The role of retrieval in schizophrenic memory deficit.

To distinguish between information that is unavailable or inaccessible in the schizophrenic's memory store, 48 schizophrenics and 48 normals learned 3 lists of categorized words. The lists were either cued or not cued at recall. Demographic and pretest measures validated the diagnosis of schizophrenia and indicated no significant differences between the experimental groups on age, education, intelligence, or categorizing ability. Results indicate that under conditions where the input did not exceed the limits of immediate memory span, schizophrenic memory deficit could be explained in terms of an "inaccessibility" of items due to a retrieval dysfunction. Under conditions where input exceeded these limits, the recall analysis was suggestive of an "unavailability" of items in the memory store. It is concluded that schizophrenics suffer deficits throughout the information processing system rather than at any specific stage. The locus of breakdown was dependent on the task demands of the experimental situation. (French summary) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of working memory capacity in retrieval.

The verbal fluency task that requires generation of category exemplars and appears to be an example of what M. Moscovitch (1995) calls a strategic test of memory retrieval. Four experiments explored the role of individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity on verbal fluency under various secondary load conditions. High WM participants consistently recalled more exemplars. However, load conditions caused a decline in recall only for high WM participants. Low WM participants showed no effect of secondary workload on exemplar generation. WM group differences and load effects were observed even in the 1st min of retrieval, which suggests that differences were not due to differences in knowledge. A model of retrieval is supported that relies on cue-based-automatic activation, monitoring of output for errors, controlled suppression of previously recalled items, and controlled strategic search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of retrieval practice in directed forgetting.

Three experiments tested the possibility that retrieval-induced forgetting is responsible for directed forgetting with the list method. In Experiments 1 and 2, additional List 2 retrieval practice was given to determine whether this would increase directed forgetting. In Experiment 1 all items came from a single category, and in Experiment 2 unrelated words were used. In Experiment 3 additional List 2 study accompanied List 2 retrieval practice. There was no evidence that List 2 retrieval practice, with or without additional List 2 study, affected the magnitude of directed forgetting. It was argued that retrieval-induced forgetting could not account for these results. Accounts with greater viability include retrieval strategy disruption and a modified version of the dissociation hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrated retrieval cues as a mechanism for priming in retrieval from memory.

Spreading-activation theories are contrasted with composite retrieval-cue theories in priming of associative judgments. Under spreading activation, priming causes a change of memory state from quiet to active before the appearance of a test item. Under retrieval-cue theories, the prime is combined with the test item during retrieval. Spreading-activation models must predict that a relation between the prime and one element of a mispaired test will damage rejection—the partial-overlap prediction. Some retrieval-cue theories avoid this prediction with composite representations. We present one speed-accuracy trade-off and two reaction time experiments that demonstrate substantial discriminative priming (increasing hits more than false alarms) without consistent partial-overlap effects. Results suggest a combined retrieval-cue account of priming and independent storage of composites and parts (e.g., B. B. Murdock; see record 1983-04936-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal mediation as a function of age level.

A variety of experimental paradigms (reversal-nonreversal learning, transposition learning, etc.) indicate that young children evidence less mediational behavior than older children. Many variables have been shown to influence mediation, but it is not yet clear whether the emergence of mediational behavior is a voluntary or involuntary process, i.e., modifiable or unmodifiable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mismeasure of memory: When retrieval fluency is misleading as a metamnemonic index.

The experiments address the degree to which retrieval fluency—the ease with which information is accessed from long-term memory—guides and occasionally misleads metamnemonic judgments. In each of 3 experiments, participants' predictions of their own future recall performance were examined under conditions in which probability or speed of retrieval at one time or on one task is known to be negatively related to retrieval probability on a later task. Participants' predictions reflected retrieval fluency on the initial task in each case, which led to striking mismatches between their predicted and actual performance on the later tasks. The results suggest that retrieval fluency is a potent but not necessarily reliable source of information for metacognitive judgments. Aspects of the results suggest that a basis on which better and poorer rememberers differ is the degree to which certain memory dynamics are understood, such as the fleeting nature of recency effects and the consequences of an initial retrieval. The results have pedagogical as well as theoretical implications, particularly with respect to the education of subjective assessments of ongoing learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activity memory and aging: The role of motor retrieval and strategic processing.

Examined the role of retrieval and encoding mechanisms in the magnitude of age differences in the recall of S-performed tasks (SPTs). 80 older (60–79 yrs old) and 80 younger adults (18–26 yrs old) were tested in 1 of 4 conditions by varying modality at both encoding and retrieval. The role of list organization in reducing age differences in SPT recall was also examined. The results suggested that older adults' SPT recall improves when motor processing is enhanced by list organization. Age differences in recall were reduced for an organized list when motor processing occurred during retrieval or encoding, but age differences in recall of an unorganized list remained under most conditions. Discrepant results in the literature concerning the magnitude of age differences in SPT recall could be due in part to differences in list characteristics, such as organization, that have not been fully explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental differences in episodic retrieval: The role of differences in concept representations in semantic memory.

Developmental differences in the relative salience of features in concept representations in semantic memory and their contributions to differences in cued recall were examined in two experiments. For second graders, fifth graders, and college students, acquisition encoding of cue–target noun pair information was constrained by means of defining-, characteristic-, category-, and incidental-feature orienting questions. At retrieval, the encoding of cue information alone was constrained (Experiment 1) within subjects by means of the same (e.g., defining at acquisition and defining at retrieval) or related (e.g., defining at acquisition and characteristic at retrieval) retrieval questions or was unconstrained (Experiment 2). In both experiments, the acquisition presentation duration was manipulated (1 s or 5 s) in order to examine the spread of feature activation within concepts. The results showed that recall varied with feature salience, with the salience greatest for defining features. In addition, the results suggested that the relative salience of defining features was at least as great for the children as for the adults. The results offer no support for Keil and Batterman's (1984) hypothesis of a shift from characteristic to defining features in the development of word meaning representation in memory. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel memory retrieval in dual-task situations: II. Episodic memory.

Three experiments asked whether subjects could retrieve information from a 2nd stimulus while they retrieved information from a 1st stimulus. Ss performed recognition judgments on each of 2 words that followed each other by 0, 250, and 1,000 msec (Experiment 1) or 0 and 300 msec (Experiments 2 and 3). In each experiment, reaction time to both stimuli was faster when the 2 stimuli were both targets (on the study list) or both lures (not on the study list) than when 1 was a target and the other was a lure. Each experiment found priming from the 2nd stimulus to the lst when both stimuli were targets. Reaction time to the 1st stimulus was faster when the 2 targets came from the same memory structure at study (columns in Experiment l; pairs in Experiment 2; sentences in Experiment 3) than when they came from different structures. This priming is inconsistent with discrete serial retrieval and consistent with parallel retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel memory retrieval in dual-task situations: I. Semantic memory.

Can participants retrieve information about the 2nd of 2 stimuli while they are processing the 1st? Four experiments suggest they can. Reaction times to the 1st stimulus were faster if it came from the same category as the 2nd than if it came from a different category. This category-match effect was observed for letter-digit discrimination (Experiment 1), magnitude and parity judgments about digits (Experiment 2), and lexical decisions (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that the 2nd stimulus could semantically prime the 1st. The category-match effect was observed only when the same task was performed on the 2 stimuli. When the task changed from the Ist stimulus to the 2nd, there was no advantage of a category match. This dependence on task set may explain previous failures to find parallel retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of memory retrieval in older adulthood.

One of the most robust findings in cognitive aging is that of a significant decline in self-initiated recall from episodic memory. In laboratory studies this deficit can be seen in significant age differences in word-list free recall. In this article, the authors focus on free recall of categorized word lists where one observes "response bursting" in the form of a rapid output of within-category items with longer delays between categories. Age differences appear primarily in between category latencies, results that are consistent with a relative sparing of semantic memory combined with an age-deficit in episodic retrieval. When adjusted for differences in overall mnemonic ability, it is demonstrated that the relationship between organization and learning remains invariant with normal aging. The authors argue that the locus of the age deficit in free recall lies at the level of temporal coding of items and the use of temporal associations to guide recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Warm-up decrement as failure in memory retrieval in the rat.

Results of 5 experiments with female (n = 206) and male (n = 32) albino Sprague-Dawley rats show that warm-up decrement 24 hrs after learning free-operant or discrete-trial active avoidance was reduced by certain pretest warm-up treatments. When retention was measured in terms of performance on opposing passive-avoidance tasks, these warm-up treatments impaired rather than facilitated performance. Control conditions indicate that these effects were not due to increased motivation or additional learning caused by the warm-up treatment, but probably reflected enhancement of memory retrieval. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Music-dependent memory: The roles of tempo change and mood mediation.

Music-dependent memory was obtained in previous literature by changing from 1 musical piece to another. Here, the phenomenon was induced by changing only the tempo of the same musical selection. After being presented with a list of words, along with a piece of background music, listeners recalled more words when the selection was played at the same tempo than when it was played at a different tempo. However, no significant reduction in memory was produced by recall contexts with a changed timbre, a different musical selection, or no music (Experiments 1 and 2). Tempo was found to influence the arousal dimension of mood (Experiment 3), and recall was higher in a mood context consistent (as compared with inconsistent) with a given tempo (Experiment 4). The results support the mood-mediation hypothesis of music-dependent memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic retrieval in young children as a function of type of meaning.

Studied semantic retrieval in 15 kindergartners and 15 3rd graders. Ss were timed while they verified sentences that paired animal names and properties. Properties varied in saliency (i.e., rated association strength) and in type of meaning (i.e., functional or nonfunctional properties). An attempt was made to test a theory of concept acquisition in children that maintains that functional meaning lies at the core of a concept and that identification of the functional core then leads to the derivation of a set of static identifiers (attributes). Some support was found for this hypothesis in that kindergartners were as adept as 3rd graders in retrieving functional meaning that was highly salient and dynamic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related differences in memory as a function of imagery processing.

The effects of aging on imagery production and use (following the learning of concrete and abstract words) and their relations to subsequent memory performance were explored in 2 experiments. Both experiments demonstrated better free recall of concrete than of abstract words (the concreteness effect). Exp 1 showed this superiority to be greater for young Ss only under explicit imagery instructions. Exp 2 revealed that the advantage of concrete over abstract words reflects the use of differential imagery production. The results are discussed in terms of age differences in imagery utilization and the effects of visual processing on recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of memory for past test in the underconfidence with practice effect.

According to the Memory for Past Test (MPT) heuristic, judgments of learning (JOLs) may be based, in part, on memory for the correctness of answers on a previous test. The authors explored MPT as the source of the underconfidence with practice effect (UWP; A. Koriat, L. Sheffer, & H. Ma'ayan, 2002), whereby Trial 1 overconfidence switches to underconfidence by Trial 2. Immediate and delayed JOLs were contrasted because only immediate JOLs demonstrate UWP. Consistent with MPT for immediate JOLs, Trial 1 test performance better predicted Trial 2 JOLs than did Trial 2 test performance. Delayed JOLs showed the reverse. Furthermore, items forgotten on Trial 1 but remembered on Trial 2 contributed disproportionately to UWP, but only with immediate JOLs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misinformation effects in eyewitness memory: The presence and absence of memory impairment as a function of warning and misinformation accessibility.

The authors report 5 experiments investigating how exposure to misleading postevent information affects people's ability to remember details from a witnessed event. In each experiment the authors tested memory using the modified opposition test, which was designed to isolate retrieval-blocking effects. The findings indicate that retrieval blocking occurs regardless of whether the misleading information is presented before or after the witnessed event. In addition, when people are warned immediately about the presence of misleading information, they can counteract retrieval-blocking effects but only if the misinformation is relatively low in accessibility. The authors discuss the findings in terms of the retrieval-blocking hypothesis and a hypothetical suppression mechanism that can counteract retrieval-blocking effects in some circumstances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related deficits in associative memory: The influence of impaired strategic retrieval.

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether impaired strategic retrieval processes contribute to the age-related deficit in associative memory. To do so, they compared older and younger adults on measures of associative memory that place high demands on retrieval processes (associative identification and recall-to-reject) to measures that place low demands on such processes (associative reinstatement and recall-to-accept). Results showed that older adults were severely impaired on associative identification and recall-to-reject measures; relatively intact on recall-to-accept measures, unless recollection was prominent; and intact on associative reinstatement measures. Together, these findings suggest that impairment in strategic retrieval accounts for older adults' deficits in memory for associative information and that this deficit, above and beyond poor binding of items, leads to and amplifies an impairment in overall recollection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory and aging: The role of retrieval processes.

A review of the literature demonstrates that production deficiency hypotheses are unable to account fully for the fact that older adults perform more poorly on memory tasks than young adults. The possibility is explored that age-related differences are due to changes in fundamental processes involved in retrieval of information from memory, namely, (a) utilization of contextual information and (b) activation processes occurring in semantic memory. Automatic as well as intentional processes are examined. (5? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life-span differences in memory integration as a function of processing time.

K. Pezdek (see record 1981-03016-001) reported life-span differences in integration of semantically related pictures and sentences in memory; 6th-grade and high school Ss spontaneously integrated information across modalities, but 3rd graders and adults over 65 did not integrate this information. The present study extends these findings and tests the hypothesis that the 8-sec presentation rate in the previous study was not sufficient to allow the young children and older adults to perform integration processes in memory. Although 3rd graders and older adults (63–78 yrs) did not integrate pictures and sentences that were presented individually at an 8-sec rate, when the presentation rate was increased to 15 sec per item, cross-modality integration resulted. This result is interpreted to mean that the slower presentation rate was necessary for these Ss to actively rehearse different items together, and that this rehearsal strategy is necessary for integration of information in memory. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)