Retrieval processes in recall (original) (raw)

Comparisons of models of associative recall

Memory & Cognition, 1981

We tested three mathematical models of associative recall that differ in the assumed structure of the memory trace (direct or indirect connections between parts) and the interdependence of the connections (independent or correlated). The three models compared are the "horizontal" model with direct, independent connections, the "schema" model with indirect, independent connections, and the "fragment" model with indirect, correlated connections. In Experiment 1, subjects studied quartets of minimally related words and then recalled, using one or two words of each quartet as cues. The horizontal and schema models predicted the data very well, but the fragment model did poorly. In Experiment 2, related word quintets were learned, and recall cues contained one, two, or three words of a quintet. Only the schema model adequately fit these data. Experiment 3 directly tested the fragment model, using sequential tests of unrelated word quartets. Even an augmented fragment model with extra recall failure parameters was decisively rejected by these data. Both the horizontal and schema models gave satisfactory qualitative accounts, although poor quantitative fits. A means of deriving the models through a spreading activation semantic network of preexperimental knowledge is suggested, and related models are discussed.

Mitigating the adverse effects of response deadline on recognition memory: Differential effects of semantic memory support on item and associative memory

Journal of Memory and Language, 2018

Prior research indicates that the effects of response deadline on episodic memory retrieval may be selective. Accordingly, this paper examines whether response deadline causes differential impairments in item and associative memory. Further, it investigates and contrasts the role of two types of semantic memory support-item memory support (in the form of meaningfulness of items, Experiment 1) and associative memory support (in the form of relatedness between items, Experiment 2), in potentially alleviating these episodic memory impairments. Across two experiments, participants studied pairs composed of pictures (presented as brand logo graphics) and words (presented as brand names), and later were tested on the components (item recognition) or the association between the components (associative recognition) under either long or short response deadlines. The results demonstrate the differential effects of response deadline on recognition memory, with larger detriments caused in associative memory versus item memory. Furthermore, while meaningfulness of items attenuates the negative effects of response deadline on item (versus associative) recognition (Experiment 1), relatedness between items alleviates the adverse effects of response deadline on associative (versus item) recognition (Experiment 2), though this was not the case in a boundary condition in which related pairs were used as foils, posing greater demand on recollection processes. The results are interpreted to indicate that the attenuation of the negative effects of response deadline on recognition memory occurs in the type of episodic memory that receives greater semantic memory support.

Judgments of recency and their relation to recognition memory

Memory & Cognition, 2003

Experiment 2) in which individual items were repeated at lags of 5 to 30 other items. They made old versus new recognition decisions on each word and followed each "old" response with a numerical judgment of recency (JOR). Recognition judgments displayed the mirror effect. Conditionalized on recognition, JORs were shorter for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words, and shorter for concrete words than for abstract words. This was true at every lag, suggesting that recognition and JOR may have a common basis. However, recognition confidence ratings obtained in Experiment 3 proved much less sensitive than JOR to test lag. Memory models applicable to multiple judgment tasks will be needed to account for such findings.

Effects of recall tests on long-term retention of paired associates1

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal …, 1969

Forty Ss were given 5 or I0 paired-presentation training trials on paired-associate items followed immediately by 0, 1, or 5 unreinforced recall tests. The effects of the immediate test trials were to increase substantially long-term retention, as measured either by error frequency or respons e latency, to increase stereotypy of both correct and incorrect responses, and to reduce the frequency of intrusion relative to confusion errors. These findings were interpreted in terms of a distinction between storage and retrieval processes, the formation of associations being assumed to occur upon training trials and the availability, or retrievability, of the response members of items to increase as a function of occurrences on test trials.

Conditional recall and the frequency effect in the serial recall task: an examination of item-to-item associativity

Memory & Cognition, 2012

The frequency effect in short-term serial recall is influenced by the composition of lists. In pure lists, a robust advantage in the recall of high-frequency (HF) words is observed, yet in alternating mixed lists, HF and lowfrequency (LF) words are recalled equally well. It has been argued that the preexisting associations between all list items determine a single, global level of supportive activation that assists item recall. Preexisting associations between items are assumed to be a function of language cooccurrence; HF-HF associations are high, LF-LF associations are low, and mixed associations are intermediate in activation strength. This account, however, is based on results when alternating lists with equal numbers of HF and LF words were used. It is possible that directional association between adjacent list items is responsible for the recall patterns reported. In the present experiment, the recall of three forms of mixed lists-those with equal numbers of HF and LF items and pure lists-was examined to test the extent to which item-to-item associations are present in serial recall. Furthermore, conditional probabilities were used to examine more closely the evidence for a contribution, since correct-in-position scoring may mask recall that is dependent on the recall of prior items. The results suggest that an item-to-item effect is clearly present for early but not late list items, and they implicate an additional factor, perhaps the availability of resources at output, in the recall of late list items.