Recognition memory for briefly presented pictures: The time course of rapid forgetting.

When viewing a rapid sequence of pictures, observes momentarily understand the gist of each scene but have poor recognition memory for most of them (M. C. Potter, 1976). Is forgetting immediate, or does some information persist briefly? Sequences of 5 scenes were presented for 173 ms/picture; when yes-no testing began immediately, recognition was initially high but declined markedly during the 10-item test. With testing delays of 2 or 6 s, the decline over testing was less steep. When 10 or 20 pictures were presented, there was again a marked initial decline during testing. A 2-alternative forced-choice recognition test produced similar results. Both the passage of time and test interference (but not presentation interference) led to forgetting. The brief persistence of information may assist in building a coherent representation over several fixations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The associative deficit in older adult memory: Recognition of pairs is not improved by repetition.

This study used a novel experimental paradigm that combined associative recognition and list discrimination to study the associative deficit in older adults’ memory (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Participants viewed 2 lists of word–face pairs and were tested on recognition of pairs from the second study list. Older and young adults’ recognition was increased by repetition of individual items, but repetition of pairs of items increased recognition in young adults only. This provides converging evidence that older adults do not form associative links between items within pairs and supports the hypothesis that an associative deficit contributes to age-related memory decline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remember-Know and source memory instructions can qualitatively change old-new recognition accuracy: The modality-match effect in recognition memory.

Remember-Know (RK) and source memory tasks were designed to elucidate processes underlying memory retrieval. As part of more complex judgments, both tests produce a measure of old-new recognition, which is typically treated as equivalent to that derived from a standard recognition task. The present study demonstrates, however, that recognition accuracy can be qualitatively changed by a RK or source-retrieval orientation. Visual and auditory presentations of words were varied at encoding and at test. The memory test was either a standard (old-new) recognition test, the RK test, or a source (modality) test. No effect of modality match was found on standard recognition. However, recognition accuracy in the RK and modality tests was greater when study and test modalities matched—a result obtained for both 1-step (e.g., R, K, or new?) and 2-step (e.g., old-new decision followed by RK decision for items judged old) versions of these tests. Thus, the RK and source (modality) memory procedures produced a measure of old-new recognition that was qualitatively different than standard recognition, having a greater sensitivity to perceptual information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Recognition Memory: The Effect of Other People's Responses for Previously Seen and Unseen Items.

When people discuss their memories, what one person says can influence what another person reports. In 3 studies, participants were shown sets of stimuli and then given recognition memory tests to measure the effect of one person's response on another's. The 1st study (n=24) used word recognition with participant-confederate pairs and found that the effect of confederate responses on participant responses was larger for previously unseen items than for previously seen items (ωp=.23). This finding was replicated in the 2nd study, which used photographs of cars (n=24). In the 3rd study (n=54), which used photographs of faces with participant pairs, the effect was also larger for unseen items. Results indicate that people rely more on other people's memories for unremembered objects than for remembered objects. This is important for both theories of memory and applications (e.g., witnesses talking, students studying together). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduced negativity effect in older adults' memory for emotional pictures: The heterogeneity-homogeneity list paradigm.

Using the heterogeneity-homogeneity list paradigm, the authors investigated 48 young adults' (20-30 years) and 48 older adults' (65-75 years) recognition memory for emotional pictures. The authors obtained no evidence for a positivity bias in older adults' memory: Age differences were primarily driven by older adults' diminished ability to remember negative pictures. The authors further found a strong effect of list types: Pictures, particularly neutral ones, were better recognized in homogeneous (blocked) lists than in heterogeneous (mixed) ones. Results confirm those of a previous study by D. Grühn, J. Smith, and P. B. Baltes (2005) that used a different type of to-be-remembered material, that is, pictures instead of words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and individual differences in prospective memory during a "Virtual Week": The roles of working memory, vigilance, task regularity, and cue focality.

Young (ages 18–22 years) and older (ages 61–87 years) adults (N = 106) played the Virtual Week board game, which involves simulating common prospective memory (PM) tasks of everyday life (e.g., taking medication), and performed working memory (WM) and vigilance tasks. The Virtual Week game includes regular (repeated) and irregular (nonrepeated) PM tasks with cues that are either more or less focal to other ongoing activities. Age differences in PM were reduced for repeated tasks, and performance improved over the course of the week, suggesting retrieval was more spontaneous or habitual. Correlations with WM within each age group were reduced for PM tasks that had more regular or focal cues. WM (but not vigilance) ability was a strong predictor of irregular PM tasks with less focal cues. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that habitual and focally cued PM tasks are less demanding of attentional resources (specifically, WM), whereas tasks that are more demanding of controlled attentional processes produce larger age differences, which may be attributable to individual differences in WM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The testing effect in recognition memory: A dual process account.

The testing effect, or the finding that taking an initial test improves subsequent memory performance, is a robust and reliable phenomenon--as long as the final test involves recall. Few studies have examined the effects of taking an initial recall test on final recognition performance, and results from these studies are equivocal. In 3 experiments, we attempt to demonstrate that initial testing can change the ways in which later recognition decisions are executed even when no difference can be detected in the recognition hit rates. Specifically, initial testing was shown to enhance later recollection but leave familiarity unchanged. This conclusion emerged from three dependent measures: source memory, exclusion performance, and remember/know judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective effects of triazolam on memory for emotional, relative to neutral, stimuli: Differential effects on gist versus detail.

Benzodiazepines are known to reduce learning and memory performance, presumably through their facilitation of GABAergic neurotransmission, but the effects of these drugs specifically on memory for emotional material has not been addressed in humans. The effects of a benzodiazepine (triazolam, 0.25 mg) on nonincidental memory for emotional stimuli were assessed in 20 healthy volunteers (10 female). Triazolam reduced the normally facilitative effect of emotion on memory. The drug specifically affected memory for the gist of stimuli while leaving detail memory relatively unaffected. This pattern of performance is similar to that seen in patients with amygdala damage. Results suggest an effect of GABAergic neurotransmission at the level of the amygdala on memory modulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Replicating the positivity effect in picture memory in Koreans: Evidence for cross-cultural generalizability.

Older adults’ relatively better memory for positive over negative material (positivity effect) has been widely observed in Western samples. This study examined whether a relative preference for positive over negative material is also observed in older Koreans. Younger and older Korean participants viewed images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), were tested for recall and recognition of the images, and rated the images for valence. Cultural differences in the valence ratings of images emerged. Once considered, the relative preference for positive over negative material in memory observed in older Koreans was indistinguishable from that observed previously in older Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctiveness and the Recognition Mirror Effect: Evidence for an Item-Based Criterion Placement Heuristic.

Superior detection and rejection of 1 versus another class of items during recognition is called the mirror effect. Some mirror effects may involve strategic criterion adjustments based on item distinctiveness and its relation to memorability. Three experiments demonstrated mirror effects for known versus unknown scenes and 1 suggested a similar pattern for faces. In opposition to preexperimental familiarity, lures from known and frequently encountered locations were confidently rejected more often than unknown lures. Forgetting and speeding recognition reversed this lure response pattern, suggesting abandonment of strategic adjustment in favor of a single fixed criterion. With sufficient response time and recent encoding, observers demand more evidence for conceptually distinctive items, perhaps because such items typically foster vivid recollection during retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and emotional memory: The forgettable nature of negative images for older adults.

Two studies examined age differences in recall and recognition memory for positive, negative, and neutral stimuli. In Study 1, younger, middle-aged, and older adults were shown images on a computer screen and, after a distraction task, were asked first to recall as many as they could and then to identify previously shown images from a set of old and new ones. The relative number of negative images compared with positive and neutral images recalled decreased with each successively older age group. Recognition memory showed a similar decrease with age in the relative memory advantage for negative pictures. In Study 2, the largest age differences in recall and recognition accuracy were also for the negative images. Findings are consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory, which posits greater investment in emotion regulation with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)