Memory (Cognitive Psychology)

When can we choose to forget? An ERP study into item-method directed forgetting of emotional words

by Kate Bailey

Learning Adinkra symbols: The effect of testing

by Leonora Coppens

2011, Journal of Cognitive Psychology

The testing effect (i.e., long-term memory is improved more by intermediate testing than by restudying the... more The testing effect (i.e., long-term memory is improved more by intermediate testing than by restudying the information) has been studied using a variety of materials. However, almost all testing effect studies to date have used purely verbal materials such as word pairs, facts and prose passages. The testing effect has not yet been established using symbol-word pairs. In the present study symbol-word pairs were used as to-be-learned materials to demonstrate the generalisability of the testing effect to symbol learning. The results showed that there was no difference in final memory-test performance after a retention interval of 5 minutes, but after a retention interval of a week tested pairs were retained better than repeatedly studied pairs. Hence, the present research suggests that the testing effect can also be obtained in symbol learning.

Vadillo, M. A., Orgaz, C., Luque, D., Cobos, P. L., López, F. J., & Matute, H. (in press). The role of outcome inhibition in interference between outcomes: A contingency-learning analogue of retrieval-induced forgetting. British Journal of Psychology.

by David Luque Ruiz

Interference effect in human contingency learning shares properties with the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect.

ABSTRACT. Current associative theories of contingency learning assume that inhibitory learning plays a part in the... more ABSTRACT. Current associative theories of contingency learning assume that inhibitory learning plays a part in the interference between outcomes. However, it is unclear whether this inhibitory learning results in the inhibition of the outcome representation or whether it simply counteracts previous excitatory learning so that the outcome representation is neither activated nor inhibited. Additionally, these models tend to conceptualise inhibition as a relatively transient and cue-dependent state. However, research on retrieval-induced forgetting suggests that the inhibition of representations is a real process that can be relatively independent of the retrieval cue used to access the inhibited information. Consistent with this alternative view, we found that interference between outcomes reduces the retrievability of the target outcome even when the outcome is associated with a novel (non-inhibitory) cue. This result has important theoretical implications for associative models of interference and shows that the empirical facts and theories developed in studies of retrieval-induced forgetting might be relevant in contingency learning and vice versa.

Vadillo, M. A. & Luque, D. (in press). Dissociations among judgments do not reflect cognitive priority: An associative explanation of memory for frequency information in contingency learning. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology.

by David Luque Ruiz

Episodic-like memories in human contingency learning can rise from simple associative links (e.g., Rescorla & Wagner).

ABSTRACT. Previous research on causal learning has usually made strong claims about the relative complexity and... more ABSTRACT. Previous research on causal learning has usually made strong claims about the relative complexity and temporal priority of some processes over others based on evidence about dissociations between several types of judgments. Specifically, it has been argued that the dissociation between causal judgments and trial-type frequency information is incompatible with the general cognitive architecture proposed by associative models. In contrast with this view, we conduct an associative analysis of this process showing that this need not be the case. We conclude that any attempt to gain a better insight on the cognitive architecture involved in contingency learning cannot rely solely on data about these dissociations.

Recollecting, recognizing, and other acts of remembering: an overview of human memory

by Derin Cobia

No retrieval-induced forgetting using item-specific independent cues: Evidence against a general inhibitory account

by Diane Pecher

Camp, G., Pecher, D., & Schmidt, H.G. (2007). No retrieval-induced forgetting using item-specific independent cues: Evidence against a general inhibitory account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 950-958.

Retrieval practice with particular items from memory can impair the recall of related items on a later memory test.... more Retrieval practice with particular items from memory can impair the recall of related items on a later memory test. This retrieval-induced forgetting effect has been ascribed to inhibitory processes (M. C. Anderson & B. A. Spellman, 1995). A critical finding that distinguishes inhibitory from interference explanations is that forgetting is found with independent (or extralist) cues. In 4 experiments, the authors tested whether the forgetting effect is cue-independent. Forgetting was investigated for both studied and unstudied semantically related items. Retrieval-induced forgetting was not found using item-specific independent cues for either studied or unstudied items. However, forgetting was found for both item types when studied categories were used as cues. These results are not in line with a general inhibitory account, because this account predicts retrieval-induced forgetting with independent cues. Interference and context-specific inhibition are discussed as possible explanations for the data.

Verifying Visual Properties in Sentence Verification Facilitates Picture Recognition Memory

by Diane Pecher

Pecher, D., Zanolie, K., & Zeelenberg, R. (2007). Verifying visual properties in sentence verification facilitates picture recognition memory. Experimental Psychology, 54, 173-179.

According to the perceptual symbols theory (Barsalou, 1999), sensorimotor simulations underlie the representation of... more According to the perceptual symbols theory (Barsalou, 1999), sensorimotor simulations underlie the representation of concepts. We investigated whether recognition memory for pictures of concepts was facilitated by earlier representation of visual properties of those concepts. During study, concept names (e.g., apple) were presented in a property verification task with a visual property (e.g., shiny) or with a nonvisual property (e.g., tart). Delayed picture recognition memory was better if the concept name had been presented with a visual property than if it had been presented with a nonvisual property. These results indicate that modality-specific simulations are used for concept representation.

Automatic Priming Effects for New Associations in Lexical Decision and Perceptual Identification

by Diane Pecher

Pecher, D., & Raaijmakers, J. G. W. (1999). Automatic priming effects for new associations in lexical decision and perceptual identification. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 52A, 593-614.

Language comprehenders retain implied shape and orientation of objects

by Diane Pecher

Pecher, D., Van Dantzig, S., Zwaan, R. A., & Zeelenberg, R. (2009). Language comprehenders retain implied shape and orientation of objects. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 1108-1114.

According to theories of embodied cognition, language comprehenders simulate sensorimotor experiences to represent the... more According to theories of embodied cognition, language comprehenders simulate sensorimotor experiences to represent the meaning of what they read. Previous studies have shown that picture recognition is better if the object in the picture matches the orientation or shape implied by a preceding sentence. In order to test whether strategic imagery may explain previous findings, language comprehenders first read a list of sentences in which objects were mentioned. Only once the complete list had been read was recognition memory tested with pictures. Recognition performance was better if the orientation or shape of the object matched that implied by the sentence, both immediately after reading the complete list of sentences and after a 45-min delay. These results suggest that previously found match effects were not due to strategic imagery and show that details of sensorimotor simulations are retained over longer periods.

Are independent probes truly independent?

by Diane Pecher

Camp, G., Pecher, D., Schmidt, H. G., & Zeelenberg, R. (2009). Are independent probes truly independent? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 934-942

The independent cue technique has been developed to test traditional interference theories against inhibition theories... more The independent cue technique has been developed to test traditional interference theories against inhibition theories of forgetting. In the present study, the authors tested the critical criterion for the independence of independent cues: Studied cues not presented during test (and unrelated to test cues) should not contribute to the retrieval process. Participants first studied a subset of cues (e.g., rope) that were subsequently studied together with a target in a 2nd study phase (e.g., rope-sailing, sunflower-yellow). In the test phase, an extralist category cue (e.g., sports, color) was presented, and participants were instructed to recall an item from the study list that was a member of the category (e.g., sailing, yellow). The experiments showed that previous study of the paired-associate word (e.g., rope) enhanced category cued recall even though this word was not presented at test. This experimental demonstration of covert cuing has important implications for the effectiveness of the independent cue technique.

Activating the critical lure during study is unnecessary for false recognition

by Diane Pecher

Zeelenberg, R., Boot, I., & Pecher, D. (2005). Activating the critical lure during study is unnecessary for false recognition. Consciousness and Cognition, 14, 316-326.

Participants studied lists of nonwords (e.g., froost, floost, stoost, etc.) that were orthographic-phonologically... more Participants studied lists of nonwords (e.g., froost, floost, stoost, etc.) that were orthographic-phonologically similar to a nonpresented critical lure, which was also a nonword (e.g., ploost). Experiment 1 showed a high level of false recognition for the critical lure. Experiment 2 showed that the false recognition effect was also present for forewarned participants who were informed about the nature of the false recognition effect and told to avoid making false recognition judgments. The present results show that false recognition effects can be obtained even when the critical lure itself is not stored during study. This finding is problematic for accounts that attribute false memories to implicit associative responses or spreading activation but is easily explained by global familiarity models of recognition memory.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in implicit memory tests: The role of test awareness

by Diane Pecher

Camp, G., Pecher, D. & Schmidt, H. G. (2005). Retrieval-induced forgetting in implicit memory tests: The role of test awareness. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 490-494.

Retrieval practice with particular items in memory may result in decreased recall of different, semantically related,... more Retrieval practice with particular items in memory may result in decreased recall of different, semantically related, items. This retrieval-induced forgetting effect has been demonstrated in studies using explicit memory tests. Anderson and Spellman (1995) have attributed retrieval-induced forgetting to inhibitory mechanisms. This hypothesis predicts similar effects in implicit memory tasks. In our first experiment, using Anderson and Spellman's original paradigm, retrieval-induced forgetting was found using an explicit memory test with independent extralist retrieval cues. In our second experiment, using the same materials, retrieval-induced forgetting was also found using an implicit memory test with independent extralist retrieval cues, but only for participants who were aware of the relationship between the study and practice phase on the one hand, and the test phase of the experiment on the other. Thus, test awareness seems to mediate retrieval-induced forgetting in implicit memory tasks.

Low-dose tryptophan depletion in recovered depressed women induces impairments in autobiographical memory specificity

by Anneke Haddad

Haddad, A. D. M., Williams, J. M. G., McTavish, S. F. B., & Harmer, C. J. (2009, December). Low-dose tryptophan depletion in recovered depressed women induces impairments in autobiographical memory specificity.. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 207(3), 499-508.

Background: Depressed patients perform poorly on tests of autobiographical memory specificity (AMS); this may have... more Background: Depressed patients perform poorly on tests of autobiographical memory specificity (AMS); this may have negative consequences for other important cognitive abilities, delays recovery from mood episodes, and, in recovered patients, may mediate vulnerability to future episodes. Although the cognitive mechanisms underlying AMS deficits are beginning to be understood, the neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. Serotonin is implicated in both depression and long-term memory; therefore, temporary lowering of brain serotonin function via acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) offers a means of studying the role of serotonin in autobiographical memory specificity.

Materials and methods: In this study, 24 previously depressed women underwent low-dose ATD or sham depletion and completed tests of initial and delayed memory, recollection- and familiarity-based recognition, and AMS.

Results: ATD did not differentially affect state mood. Compared with sham depletion, ATD impaired immediate recall on the Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Although ATD did not differentially impair recollection- and familiarity-based recognition, it did slow recognition of positive words. ATD also reduced autobiographical memory specificity in response to negative cue words.

Discussion: The results confirm previous findings that low-dose ATD can reinstate depression-congruent biases in cognition without causing depressive mood in vulnerable populations. The ATD-induced reduction in memory specificity suggests that serotonergic dysfunction may mediate depressive deficits in autobiographical memory; the interaction of cognitive and neurobiological vulnerability mechanisms is discussed.

A Mechanism for Multidisciplinary Dialogue: The Memory & . . . Series

by Hilton Kelly

Abstract, Dedication, and Acknowledgments for the Hobbs (2011) dissertation published by SAS.

by Robert Dean Hobbs

The Hobbs (2011) doctoral study is published in the ProQuest Dissertations and These database, UMI No. 3484309

The purpose of the qualitative research was to assess models of education developed for the study to investigate how... more The purpose of the qualitative research was to assess models of education developed for the study to investigate how and when to incorporate second and third languages into the curriculum to improve language acquisition. Research indicates that L3 enhances and reinforces L2 and L1. The stratified systematic grounded theory study explored the perspectives of neurolinguists, psycholinguists, sociolinguists, and interdisciplinary education researchers to derive variables for constructing a new model of education. The outcome of the Internet survey revealed that 100% of the participants agreed that education must change and that teacher training must improve. Variables from the cross-disciplinary data contributed to the construction of an integrated model of multilingual education consisting of four primary models and other models to serve as tools for designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment as well as determining demographics and student meta-analysis of language abilities and storage in the brain. The first model emerged from the data to offer multilingual principles of education. The other primary models are macro, meso, and micro models. The macro model represents schools, instruction, assessment, and the curriculum cycle. The meso model depicts the developmental domains of the individual learner and includes a cyclical equation. The micro model delineates multilingual processing in the brain based on neurolinguistic research, variables from the current study, and Kees de Bot's bilingual adaptation of Levelt's language processing model. Recommendations include the incorporation of notional-functional pragmatic-aesthetic concepts as depicted in the models developed for the study and enhanced by input from published researchers with unique language and research repertoires who were located on four continents.

Memory in paediatric temporal lobe epilepsy: effects of lesion type and side

by francesca cormack

Establishing and Measuring Consciousness:

by stanley wilkin

A review of neurological investigations into consciousness and why the apprach is flawed. Weighing up several... more A review of neurological investigations into consciousness and why the apprach is flawed. Weighing up several propositions through current epistemology.

When the smile is a cue to familiarity

by Guy Tiberghien

Pre-decision and conditional search in long-term recognition memory.

by Guy Tiberghien

La mémoire oubliée

by Guy Tiberghien