Context matching and judgments of recency (original) (raw)

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.

Context effects in recognition memory: The role of familiarity and recollection

Consciousness and cognition, 2004

A variant of the process dissociation procedure was coupled with a manipulation of response signal lag to assess whether manipulations of context affect one or both of the familiarity and search processes described by the dual process model of recognition. Participants studied a list of word pairs (context + target) followed by a recognition test with target words presented in the same or different context, and in the same or different form as study (singular/plural). Participants were asked to recognize any target word regardless of changes to form (inclusion), or to only recognise words that were presented in the same form (exclusion). The standard context reinstatement effect was evident even at the short response lags. Analyses of the estimates of the contributions of familiarity and search processes suggest that the context effect demonstrated here can be attributed in part to the influence of familiarity on recognition, whereas the effect on recollection was less clear.

The Effects of Repeated Sequential Context on Recognition Memory

Many people have had the experience of knowing what song will play next on an album (even one heard only a few times). Conversely, many people fail to recognize an acquaintance encountered in an unfamiliar context. Associations can likely form simply because items appear nearby in time, and not only due to semantic similarity. Using surprise recognition testing, we examine the automatic storage of associations between successively encountered words on a list of incidentally studied words. Many modern memory models assume storage of such associations, but with little evidence as yet (e.g., REM-II Mueller & Shiffrin, 2006). We find evidence for sequential associations, which are further improved by shared semantics or study context. We also find improved accuracy and response time for old words preceded by old words, and for new words preceded by new words-regardless of the previous response.

Context-dependent repetition effects on recognition memory

Brain and Cognition, 2010

A b s t r a c t One widely acknowledged way to improve our memory performance is to repeatedly study the to be learned material. One aspect that has received little attention in past research regards the context sensitivity of this repetition effect, that is whether the item is repeated within the same or within different contexts. The predictions of a neurocomputational model were tested in an experiment requiring participants to study visual objects either once or three times. Crucially, for half of the repeated objects the study context (encoding task, background color and screen position) remained the same (within context repetition) while for the other half the contextual features changed across repetitions (across context repetition). In addition to behavioral measures, eventrelated potentials (ERP) were recorded that provide complementary information on the underlying neural mechanisms during recognition. Consistent with dual-process models behavioral estimates (remember/knowprocedure) demonstrate differential effects of context on memory performance, namely that recognition judgments were more dependent on familiarity when repetition occurs across contexts. In accordance with these behavioral results ERPs showed a larger early frontal old/new effect for across context repetitions as compared to within context repetitions and single presentations, i.e. an increase in familiarity following repetition across study contexts. In contrast, the late parietal old/new effect, indexing recollection did not differ between both repetition conditions. These results suggest that repetition differentially affects familiarity depending on whether it occurs within the same context or across different contexts.

The effect of context on discrimination and bias in recognition memory for pictures and words

Memory & Cognition, 1990

When the context accompanying a to-be-remembered word is changed between study and test, recognition memory is impaired. The deleterious effect of context change on recognition memory can be viewed as support for encoding specificity theory, semantic theory, or the existence of two bases for recognition. A fourth possible interpretation, examined here, is that the effect of context change on recognition memory is due to an accompanying change in response bias, rather than a “true” decrease in sensitivity to old and new items. In two experiments, the effect of context change on discrimination and bias in recognition of simple line drawings and their names was examined. Bias was measured using two measures shown by Snodgrass and Corwin (1988) to be theoretically independent of their associated discrimination measures. Context change produced marked conservatism in response bias in both experiments but demonstrated an effect on discrimination in the second experiment only. The shift from a neutral to a conservative response strategy as a result of context change may also be seen in other experiments, in which the same experimental paradigm was used with a variety of stimulus materials- We suggest that the major effect of context manipulation is to produce a change in-bias.A stimulus, in a.familiar environment appears to be more familiar than a stimulus in a strange environment, regardless of its old/new status. In addition, there appears to be a true decrease in discrimination with context change, but this is more difficult to detect. The finding that pictures, which are less polysemous than words, are as affected by context change as words are supports encoding-Specificity theory over semantic theory.

Context-dependent Recognition Memory

2015

It is a widespread belief that the ability to recognize information is enhanced when environmental context is reinstated, such as when a witness returns to the scene where a crime was committed in order to enhance their memory of the event. The present study used a new method to examine context-dependent recognition effects by showing a movie clip that involved manipulating the background context. Participants were shown a video clip with various words and background environments and were given a test in order to study whether more words were recognized by the participants when the background scenes changed or remained the same. The movie scenes were either reinstated with the original context, which were referred to as "old words", or with a different context, or "new words". The results support previous studies in favor of context-dependent recognition and show that a higher chance of recognition occurs when individuals are exposed to the information in the sam...

The Effects of Word Frequency and Similarity on Recognition Judgments: The Role of Recollection

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2005

(2004) reported more false alarms for low-than high-frequency words when the foils were similar to the targets. According to the source of activation confusion (SAC) model of memory, that pattern is based on recollection of an underspecified episodic trace rather than the error-prone familiarity process. The authors tested the SAC account by varying whether participants were warned about the nature of similar foils and whether the recognition test required the discrimination. More false alarms for low-frequency similar items occurred only when participants were not warned at study about the subtle features to be discriminated later. The differential false-alarm rate by word frequency corresponded to the pattern of remember responses obtained when the test instructions did not ask for a subtle discrimination, supporting the SAC account that reversed false-alarm rates to similar foils are based on the recollection process.