No abstract

Hindsight bias is the phenomenon that after people are presented with the correct answer to a question, their judgment regarding their own past answer to this question is biased toward the correct answer. In three experiments, younger and older adults gave numerical responses to general-knowledge questions and later attempted to recall their responses. For some questions, the correct answer was provided during recall (Experiment 1) or before recall (Experiments 2 and 3). Multinomial model-based analyses show age differences in both recollection bias and reconstruction bias when the correct judgment was in working memory during the recall phase. The authors discuss implications for theories of cognitive aging and theories of hindsight bias.

Generation enhances memory for occurrence but may not enhance other aspects of memory. The present study further delineates the negative generation effect in context memory reported in N. W. Mulligan (2004). First, the negative generation effect occurred for perceptual attributes of the target item (its color and font) but not for extratarget aspects of context (location and background color). Second, nonvisual generation tasks with either semantic or nonsemantic generation rules (antonym and rhyme generation, respectively) produced the same pattern of results. In contrast, a visual (or data-driven) generation task (letter transposition) did not disrupt context memory for color. Third, generating nonwords produced no effect on item memory but persisted in producing a negative effect on context memory for target attributes, implying that (a) the negative generation effect in context memory is not mediated by semantic encoding, and (b) the negative effect on context memory can be dissociated from the positive effect on item memory. The results are interpreted in terms of the processing account of generation. The original, perceptual-conceptual version of this account is too narrow, but a modified processing account, based on a more generic visual versus nonvisual processing distinction, accommodates the results.

The item-order hypothesis proposes that order information plays an important role in recall from long-term memory, and it is commonly used to account for the moderating effects of experimental design in memory research. Recent research (Engelkamp, Jahn, & Seiler, 2003; McDaniel, DeLosh, & Merritt, 2000) raises questions about the assumptions underlying the item-order hypothesis. Four experiments tested these assumptions by examining the relationship between free recall and order memory for lists of varying length (8, 16, or 24 unrelated words or pictures). Some groups were given standard free-recall instructions, other groups were explicitly instructed to use order information in free recall, and other groups were given free-recall tests intermixed with tests of order memory (order reconstruction). The results for short lists were consistent with the assumptions of the item-order account. For intermediate-length lists, explicit order instructions and intermixed order tests made recall more reliant on order information, but under standard conditions, order information played little role in recall. For long lists, there was little evidence that order information contributed to recall. In sum, the assumptions of the item-order account held for short lists, received mixed support with intermediate lists, and received no support for longer lists.

Age differences in distinctive processing were investigated by examining the effects of study presentation modality on false recall in younger and older adults using the Deese/Roediger and McDermott paradigm. Participants were presented with study words either visually or auditorily. Older adults did not show the typical reduction in false recall after visual, compared to auditory, study presentation (R.E. Smith & R.R. Hunt, 1998). The authors interpret these results as evidence of reduced distinctive processing on the part of older adults.