Negative effects of item repetition on source memory

In the present study, we explored how item repetition affects source memory for new item-feature associations (picture-location or picture-color). We presented line drawings varying numbers of times in Phase 1. In Phase 2, each drawing was presented once with a critical new feature. In Phase 3, we tested memory for the new source feature of each item from Phase 2. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated and replicated the negative effects of item repetition on incidental source memory. Prior item repetition also had a negative effect on source memory when different source dimensions were used in Phases 1 and 2 (Experiment 3) and when participants were explicitly instructed to learn source information in Phase 2 (Experiments 4 and 5). Importantly, when the order between Phases 1 and 2 was reversed, such that item repetition occurred after the encoding of critical item-source combinations, item repetition no longer affected source memory (Experiment 6). Overall, our findings did not support predictions based on item predifferentiation, within-dimension source interference, or general interference from multiple traces of an item. Rather, the findings were consistent with the idea that prior item repetition reduces attention to subsequent presentations of the item, decreasing the likelihood that critical item-source associations will be encoded.     

Effects of emotion-induced self-focused attention on item and source memory

Motivation and Emotion - Affective states are closely linked to attention to internal aspects of the self (i.e., self-focused attention). We investigated how self-focused attention induced by...     

Merely presenting one’s own name along with target items is insufficient to produce a memory advantage for the items: A critical role of relational processing

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Using the self as a reference point at encoding produces a memory advantage over other types of encoding activities. Even simply co-presenting a target item with...