The influence of listener perception of the speaker on recognition memory

Results are reported for an experiment which examined the influence of listener perception of speaker intention on sentence recognition. Given the same passage and recognition sentences, subjects displayed different false recognition patterns of test items depending on which of two speakers with opposing viewpoints the passage was attributed to. It is argued that the reconstructive process of memory is based on information from the context (e.g., the speaker's perceived intentions) as well as on the actual words used. Retention of different aspects of a meassage is seen to rely on information from different sources. Specifically, the results of the study indicate that retention of meaning involving the speaker's predictions, opinions, etc., is influenced by the listener's perception of the speaker.