Recall Proactive Inhibition Generation Cue types and their effects Hierarchical Generation

Keppel & Underwood (1962)

The Distracter Paradigm Subject sees a trigram (e.g., XBR) Repeat with new trigram Immediately, subject starts counting backwards by 3’s. For either: 3 sec. 9 sec. 18 sec. Subject attempts to recall the trigram.

Proactive interference When material learned earlier interferes with material learned later, the effect of the earlier material on the later material is called proactive interference (PI) The ability to retrieve a memory trace depends on the set of unique cues that activate the trace. In the distracter task there are no unique cues that distinguish the most recent item from earlier ones.

Wickens (1964)

Gardiner, Craik, & Birtwhistle (1972) When category was switched from wild flowers (dandelion, buttercup, bluebell) to cultivated flowers (carnation, rose, tulip) no one noticed. However, a retrieval cue caused release from PI

Primacy As the result of PI, early list items are more likely to be retrieved. This is called primacy. Primacy is enhanced because the early list items receive more distributed rehearsals. In general, the more distributed rehearsals an item receives the more likely it is to be retrieved (e.g. Von Restorff Effect).

Generate Animal Names Clustering occurs because each cue generates some small number of targets which comprise the cluster. Each cue can be used once and it takes more and more time to find new cues. So the recall function is negatively accelerated.

Generate Animal Names Clustering occurs because each cue generates some small number of targets which comprise the cluster. Each cue can be used once and it takes more and more time to find new cues. So the recall function is negatively accelerated.

The Role of Generation in Recall Target: Whatever a person is attempting to recall. Distracter: Whatever a person is not attempting to recall. Cue: Anything related to or associated in memory with a target. The generate and recognize strategy is used to recall items. Cues are used to generate traces that are either recognized as targets or rejected as distracters.

Recall cues Item(s) in Memory Recognize Generate Comparision Judg-ment Nope Got it done

Failure In Recall No items are generated through associations. The items generated are not the target. The targets are generated but not recognized.

The diminishing effect of generated cues in free Recall A. Brown (1968). It takes longer to produce each category member. J. Brown (1968). Having 25 of 50 states given as cues makes it harder to recall the other 25. Slamecka (1968). Having some list members given as cues makes it harder to remember the other list members. The effect is overcome by generating secondary cues (an idiosyncratic endeavor).

Hypermnesia Different items may be recalled from an unorganized list on different occasions because different cues are available on each occasion. If several recall attempts are made, hypermnesia may occur.

Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon You can remember things about the target except the criterion feature (such as the name), and you feel that you know the criterion feature. Some of the logogen network representing the target is activated, but not the part that contains the features you’re seeking.

Cue Inhibition Not everything related to the target helps to generate it. If a cue is more strongly associated to distracters than the target it will inhibit generation of the target. What is the word meaning eat rapidly taking many small bites? Cue 1. cram inhibits Cue 2. goggle facilitates Target. gobble

Context Dependent Memory People are able to recall more items of a list in the same environment in which the list was learned. But environmental context has no effect on recognition.

State Dependent Memory Similar, but weaker, effects are obtained when recall of a list learned while intoxicated is compared for sober versus intoxicated subjects. The existence of a similar effect for emotional states is possible but remains unproven.

Hierarchical Semantic Organization Hierarchical organization is critical for recall (through cue generation). What we recall is determined by how our memory is organized. Recall is also determined by general rules that can be used both as recall cues and to organize events into sequences.

Inference plays a role in retrieval Sentence Verification Squirrels are animals and animals have hearts. Therefore squirrels have hearts. Squirrels are not fish. Only fish have gills. Therefore squirrels do not have gills. Story Recall Errors in Helen Keller vs. Carol Harris story Coin Drawing Recall follows general structural description rather than specific details

Constructive Memory Hierarchical organization is critical for recall. What we recall is determined by how our memory is organized. Just as in a recognition task, it may not be possible to perfectly discriminate among similar targets and distracters. Hence, it is possible to falsely recall items that were never presented.

False memories in list recall Factors associated with false alarm Strong associations with targets Distracter is more likely to be generated. Low over-all recall rate Distracter is more likely to be as familiar as targets.