Effects of the timing and identity of retrieval cues in individual recall: An attempt to mimic cross-cueing in collaborative recall

Inhibitory effects in collaborative recall have been attributed to cross-cueing among partners, in the same way that part-set cues are known to impair recall in individuals. However, studies of part-set cueing in individuals typically involve presenting cues visually at the start of recall, whereas cross-cueing in collaboration is likely to be spoken and distributed over time. In an attempt to bridge this gap, three experiments investigated effects of presenting spoken part-set or extra-list cues at different times during individual recall. Cues had an inhibitory effect on recollection in the early part of the recall period, especially when presented in immediate succession at the start of recall. There was no difference between the effects of part-set and extra-list cues under these presentation conditions. However, more inhibition was generated by part-set than extra-list cues when cue presentation was distributed throughout recall. These results are interpreted as suggesting that cues presented during recall disrupt memory in two ways, corresponding to either blocking or modifying retrieval processes. Implications for explaining and possibly ameliorating inhibitory effects in collaborative recall are discussed.     

Effects of repeated collaborative retrieval on individual memory vary as a function of recall versus recognition tasks

Our research examines how prior group collaboration modulates later individual memory. We recently showed that repeated collaborative recall sessions benefit later individual recall more than a single collaborative recall session (Blumen & Rajaram, 2008). Current research compared the effects of repeated collaborative recall and repeated collaborative recognition on later individual recall and later individual recognition. A total of 192 participants studied a list of nouns and then completed three successive retrieval sessions in one of four conditions. While two collaborative recall sessions and two collaborative recognition sessions generated comparable levels of individual recall (CRecall-CRecall-I Recall ～ CRecognition-CRecognition-I Recall , Experiment 1a), two collaborative recognition sessions generated greater levels of individual recognition than two collaborative recall sessions (CRecognition-CRecognition- IRecognition > CRecall-CRecall- I Recognition , Experiment 1b). These findings are discussed in terms of two opposing mechanisms that operate during collaborative retrieval—re-exposure and retrieval disruption—and in terms of transfer-appropriate processing across collaborative and individual retrieval sessions.     

Effects of list organization and retrieval cues on children's delayed recall.

Developmental differences in recall were investigated as a function of mode of presentation (blocked vs. random), recall condition (cued vs. noncued), and time of recall (immediate vs. delayed). Ninety-six second graders and 96 fourth graders were the subjects, and the stimuli were 20 pictured items from five categories. Data on three dependent variables (item recall, category recall, and clustering score) were analyzed. Immediate recall was better than delayed recall, the fourth graders' overall performance was superior to that of the second graders, and the blocked presentation of items and the presence of retrieval cues at recall enhanced recall and organization in recall. Furthermore, an analysis of a three-way interaction on two dependent measures indicated that, in the noncued condition, immediate recall was better than delayed recall for children in both grades. However, in the cued condition, the fourth graders performed better during delayed recall than during immediate recall, whereas the second graders did better during immediate recall than during delayed recall.     

Selective access in cued recall: The roles of retrieval cues and domains of encoding

The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether retrieval access in cued recall can be selectively restricted to a single domain of encoding when information has been encoded within two domains as different as word sound and word meaning. In Experiment 1, the subjects studied pairs of rhyming words differing in rhyme set size under verbal-repetition or interactive-imagery instructions. Recall was cued with study-context rhymes, with extralist rhymes, or with extralist associates. The results indicated that rhyme set size and instructional effects were found no matter how recall was cued, indicating that both domains of encoding were always accessed. In Experiment 2, potential effects of study time and overt naming of the test cues were explored. These results indicated that both domains of encoding were accessed, except when long study times were available and subjects did not have to name the rhyme test cues. Rhyme set-size effects were eliminated under these conditions, suggesting that selective access to encoded meaning is possible in cued recall. Retrieval access in this task appears to be more controlled by domains of encoding than by information directly available in the cue, and access to encoded information can be restricted to a single domain.     

Influences of item organizability and semantic retrieval cues on word recall in very old age

Abstract

This research investigated the influence of organizational structure in the materials and category cues at retrieval on episodic memory performance in very old age. A community-based sample of healthy, very old adults (N = 224) between 75 and 96 years was presented with two lists of words: a list of semantically unrelated words and a list of words from four taxonomic categories randomly intermixed. Free recall was assessed for both tasks and, for the organizable list, subjects received a cued recall test as well. Results showed an overall age-related deterioration of memory performance, although the ability to utilize item organizability and retrieval cues remained intact across age. Evidence from data on memory performance, as well as analyses of the nature of organizable free recall, suggests that problems at both encoding and retrieval may underlie the age-related performance deficit. In addition, there were age-related increases in (a) forgetting between free and cued recall, and (b) intrusion errors. Finally, regression analyses indicated that, in addition to age, level of schooling as well as markers of general cognitive status (the Mini-Mental State Examination) and fluid intelligence (Block Design) accounted for performance variation across all memory tasks.     

Influence of re-exposure and retrieval disruption during group collaboration on later individual recall

This research examined the influence of prior group collaboration on later individual recall. We considered the negative effects of retrieval disruption and the potentially positive effects of re-exposure to additional items during group recall in the context of three hypotheses: the individual-strategy hypothesis, the combined-strategy hypothesis, and the group-strategy hypothesis. After a study phase and a brief delay, participants completed three successive recall trials in four different recall sequence conditions: III (individual-individual-individual), ICI (individual-collaborative-individual), CII (collaborative-individual-individual), and CCI (collaborative-collaborative-individual). Results show that repeated group recalls (CCI), and securing individual retrieval organisation prior to group recall (ICI), benefit later individual recall more than repeated individual recalls (III). These findings support the group-strategy hypothesis and the individual-strategy hypothesis, and have important implications for group versus individual learning practices in educational settings.     

The influence of multiple trials and computer-mediated communication on collaborative and individual semantic recall

Collaborative inhibition is a phenomenon where collaborating groups experience a decrement in recall when interacting with others. Despite this, collaboration has been found to improve subsequent individual recall. We explore these effects in semantic recall, which is seldom studied in collaborative retrieval. We also examine “parallel CMC”, a synchronous form of computer-mediated communication that has previously been found to improve collaborative recall [Hinds, J. M., & Payne, S. J. (2016). Collaborative inhibition and semantic recall: Improving collaboration through computer-mediated communication. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(4), 554–565]. Sixty three triads completed a semantic recall task, which involved generating words beginning with “PO” or “HE” across three recall trials, in one of three retrieval conditions: Individual–Individual–Individual (III), Face-to-face–Face-to-Face–Individual (FFI) and Parallel–Parallel–Individual (PPI). Collaborative inhibition was present across both collaborative conditions. Individual recall in Recall 3 was higher when participants had previously collaborated in comparison to recalling three times individually. There was no difference between face-to-face and parallel CMC recall, however subsidiary analyses of instance repetitions and subjective organisation highlighted differences in group members' approaches to recall in terms of organisation and attention to others' contributions. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to retrieval strategy disruption.     

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.     

The effects of different types of retrieval cues on the recall of names of famous faces

The present study investigated the effects of cues on subjects’ abilities to retrieve the names of famous faces that they had previously been unable to recall. In Experiment 1 subjects were presented with a second photograph of the celebrity, or biographical information about the celebrity, or the celebrity’s initials. Each type of cue produced a quite different pattern of recall. Biographical information was least likely to elicit the name when the subject already knew the celebrity’s occupation, and most likely when subjects found the face familiar only. Conversely, initials were more likely to elicit the name when the occupation was already known than when the face was at first found unfamiliar or familiar only. Rather surprisingly, no significant differences were observed when a new photograph was used as a cue. In Experiment 2, the effects of a new photograph were compared with a condition in which the same photograph was presented twice. A new photograph was beneficial when subjects had previously found the face unfamiliar and when they found the face familiar only, but not when they knew the occupation. It is argued that these, as well as other aspects of the results, generally support the view that successive, but distinct stages are involved in face recognition, consistent with the model put forward by Bruce and Young (1986).     

Effects of alcohol and nicotine on free recall of relevant cues

It is proposed that alcohol and nicotine will affect free recall of relevant cues and that these effects are mediated by changes in level of arousal. Alcohol (0.0 ml, 0.97 ml, or 2.33 ml per kg of body weight) and nicotine (no cigarettes, or two cigarettes each containing 1.3 mg of nicotine) were administered either individually or jointly to six groups of 15 men, such that different combinations of alcohol and nicotine induced different levels of arousal. Since subjects performed at chance level on recall of word-color, which constituted the irrelevant cue, no conclusions regarding the effect of the drugs on recall of irrelevant cues could be drawn. Under conditions of high arousal, induced by the administration of nicotine or a low dose of alcohol, immediate free recall of 20 adjectives was superior to recall in the low-arousal conditions (a moderate dose of alcohol administered either singly or in conjunction with nicotine) and in the control group. This finding is in line with the prediction that arousal, induced by nicotine or a low alcohol dose enhances attention to high-priority task components.     

Effects of encoding instructions and retrieval cuing on recall in Korsakoff patients

The relationship between the depth of encoding a word and its subsequent recall, either cued or noncued, was investigated in this study. In Experiment 1, Korsakoff subjects and alcoholic controls were shown a categorized word list under one of three different encoding instructions: (1) nonsemantic, that is, detecting the presence or absence of the letter “e” in each word, (2)semantic, that is, assigning words to their correct taxonomic category, and (3) no encoding instructions. Semantic encoding instructions resulted in higher recall for both diagnostic groups than the other instructions. In Experiment 2, subjects were again assigned to one of the three encoding instructions as in Experiment 1, but all groups received cues (category labels) at the time of recall. Cuing increased recall for all but the group receiving instructions to encode nonsemantically. Experiment 3 was a replication of the previous experiments. The results indicated that Korsakoff subjects were capable of encoding semantically without specific instructions to do so but were impaired in the ability to generate retrieval cues at the time of recall.     

Study repetition and divided attention: Effects of encoding manipulations on collaborative inhibition in group recall

Two experiments tested the effects of encoding manipulations on group recall and on the magnitude of collaborative inhibition. Collaborative inhibition refers to the phenomenon where by a collaborative group recalls less than do the same number of individuals who work alone and then have their nonredundant responses pooled. Participants studied categorized word lists once or three times (Experiment 1) or under conditions of full versus divided attention (Experiment 2). Study repetition both improved retrieval organization in recall and attenuated collaborative inhibition, and divided attention encoding both reduced retrieval organization in recall and eliminated collaborative inhibition. These experiments are the first to focus on encoding variables and to show that collaborative inhibition can vary as a function of encoding manipulations.     

Credit cues and impression management: a preliminary attempt to explain the credit card effect

Prior research had suggested that individuals would estimate higher product values and even tip more in the presence of credit cues. In the absence of a clear theoretical interpretation of this credit card effect we propose that this tendency is an impression management strategy such that credit cue exposure influences perceptions of the self and focuses attention on individual wealth. Thus, in the presence of others, credit cues serve to enhance images of the self. Preliminary data in support of this alternative theoretical perspective are presented.     

Origins of the misplaced confidence effect in collaborative recall

Studies have shown that dyads and groups place significantly more confidence in wrong answers to questions about a jointly witnessed event than do individuals. This experiment was designed to discover whether this misplaced confidence is influenced by prior free collaborative recall of the events in question. The results clearly indicated that prior group remembering lessens the effect, and improves the testimonial validity of both individual and group answers to questions about a jointly witnessed event. Taken in conjunction with other studies, the results imply that two or more witnesses of an event may profitably discuss what happened, but that they may best be interrogated separately in order to maximize the information available to the interrogator and to minimize misplaced confidence.     

Effects of free and forced retrieval instructions on false recall and recognition.

One hundred undergraduates heard 6 lists of 14 words that were each associated with 1 of 6 central concepts not on the lists (the DRMRS procedure). The participants were instructed to recall as many words as possible (free retrieval) or to fill all 14 spaces (forced retrieval) and were subsequently given a recognition test. False recall and recognition of the critical central concepts were higher with forced than with free retrieval instructions, but correct recall and recognition were not affected. Confidence was lower for false than for correct recall and recognition. Confidence was also lower with forced than with free retrieval instructions for false recall but not for false recognition. The DRMRS procedure easily elicited false memories, but confidence judgments helped more in detecting them in recall than in recognition. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

Source-constrained recall: front-end and back-end control of retrieval quality

Research on the strategic regulation of memory accuracy has focused primarily on monitoring and control processes used to edit out incorrect information after it is retrieved (back-end control). Recent studies, however, suggest that rememberers also enhance accuracy by preventing the retrieval of incorrect information in the first place (front-end control). The present study put forward and examined a mechanism called source-constrained recall (cf. Jacoby, Shimizu, Velanova, & Rhodes, 2005) by which rememberers process and use recall cues in qualitatively different ways, depending on the manner of original encoding. Results of 2 experiments in which information about source encoding depth was made available at test showed that when possible, participants constrained recall to the solicited targets by reinstating the original encoding operations on the recall cues. This reinstatement improved the quality of the information that came to mind, which, together with improved postretrieval monitoring, enhanced actual recall performance.     

Age differences in collaborative memory: the role of retrieval manipulations

In two experiments, we examined age differences in collaborative inhibition (reduced recall in pairs of people, relative to pooled individuals) across repeated retrieval attempts. Younger and older adults studied categorized word lists and were then given two consecutive recall tests and a recognition test. On the first recall test, the subjects were given free-report cued recall or forced-report cued recall instructions (Experiment 1) or free recall instructions (Experiment 2) and recalled the lists either alone or in collaboration with another subject of the same age group. Free-report cued recall and free recall instructions warned the subjects not to guess, whereas forcedreport cued recall instructions required them to guess. Collaborative inhibition was obtained for both younger and older adults on initial tests of free-report cued recall, forced-report cued recall, and free recall, showing that the effect generalizes across several tests for both younger and older adults. Collaborative inhibition did not persist on subsequent individual recall or recognition tests for list items. Older adults consistently falsely recalled and recognized items more than did younger adults, as had been found in previous studies. In addition, prior collaboration may exaggerate older adults’ tendency toward higher false alarms on a subsequent recognition test, but only after a free recall test. The results provide generality to the phenomenon of collaborative inhibition and can be explained by invoking concepts of strategy disruption and source monitoring.     

Expert performance in solving word puzzles: From retrieval cues to crossword clues

Crossword enthusiasts were first clasified as expert or intermediate on the basis of their performance with a previously unseen set of clues, and then participated in five laboratory experiments designed to capture different aspects of their skilled performance: experiment 1 required the generation of words from a fixed set of letters; experiment 2 monitored the solution of anagrams; experiment 3 required the comipletion of a word of given meaning with only three letters presented; experiment 4 was a lexical decision task with suffixed and pseudosuffixed words and non-words; and experiment 5 was a synonym judgement task with prefixed and suffixed words Subjects also completed psychometric tests of reasoning and vocabulary. A discriminant function analysis sucessfully predicted the crossword ability of all subjects on the basis of measures of the generation of words from given letters, the number of anagrams solved, sensitivity to a suffix in a non-word (lexical decision task), sensitivity to a pseudosuffix in a word (synonym judgement task), and vocabulary score. Cryptic crossword puzles are solved by a combination of component subskills, including lexical retrieval, clue recognition, and the manipulation of components of words.     

Emergence of sensitivity to pictorial depth cues: Charting development in individual infants

Three experiments were conducted to explore the emergence of sensitivity to the pictorial depth cues of texture gradient and linear perspective. In experiment 1, an initial longitudinal study explored the emergence of sensitivity to pictorial depth information between 5 and 7 months of age. In experiment 2, a cross-sectional study with 5–7-month-olds assessed revised methods designed to study development of pictorial depth sensitivity in individual infants. Experiment 3 applied these methods to a second sample of infants studied longitudinally. The results showed that: (a) a reliable method for assessing sensitivity in individual infants has been constructed; (b) there is variability in the age at which infants begin to use linear perspective and texture gradient for perceiving depth (22–28 weeks of age); and (c) sensitivity emerges across 2–8 weeks.