Cued recall and discrimination of memory deficit.

Reports the elimination of some ambiguities in the scoring procedure for the Logical Memory (LM) subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale using a cued recall technique for eliciting responses. A cued recall technique discriminated significantly better than the LM subtest between memory-impaired and control groups. All Ss were 50–64 yr old males. This appears to have been due to the fact that on LM, controls showed worse performance on the final sections of the memory passages, whereas this did not occur in cued recall. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of cueing with list members in free recall as a function of number of categories, taxonomic frequency, and presentation order.

A survey of the literature suggests that the initial failure to obtain recall facilitation when list member cues are presented during free recall can be traced to the absence of 3 necessary factors: (a) high taxonomic frequency (TE) category instances, (b) blocked presentation order, and (c) a list comprising many categories. These factors were manipulated in a study with 160 undergraduates. Cueing was ineffective with low TF instances. However, with high TF instances cueing inhibited recall when the list contained 6 categories and facilitated recall when the list contained 15 categories. Presentation order did not influence the effectiveness of cueing. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concreteness and item-to-list context associations in the free recall of items differing in context variability.

Context variability can be defined as the number of preexperimental contexts in which a given concept appears. Following M. Steyvers and K. J. Malmberg's (2003) work, the authors have shown that concepts that are experienced in fewer preexperimental contexts generally are better remembered in episodic memory tasks than concepts that are experienced in a greater number of preexperimental contexts. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that low context variability confers its memorial advantage because of stronger item-to-list context associations as compared with high context variability. Three experiments that use environmental context changes from study to test demonstrate that the low context variability advantage is eliminated when item-to-list context associations are not available because of environmental changes at test. In addition, the low context variability advantage is eliminated when inward processing at study prevents the formation of item-to-list context associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generality of the effects of cue structure similarity on cue discrimination and recall.

Investigated the effect of cue similarity on associative learning, recall, and cue discrimination in 5 experiments involving a total of 634 undergraduates as Ss. In all experiments, cues consisted of 3 elements shared with other cues. Position and consistency of these elements varied among different conditions. In each experiment, Ss associated some kind of target information with a meaningless string of consonants or meaningful words. The procedures for acquisition included (1) single vs multiple study presentations, (2) a long mixed list containing various structures, (3) incidental learning involving semantic processing of cues and targets, (4) use of sentences containing both cues and targets, and (5) embedding cues and targets in a story. Results show that shared elements produced interference with all procedures and materials. (French abstract) (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction time as a function of the cue properties of an auditory display.

An attempt was made to increase the speed of processing verbal directional commands by using the ear stimulated to provide a relevant directional cue. In a choice reaction-time task, Ss pressed the right- or left-hand key in response to: (1) binaural "right" or "left" commands, (2) monaural "right" or "left" commands in the ear corresponding to the content of the command, and (3) monaural pure tones. Responses to the binaural commands were significantly slower than to the other 2 conditions, and responses to the monaural commands were significantly slower than to the monaural tones. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition as a possible source of "isolation" in free recall.

Ss listened to lists in which 1 or more items were repeated in immediate succession to determine whether an item is better retained when it is embedded in a series of unique items, or of items repeated at longer lags, than when it occurs within a series of items that are also presented twice in a row. Data indicate that it is not. It is concluded that repetition does not normally function as a significant source of "isolation" in tests of free recall. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term memory in amnesia: Cued recall, recognition memory, and confidence ratings.

We explored what kind of information is acquired when amnesic patients are able to exhibit significant retention on tests of cued recall and recognition memory. Amnesic patients and control subjects attempted to learn sets of sentences. Memory for the last word in each sentence was tested after 1 hr in the case of the amnesic patients, or after 1 to 2 weeks in the case of (delayed) control subjects. Amnesic patients and (delayed) control subjects performed at similar levels on tests of cued recall and recognition memory. Amnesic patients were just as confident of their correct answers as were control subjects. Moreover, amnesic patients were no more disadvantaged than control subjects when they were cued indirectly by presenting paraphrases of the original sentences. These findings demonstrate that the residual knowledge retained by amnesic patients can be as flexible, as accessible to indirect cues, and as available to awareness as the knowledge retained by (delayed) control subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Session evaluation and recall of important events as a function of counselor experience.

Session evaluation and type of participant-recalled important event were investigated in 25 novice counselor dyads and 9 experienced counselor dyads during 9 sessions of short-term counseling. Counselor experience was the independent variable and session evaluation was the dependent variable. Results based on the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (W. B. Stiles, 1980) showed a significant interaction effect between counselor experience and role of participant (client or counselor) for session depth. Clients also reported an increase in positive affect over the course of counseling. Experienced counselors recalled more important events involving insight, whereas novice counselors recalled more important events involving exploration of feelings or self-critique. The type of important event recalled by clients also changed over the sessions of counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proactive interference and the dynamics of free recall.

Proactive interference (PI) has long been recognized as a major cause of forgetting. Two experiments were conducted that offer another look at the subject by providing a detailed analysis of recall latency distributions during the buildup of and release from PI. These functions were accurately characterized by the convolution of the normal and exponential distributions (viz., the ex-Gaussian), which previously has been shown to describe recognition latency distributions. Further, the fits revealed that the increase in recall latency associated with the buildup of PI results from a slowing of the exponential retrieval stage only. The same result was found even when a short retention interval was used (and recall probability remained constant). These findings suggest that free-recall latency may be a sensitive index of the increased search set size that has often been assumed to accompany the buildup of PI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in recall of performed and nonperformed items.

Memory for performed cognitive activities (e.g., psychometric tests of intelligence), for performed brief actions (e.g., hand wave), and for nonperformed items (e.g., written words) was assessed for 102 older and 101 younger adults. Although enactment improved recall, the beneficial effects of enactment were the same for both age groups. In fact, more than 80% of the age-related variance in memory for performed items was shared with memory for nonperformed items. Working memory and perceptual speed were important to the age differences in memory for both types of items. Performed and nonperformed items showed different serial position effects. However, the correlation between memory for the 2 types of items was high, especially for older adults, suggesting that the 2 types of memory share many common processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial organization and prior free recall.

Assessed serial recall and organization of a list after different levels of prior free-recall learning with the same list. Performance was expected to be impaired as a direct function of amount of free recall because of inappropriate organizational units formed during free recall. Recall on serial trials following 15 free-recall trials was inferior to 5 or 10 prior free-recall trials. 4 groups of 24 Ss each were tested. Serial organization on the 1st serial trial was inferior if prior free recall occurred, but did not vary with the amount of free recall. These results, and those of part-whole and whole-part free-recall transfer studies, were interpreted by a component analysis of free recall, including response learning/unlearning and organizational learning/unlearning. (16 ref.) (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clustering and organization in free recall.

Evaluated various indexes developed to measure clustering and subjective organization and presents 2 intercorrelation matrices among clustering measures and the number of words recalled. The existence of a large negative bias in the correlation between the ratio of repetition measure and theoretical recall was demonstrated. Various issues which have developed from the study of organization in free recall are discussed. (3 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rethinking per se exclusions of hypnotically elicited recall as legal testimony

In 1993, Boggs argued for a rethinking of the per se exclusion of hypnotically elicited testimony. This article analyzes the Minnesota v. Mack (1980) case that initiated this exclusion and the two Illinois cases Boggs cites in favor of her position. The scientific data on the effect of hypnosis on memory do not support Boggs's position. Rather than providing reasons for rethinking this per se position, these data suggest that it should be retained.     

Adult age differences in the inhibition of recall as a function of retrieval cues.

Asked 64 Ss from 3 age ranges (18–37, 50–64, and 65–88 yrs) to look at word lists in which the words were either categorized under headings or additionally subcategorized. Ss were then asked to recall the words when (a) the category name was given, or (b) the category name and half of the list words were given. Words recalled decreased with increasing age in all conditions. The youngest age group recalled more words when the category name only was used as a recall cue. There were no significant differences between the 2 recall conditions for the other age groups, suggesting that they were not as susceptible to recall inhibition as the younger adults. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of number signals on reading and recall.

Examined the influence of number signals (i.e., numbers or number words preceding important textual information) on text recall. 120 undergraduates read and recalled 2 texts containing 10 target sentences each. Reading times were recorded for each target sentence. For half of the Ss, the target sentences were preceded by numbers indicating their organization; for the other half, the target sentences were not signaled. Half of the Ss completed a free-recall task, while the remainder completed a cued-recall task. Results indicate that Ss read target sentences more slowly if they were signaled than if they were unsignaled. Ss' recalls of target information followed the text organization more closely if the sentences were signaled. Signaling aided free recall of target sentences, but had no effect on cued recall. Results demonstrate that number signals directed attention to the sentences they marked, led to better encoding of the organization of target information, and influenced the process of recalling the target information. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory aging as a general phenomenon: Episodic recall of older adults is a function of episodic recall of young adults.

The focus of this study was on the relationship between young and older adults' performance on tasks of deliberate recall from episodic memory. A meta-analysis on 91 relevant studies (comprising a total of 154 conditions) was conducted. It was found that 83% of the variance in older adults' recall probability was accounted for by a quadratic function using young adults' recall probabilities as predictors. No significant interaction with age of older adults was found. Interaction with task type was, however, significant, resulting in separate functions for list recall, prose recall, and paired-associate recall. Results point at the importance of the main effect of age in studies on memory aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mnemonic organization and free recall in schizophrenia.

Investigated word-storage structure and processes of organization and retrieval in 17 young schizophrenics (mean age 26.5 yrs) and 13 normal Ss (mean age 25.7 yrs). Ss were required to establish a stable organization of 25 unrelated words through repeated, self-paced sortings into self-determined categories. Subsequently, they were asked for free recall of the words. The schizophrenics required significantly more trials to complete the sorting task, but once this was achieved they recalled as many words in equally regular order as the normals did. The groups did not differ in regard to organizational structure in the sortings as assessed by hierarchical structure analysis. It is concluded that a schizophrenic deficit of mnemonic organization is indicated, possibly due to difficulties in maintaining a stable system of categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The duration of movement components in a repetitive task as a function of the locus of a perceptual cue.

A simplified pins-into-holes assembly task was used to study the interrelation of perceptual processes and work movements, by varying the locus of a perceptual cue within a repetitive patterned motion. "First, it is apparent that a perceptually loaded component takes significantly longer than its counterpart which involves less perceptual load. Secondly, placing a perceptual cue in one part of a work cycle not only affects the duration of that part of the cycle, but also significantly affects the durations of certain other parts of the movement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realism in eyewitness confidence as a function of type of event witnessed and repeated recall.

This study investigated how the type of event witnessed and a repeated test schedule for confidence influenced the realism in confidence judgments. The experimental design contrasted 2 film versions (a violent and a nonviolent scenario) and 3 tests of confidence (immediate, repeated, and delayed). On average, for all single items, participants were highly overconfident in their judgments. However, the same participants severely underestimated their own performance when they, at the end of the test session, were asked to provide an estimate of how many questions they thought they had answered correctly. Whereas the effects on realism in confidence for the 2 different film versions were small, the realism in witnesses' confidence judgments increased when participants repeated their confidence ratings. The theoretical and forensical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Objections to MMPI items as a function of interpersonal trust, race, and sex.

Investigated objections to the MMPI items by 392 Black and White male and female college students who were classified as high or low trust according to their responses on the Rotter Trust Scale. Ss were instructed to consider the items in the context of applying for a job and to mark "O" by those items they found to be objectionable. Low-trust Ss objected to significantly more items than high-trust Ss. Race and sex did not influence number of objections. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)