Interaction between categorical knowledge and episodic memory across domains

Hemmer, Pernille; Persaud, Kimele

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00584

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Roberson and colleagues [ 32 ] invoked the category adjustment model as a possible explanation for categorical perception of facial expressions, but did not explore a formal computational model; Goldstone [ 33 ] similarly referenced the category adjustment model with respect to category effects in the color domain. Persaud and Hemmer [ 21 , 34 ] explored bias in memory for color, and compared empirically obtained memory bias patterns from English speakers with results predicted by a formally specified category adjustment model, but did not link those results to the debate over the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and did not manipulate uncertainty. More recently, a subsequent paper by the same authors and colleagues [ 35 ] explored category-induced bias in speakers of another language, Tsimané, and did situate those results with respect to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, but again did not manipulate uncertainty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and Probabilistic Inference: Evidence from the Domain of Color

Cibelli

Austerweil

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that our thoughts are shaped by our native language, and that speakers of different languages therefore think differently. This hypothesis is controversial in part because it appears to deny the possibility of a universal groundwork for human cognition, and in part because some findings taken to support it have not reliably replicated. We argue that considering this hypothesis through the lens of probabilistic inference has the potential to resolve both issues, at least with respect to certain prominent findings in the domain of color cognition. We explore a probabilistic model that is grounded in a presumed universal perceptual color space and in language-specific categories over that space. The model predicts that categories will most clearly affect color memory when perceptual information is uncertain. In line with earlier studies, we show that this model accounts for language-consistent biases in color reconstruction from memory in English speakers, modulated by uncertainty. We also show, to our knowledge for the first time, that such a model accounts for influential existing data on cross-language differences in color discrimination from memory, both within and across categories. We suggest that these ideas may help to clarify the debate over the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and Probabilistic Inference: Evidence from the Domain of Color

Cibelli

Austerweil

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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“…Our investigations of the relationship between schemas and episodes can be reframed as a question of how memory is reconstructed out of multiple sources of information 49,50 . In line with a reconstruction account of memory, integration across schematic and episodic information can either enhance or impair memories, depending on whether that information conflicts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Schematic memories develop quickly, but are not expressed unless necessary

Tompary¹,

Davachi²

2020

Preprint

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Episodic memory retrieval is increasingly influenced by schematic information as memories mature, but it is unclear whether this is due to the slow formation of schemas over time, or the slow decay of the episodes. To address this, we separately probed memory for newly learned schemas as well as their influence on episodic memory decisions. In this experiment, participants encoded images from two categories, with the location of images in each category drawn from a different spatial distribution. They could thus learn schemas of category locations by encoding specific episodes. We found that images that were more consistent with these distributions were more precisely retrieved, and this schematic influence increased over time. However, memory for the schema distribution, measured using generalization to novel images, also became less precise over time. This incongruity suggests that schemas form rapidly, but their influence on episodic retrieval is dictated by the need to bolster fading memory representations.

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“…The complexities relating to representation that are being brought to the fore by recent research on VWM could possibly benefit from borrowing from current theories of conceptual representation that suggest that instances of a concept are represented through reliance on distributed and flexible brain networks (see Barsalou, In press, a and b; see Hemmer & Persaud, 2014 for a similar idea in relation to episodic memory). One could for example, assume that processing each exemplar encountered involves a categorization process where the object is identified, activating a distributed representation of relevant features.…”

Section: Representations Subtending Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing the recent visual past: Hierarchical knowledge-based effects in visual working memory

et al. 2017

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This paper presents two experiments that examine the influence of multiple levels of knowledge on visual working memory (VWM). Experiment 1 focused on memory for faces. Faces were selected from continua that were constructed by morphing two face photographs in 100 steps; half of the continua morphed a famous face into an unfamiliar one, while the other half used two unfamiliar faces. Participants studied six sequentially presented faces each from a different continuum, and at test they had to locate one of these within its continuum. Experiment 2 examined immediate memory for object sizes. On each trial, six images were shown; these were either all vegetables or all random shapes. Immediately after each list, one item was presented again, in a new random size, and participants reproduced its studied size. Results suggested that two levels of knowledge influenced VWM. First, there was an overall central-tendency bias whereby items were remembered as being closer to the overall average or central tokens (averaged across items and trials) than they actually were. Second, when object knowledge was available for the to-be-remembered items (i.e., famous face or typical size of a vegetable) a further bias was introduced in responses. The results extend the findings of Hemmer and Steyvers (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 80-87, 2009a) from episodic memory to VWM and contribute to the growing literature which illustrates the complexity and flexibility of the representations subtending VWM performance (e.g., Bae,

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Interaction between categorical knowledge and episodic memory across domains

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and Probabilistic Inference: Evidence from the Domain of Color

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and Probabilistic Inference: Evidence from the Domain of Color

Schematic memories develop quickly, but are not expressed unless necessary

Reconstructing the recent visual past: Hierarchical knowledge-based effects in visual working memory

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