Resonance, contextual overlap and goal reactivation: the case of subgoal-related contextual cues (original) (raw)
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The influence of appropriate contextual knowledge on the encoding of sentences was examined. Subjects read and were later asked to recognize sentences from Bransford and Johnson's (1972) passages. Subjects were informed of the passage title prior to encoding, prior to testing, or not at all. In Experiment 1, title availability during encoding significantly increased both recognition of target sentences and rejection of distractor sentences. Providing the title immediately prior to testing did not improve performance over the no-title condition. In a second experiment, performance in a title-before condition also exceeded performance in a no-title condition, even though distractor sentences were not included in the recognition test. Thus it appears that awareness of context during encoding enables subjects to engage in unique encoding processes which benefit recognition as well as recall memory. Research in human memory over the past 15 years has repeatedly demonstrated that the presence of appropriate contextual information during encoding facilitates sentence memory (Bransford & Johnson, 1972; Dooling & Lachman, 1971; Schustack & Anderson, 1979). The specific role that contextual information plays in aiding memory is not universally agreed on however. One widely held view is that prior contextual knowledge enables subjects to perform encoding operations which would not otherwise be carried out (Bransford & Johnson, 1972). These operations are assumed to lead to a unique and elaborated encoding of the test material which allows it to be more easily retrieved. Alba, Alexander, Hasher, and Caniglia (1981) offer an alternative to this "encoding" explanation. These authors point out that contextual information may aid recall performance simply by providing a retrieval cue. During retrieval contextual information may serve to link one sentence to the next, thereby facilitating recall without playing a major role in determining what has been encoded from each individual sentence. We wish to acknowledge Jani Gabriel Byrne for her help in constructing distractor sentences for Experiment I. Computing services were provided by the Computer Science Center of the University of Maryland.
Context Specificity of Automatic Influences of Memory
Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 2018
It has often been shown that intentional recollection is influenced by context manipulations, such as context reinstatement (e.g., Smith, 2013; Smith & Vela, 2001), but whether or not automatic retrieval (e.g., Jacoby, 1991) is likewise context dependent remains an open question. Here, we present two experiments that examined effects of context manipulations on indirect measures of memory. The first experiment tested anagram completion, and the second experiment used word fragment completion to test effects of context reinstatement; both experiments found reinstatement effects. To address potential problems of explicit contamination, we also asked participants if they were aware of the priming manipulations. Separating participants according to their test awareness showed effects of context manipulations for both aware and unaware participants. A greater effect size was found for aware participants only in Experiment 1, in which participants had enough time on each test trial for re...
Scandinavian journal of psychology, 2014
According to many theoretical accounts, reinstating study context at the time of test creates optimal circumstances for item retrieval. The role of context reinstatement was tested in reference to context memory in several experiments. On the encoding phase, participants were presented with words printed in two different font colors (intrinsic context) or two different sides of the computer screen (extrinsic context). At test, the context was reinstated or changed and participants were asked to recognize words and recollect their study context. Moreover, a read-generate manipulation was introduced at encoding and retrieval, which was intended to influence the relative salience of item and context information. The results showed that context reinstatement had no effect on memory for extrinsic context but affected memory for intrinsic context when the item was generated at encoding and read at test. These results supported the hypothesis that context information is reconstructed at re...
Implicitly activated memories are associated to general context cues
Memory & Cognition, 2007
Words having more densely entangled associative structures are more likely to be recalled in the presence of related extralist cues. A context-modified PIER2 model predicts that the implicit activation of such structures during study connects them to the context of the learning episode. In two experiments, we evaluated this assumption by varying the associative density of the study words and the accessibility of context information. In Experiment 1, we varied context accessibility by manipulating context awareness and by delaying testing and filling the delay with different types of interfering tasks. In Experiment 2, we varied accessibility by manipulating test delay and type of interference in a factorial design. The effects of associative density were reduced by using implicit testing that never refers to context, by performing interpolated interference tasks, and finally, by extending the length of the delay. Information that is implicitly activated during an episodic experience is associated to the context of that experience.
Examining the lag effect under incidental encoding: Contributions of semantic priming and reminding
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2014
Memory is better when repeated learning events are spaced than when they are massed (spacing effect), as well as when material is processed semantically than when it is processed graphemically (levels-of-processing effect). Examination of the relationship between levels of processing and spacing for both deeply and shallowly encoded items has shown a spacing effect for items processed deeply, but not shallowly. A semantic priming account of spacing was proposed to explain the interaction between levels of processing and spacing on memory. The current study manipulated levels of processing and the amount of spacing (lag) that occurred between repetitions of items that were incidentally encoded. Results from Experiments 1A and 1B revealed lag effects in test performance when items were deeply and shallowly encoded. Although these findings are inconsistent with a semantic priming account, they can be interpreted within a reminding account, which is explored in Experiment 2. Results fro...
Retrieval-Induced Forgetting and Context
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2015
Retrieving information can result in the forgetting of related information, a phenomenon referred to as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). To date, the dominant explanation of RIF has been an inhibition account, which emphasizes long-term suppression of interfering memories. As one alternative, some have advocated for a strength-based interference account, which emphasizes the role of strengthening associations. More recently, we have proposed a context account, which emphasizes the role of context change and context reinstatement. In this article, we outline these three accounts of RIF and demonstrate that there is substantial evidence that uniquely supports our context account.