The use of source memory to identity one's own episodic confusion errors.

In 4 category cued recall experiments, falsely recalled nonlist common members, a semantic confusion error participants. Errors were more likely if critical nonlist words were presented on an incidental task, causing source memory failures called episodic confusion errors . Participants could better identify the source of falsely recalled words if they had deeply processed the words on the incidental task. For deep but not shallow processing, participants could reliably include or exclude incidentally shown category members in recall. The illusion that critical items actually appeared on categorized lists was diminished but not eradicated when participants identified episodic confusion errors post hoc among their own recalled responses; participants often believed that critical items had been on both the incidental task and the study list. Improved source monitoring can potentially mitigate episodic (but not semantic) confusion errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Context in Producing Item Interactions and False Memories.

Cued recall with an extralist cue poses a challenge for contemporary memory theory in that there is a need to explain how episodic and semantic information are combined. A parallel activation and intersection approach proposes one such means by assuming that an experimental cue will elicit its preexisting semantic network and a context cue will elicit a list memory. These 2 sources of information are then combined by focusing on information that is common to the 2 sources. Two key predictions of that approach are examined: (a) Combining semantic and episodic information can lead to item interactions and false memories, and (b) these effects are limited to memory tasks that involve an episodic context cue. Five experiments demonstrate such item interactions and false memories in cued recall but not in free association. Links are drawn between the use of context in this setting and in other settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding context and retrieval conditions as determinants of the effects of natural category size.

Studying a familiar word activates its associates in long-term memory. In the present experiments we manipulated the number of associates activated by words studied in the presence of unrelated context words, meaningfully related context words, or in the absence of modifying context words. Memory was tested by either cued or free recall. The results showed that the number of directly activated associates can facilitate, have no effect, or disrupt recall for studied words. The direction and magnitude of the effects of number of activated associates is shown to be determined by the encoding/retrieval context. Implications for the distinction between episodic and semantic memory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remote semantic memory in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome and herpes encephalitis.

Performance of patients with Korsakoff's syndrome and herpes encephalitis was compared on a retrograde amnesia (RA) test, asking subjects to recall and recognize the definitions of words that had come into the language at different time periods. Performance was also compared on a related test in which participants were asked to produce the words to definitions they were given in free recall and cued recall versions. It was hypothesized that, if the temporal gradient in remote memory results from a shift of information from episodic to semantic memory, then there should be a temporal gradient on these tasks, possibly steeper (i.e., greater relative sparing of early memories) in the patients in the Korsakoff group than in the herpes encephalitis group, who have widespread temporal lobe damage. Furthermore, in comparing semantic and episodic remote memory tests, consolidation theory would predict uniform temporal gradients across such tasks, whereas multiple trace theory would predict a differential pattern. The results showed that patients with Korsakoff's syndrome and patients with herpes encephalitis were significantly impaired across all time periods on the vocabulary tests, with only minimal evidence of temporal gradients, relative to healthy participants, and there was no evidence of a differential pattern of impairment between the two patient groups. Comparison with performance on measures of episodic retrograde amnesia, in which there was a differential pattern of temporal gradient, suggests that the relative preservation of early episodic remote memories in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome does not result from an episodic-to-semantic shift in the quality with which memories are stored. These findings are discussed in relation to existing theories of RA and to the patients' underlying patterns of neuropathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of separate and interactive imagery on the recall of movement patterns.

Contrasted separate imagery instructions with interactive imagery instructions on memory for movement patterns. 48 undergraduates were presented pairs of movement patterns and were instructed to form separate images of each pattern or to form interactive images linking the patterns together. Cued recall performance and the organization of free recall was enhanced following interactive imagery instructions compared with separate imagery instructions. Total free recall, however, was similar for interactive and separate imagery. The advantage of interactive imagery over separate imagery in cued recall was attenuated when Ss were given instructions that imposed restrictions on the formation of their interactive images. Several explanations of the memorial consequences of imagery instructions are considered in light of these results, including I. Begg's (see record 1983-04913-001) organization-redintegration account of imagery instructions. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Component processes and the utility of the conceptually-driven/data-driven distinction.

Three experiments tested the conceptually driven/data-driven distinction as an account of memory dissociations. Exp 1 found that cue typicality had opposite effects on semantic cued recall and category verification, yet performance on both of these conceptually driven tasks was best when the study and test cues matched. In Exps 2a and 2b, graphemic cued recall and fragment completion (both data-driven) were compared with semantic cued recall. Cued recall performance was best when the test cues resembled the study cues, but fragment completion priming did not vary. Exp 3 found opposite effects of frequency on fragment completion and graphemic cued recall. Moreover, the similarity of study cues to their targets affected only graphemic cued recall. These results are consistent with the general transfer-appropriate processing framework but not with the conceptually driven/data-driven distinction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is priming in fragment completion based on a "traceless" memory system?

Four experiments investigated the relation between successive tests of primed fragment completion with the use of the same or different fragments on successive tests. The results were contrasted with successive tests of fragment cued recall using identical study/test stimuli and differing from the fragment completion task only in terms of instructions. Performance on successive tests of primed fragment completion was dependent if the same fragments were represented on both tests. There was no reliable dependence when different fragments were used on the two fragment completion tests. In contrast, when fragment cued recall instructions were given, successive tests with both same and different fragments yielded clear dependence. The results are interpreted as evidence that performance in the fragment completion task does not depend upon a specific cognitive unit or memory trace, whereas in episodic cued recall it does. This suggestion is elaborated in terms of an integration of the transfer-appropriate procedural approach with the idea of a traceless memory system that supports priming in tasks such as fragment completion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional mapping of human memory using PET: Comparisons of conceptual and perceptual tasks.

Tested whether different neurological regions subserved the conceptual and perceptual memory components by using positron emission tomography (PET). Regional cerebral blood flow (RCBF) of 14 Ss (mean age 25 yrs) during 2 conceptual tasks of semantic cued recall and semantic association was compared to a control condition in which Ss made semantic associations to nonstudied words. RCBF during 2 perceptual tasks of word fragment cued recall and word fragment completion was also compared to a word fragment nonstudied control condition. There were clear dissociations in RCBF that reflected differences in brain regions subserving the 2 types of memory processes. Conceptual processing produced more activation in the left frontal and temporal cortex and the lateral aspect of the bilateral inferior parietal lobule. Perceptual memory processing activated the right frontal and temporal cortex and the bilateral posterior areas. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery and integration in the recall of words.

Conducted 2 experiments with Canadian males (N = 71) to test the previous suggestion that the reason for imaginal facilitation of memory performance is that images aroused by discrete verbal stimuli can be integrated into complex images, with the result that (a) storage capacity requirements are reduced and (b) recall of 1 component of the image leads to effective redintegration of the rest. Hypothesis (b) was supported by the observation that cued recall of concrete-noun pairs was enhanced more under integrative than under separate imagery instructions. Hypothesis (a) was supported by the observation that, for word-number lists, recall of concrete words exceeded recall of abstract words, but not at the expense of the digits. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cued recall from image and sentence memory: A shift from episodic to identical elements representation.

The applicability of the identical elements (IE) model of arithmetic fact retrieval (T. C. Rickard, A. F. Healy, & L. E. Bourne, 1994) to cued recall from episodic (image and sentence) memory was explored in 3 transfer experiments. In agreement with results from arithmetic, speedup following even minimal practice recalling a missing word from an episodically bound word triplet did not transfer positively to other cued recall items involving the same triplet. The shape of the learning curve further supported a shift from episode-based to IE-based recall, extending some models of skill learning to cued recall practice. In contrast with previous findings, these results indicate that a form of representation that is independent of the original episodic memory underlies cued-recall performance following minimal practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concreteness of relational effects on recall of adjective–noun pairs.

Studied the effects of concreteness and relatedness of adjective–noun pairs on free recall, cued recall, and memory integration. The authors report on 2 experiments in which Ss read phrases or sentences containing adjective–noun pairs that vary in rated concreteness and intrapair relatedness. In Exp 1 normative ratings on imagery and relatedness were provided by 23 graduate and 20 undergraduate students. 64 undergraduates participated in the memory experiment. Exp 2 extended Exp 1 by using complete sentences rather than adjective–noun word pairs. 72 undergraduates volunteered to participate in the memory experiment and a separate group of 14 volunteered to participate in a sentence rating task. Consistent with predictions from dual coding theory and prior results with noun–noun pairs, both experiments showed that the effects of concreteness were strong and independent of relatedness in free recall and cued recall. The 2 attributes also had independent (additive) effects on integrative memory as measured by conditionalized free recall of pairs. Integration as measured by the increment from free to cued recall occurred consistently only when pairs were high in both concreteness and relatedness. Relatedness, adjective imagery, and noun imagery ratings, along with word frequencies for adjectives and nouns, and sentences with relatedness ratings are appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arbitrary associations in animals: What can paired associate recall in rats tell us about the neural basis of episodic memory? Theoretical comment on Kesner, Hunsaker, & Warthen (2008).

Detailed memories for unique episodes from an individual's past can be triggered, often effortlessly, when that individual is exposed to a stimulus that was present during the original event. The aim of Kesner et al. (see record 2008-17011-003) is to understand the neural basis of memory encoding that supports this cued recall of episodic memories. Kesner and colleagues make novel use of an object-place paired-associate task for rats to provide evidence for a critical role of dorsal CA3 in certain aspects of episodic memory encoding. Using one-trial cued recall versions of the task they show that when rats are cued with an object stimulus, they can be trained to revisit the location in which the object appeared previously. Conversely, when rats are cued with a location, they can learn to choose the object with which it was associated. Rats with dorsal CA3 lesions are severely impaired at these tasks. These data are consistent with the theory that the autoassociative network in CA3 supports the rapid formation of novel associations and may allow pattern completion--the phenomenom whereby a subset of the cues present at an encoding event triggers recall of the whole event. Although flexible recall of arbitrary associations is not fully demonstrated, the study contributes 2 novel behavioral tasks to the previously limited repertoire for studying paired associate recall in rats. It also builds on previous data to specify the role of the hippocampal CA3 subregion in cued recall--a critical aspect of episodic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery, memory, and the brain.

Reviews literature on brain mechanisms underlying episodic and semantic memory functions of nonverbal imagery. Brain functions are inferred from effects of lateralized presentation of different materials or tasks to one or the other cerebral hemisphere of normal Ss and cerebral commissurotomy patients as well as from performance deficits resulting from focal brain lesions. Inferences about imagery are based primarily on the effects of relevant stimulus attributes and task variables. The present authors conclude that the 2 hemispheres and different cortical areas within each hemisphere are differentially involved in episodic and semantic memory functions of imagery. Implications for neuropsychological models of imagery, dual coding theory, and the episodic–semantic memory distinction are noted. (French abstract) (110 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generation effect: Support for a two-factor theory.

When a response word bearing an orthographic, acoustic, or semantic relation to a stimulus word is generated rather than read, later recall is enhanced. Such "generation effects" have been attributed to the activation or strengthening of response-specific features in memory and to the activation or strengthening of the relation between a stimulus and response. This series of experiments yields evidence suggesting that both mechanisms are involved. The pattern of interactions in the size of the generation effect across type of recall test (cued or free) cannot be accommodated by any one-factor theory. The results of these experiments also suggest that within-subjects manipulations of read and generate study conditions inflate the apparent size of the effect of generation on a given pair by confounding such pair-specific effects with certain whole-list effects, such as differential attention and output interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural correlates of cued recall with and without retrieval of source memory

A source memory procedure was used to investigate whether event-related potentials (ERPs) reflect the retrieval of episodic information (recollection) on tests of word-stem cued recall. 'Cued recall ERP effects' for recalled items were found to differ only in their magnitudes, and not their scalp distributions, according to the accuracy of source memory. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that cued recall ERP effects reflect quantitative variation in the amount or quality of information which can be retrieved about recently experienced events. Topographic analyses also revealed that the distribution of the cued recall ERP effects changed over time, reflecting the activity of at least two temporally and neuroanatomically dissociable neural populations contributing to recollection on this task.     

Investigating the structure and age invariance of episodic memory across the adult lifespan.

The structure of episodic memory was investigated by assessing different modalities of material (verbal, figural, and spatial) and different types of tests (recall, cued recall, and recognition). A 3-factor model that distinguished among modalities of material was found to be the best representation of memory and the verbal, figural, and spatial memory factors exhibiting construct validity. This 3-factor modality of material model also demonstrated configural, metric, and structural age invariance across a sample of adults (N = 327) between the ages of 18 and 94. There was evidence that latent constructs corresponding to recall, cued recall, and recognition could be distinguished from one another within the verbal domain but not within the figural and spatial domains. A mediation model examining the retrieval constructs was examined within the verbal domain, and there were unique age-related influences on cued recall and recall performance. This result is consistent with findings that increased age is associated with increased difficulty in retrieving information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and the stability of activation and sampling in cued recall.

Age effects in cued recall were investigated as a function of activation and sampling of preexisting associates of the test cue. Young adults, community-dwelling elderly, and elderly patients studied lists of unrelated words and were tested with extralist cues. Preexperimental strength between test cues and studied words was manipulated to discern differences in activation, and normative size of the set of associates was manipulated to discern differences in sampling. Test delay and prior testing were also manipulated in Exp 1. Although large age effects were found with phonemic and taxonomic test cues, young and older Ss showed comparable effects of strength and set size, suggesting that age effects were not due to activation and sampling differences. Test delay and prior testing also had comparable effects. Implications for age effects in episodic cued recall are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease on conceptual implicit and explicit memory.

The effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) on conceptual explicit and implicit memory were examined. Three groups of participants patients with AD; age-matched, older control participants; and younger control participants made deep (semantic) or shallow (nonsemantic) judgments about low-dominant category exemplars. Explicit memory was measured by category cued recall and implicit memory was measured by priming on a category-exemplar generation task. Younger participants had enhanced cued recall and priming following deep, relative to shallow, encoding; this indicated that both memory measures were conceptually driven. Aging reduced explicit, but not implicit, test performance, and it did not reduce conceptually driven processes for either test. In contrast, AD reduced explicit and implicit test performance, and it impaired conceptually driven memory processes for both tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recalling Spatial Information as a Component of Recently and Remotely Acquired Episodic or Semantic Memories: An fMRI Study.

Activations produced by the recall of episodic and semantic memories differing in spatial content and age were examined. Recall of recent episodic memories with differing spatial content activated the medial temporal lobes and the retrosplenial-posterior cingulate cortex-precuneus complex more than recall of recent semantic memories with similarly differing spatial content. Some of these differences related to the amount of spatial information recalled because spatially richer recent memories, regardless of whether they were episodic or semantic, activated the right posterior parahippocampal cortex, precuneus, and posterior parietal cortex more. This spatial effect was found to be independent of memory age for semantic memories, although some episodic-semantic memory differences, including one in the left hippocampus, were not age independent. Episodic-semantic memory recall activation differences are therefore probably a function of the amount recalled, memory age, and what is recalled, particularly with respect to spatial information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing word fragment completion and cued recall with letter cues.

Cued recall with word stems as cues and fragment completion rely on different types of letter cues and also differ in the explicit–implicit nature of the retrieval orientation. Despite these differences, variables effective in one task may be effective in the other because both rely on letter cues. Two variables known to affect cued recall were manipulated: Lexical set size (number of words that fit the letter cue) and meaning set size (number of associates generated to the studied words). Across four experiments, subjects in each task were less likely to recover targets from larger lexical sets. However, meaning set size affected cued recall but not fragment completion. These results indicate that fragment completion and letter-cued recall are based on lexical search but that cued recall also involves a semantic search component. Furthermore, type of retrieval cue had a greater effect than type of retrieval orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)