requiring concurrent articulation, presenting irrelevant speech, and adding a stimulus suffix. Five experiments combined these manipulations to determine how they interact and which theoretical framework most accurately and completely accounts for the data. In Experiments 1 and 2, a list of auditory items was followed by an irrelevant speech sound (the suffix) while subjects engaged in articulatory suppression. Although articulatory suppression reduced overall recall compared to a control condition, comparable suffix effects were seen in both conditions. Experiments 3 and 4 found reliable suffix effects when list presentation was accompanied by irrelevant speech. Experiment 5 found a suffix effect even when the irrelevant speech was composed of a set of different items. Implications for working memory, pre-categorical acoustic store, the changing-state hypothesis, and the feature model are discussed.     

Similarities between the irrelevant sound effect and the suffix effect

Although articulatory suppression abolishes the effect of irrelevant sound (ISE) on serial recall when sequences are presented visually, the effect persists with auditory presentation of list items. Two experiments were designed to test the claim that, when articulation is suppressed, the effect of irrelevant sound on the retention of auditory lists resembles a suffix effect. A suffix is a spoken word that immediately follows the final item in a list. Even though participants are told to ignore it, the suffix impairs serial recall of auditory lists. In Experiment 1, the irrelevant sound consisted of instrumental music. The music generated a significant ISE that was abolished by articulatory suppression. It therefore appears that, when articulation is suppressed, irrelevant sound must contain speech for it to have any effect on recall. This is consistent with what is known about the suffix effect. In Experiment 2, the effect of irrelevant sound under articulatory suppression was greater when the irrelevant sound was spoken by the same voice that presented the list items. This outcome is again consistent with the known characteristics of the suffix effect. It therefore appears that, when rehearsal is suppressed, irrelevant sound disrupts the acoustic-perceptual encoding of auditorily presented list items. There is no evidence that the persistence of the ISE under suppression is a result of interference to the representation of list items in a postcategorical phonological store.     

The irrelevant sound effect: does speech play a special role?

Memory for order is markedly impaired by the presence of irrelevant sound, even though participants are instructed to ignore the sound. Although a great deal of research has disclosed some features of the task and of the sound that augment or reduce the degree of interference, one important issue of the irrelevant sound effect not yet resolved is whether speech has a special status. This study revealed, within a design of adequate power, that the same physical stimulus (sine wave speech), whether perceived as speech or as nonspeech sound, produces similar degrees of disruption and is less disruptive of serial recall than natural speech. This outcome suggests that the acoustic constituents of sound rather than its source are most influential in determining the impact of irrelevant material.     

An irrelevant speech effect with repeated and continuous background speech

The irrelevant speech effect is the impairment of task performance by the presentation of to-be-ignored speech stimuli. Typically, the irrelevant speech comprises a variety of sounds, but previous research (e.g., Jones, Madden, & Miles, 1992) has suggested that the deleterious effect of background speech is virtually eliminated if the speech comprises repetitions of a sound (e.g., “be, be, be”) or a single continuous sound (e.g., “beeeeeee”). Four experiments are reported that challenge this finding. Experiments 1, 2, and 4 show a substantial impairment in serial recall performance in the presence of a repeated sound, and Experiments 3 and 4 show a similar impairment of serial recall in the presence of a continuous sound. The relevance of these findings to several explanations of the irrelevant speech effect is discussed.     

Does irrelevant music cause an irrelevant sound effect for auditory items?

The irrelevant sound effect (ISE) describes the significant reduction in verbal serial recall during irrelevant sounds with distinct temporal-spectral variations (changing-state sound). Whereas the ISE is well-documented for the serial recall of visual items accompanied by irrelevant speech and nonspeech sounds, an ISE caused by nonspeech sounds has not been reported for auditory items. Closing this empirical gap, Experiment 1 (n=90) verified that instrumental staccato-music reduces auditory serial recall compared to legato-music and silence. Its detrimental impact was not due to perceptual masking, disturbed encoding, or increased listening effort, as the employed experimental design and methods ensured. The found nonspeech ISE in auditory serial recall is corroborated by Experiment 1b (n=60), which, by using the same experimental design and methods, replicated the well-known ISE during irrelevant changing-state speech compared to steady-state speech, pink noise, and silence.     

Can the irrelevant speech effect turn into a stimulus suffix effect?

The irrelevant sound effect (ISE) and the stimulus suffix effect (SSE) are two qualitatively different phenomena, although in both paradigms irrelevant auditory material is played while a verbal serial recall task is being performed. Jones, Macken, and Nicholls (2004) have proposed the effect of irrelevant speech on auditory serial recall to switch from an ISE to an SSE mechanism, if the auditory-perceptive similarity of relevant and irrelevant material is maximized. The experiment reported here (n = 36) tested this hypothesis by exploring auditory serial recall performance both under irrelevant speech and under speech suffix conditions. These speech materials were spoken either by the same voice as the auditory items to be recalled or by a different voice. The experimental conditions were such that the likelihood of obtaining an SSE was maximized. The results, however, show that irrelevant speech—in contrast to speech suffixes—affects auditory serial recall independently of its perceptive similarity to the items to be recalled and thus in terms of an ISE mechanism that crucially extends to recency. The ISE thus cannot turn into an SSE.