Late consequences of early selection: When memory monitoring backfires

Zawadzka, Katarzyna; Hanczakowski, Maciej; Wilding, Edward Lewis

doi:10.1016/j.jml.2016.06.003

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…We suggest that another avenue could be found in a burgeoning literature on monitoring incorrect responses in recognition tests (see Goldsmith, 2016). These monitoring processes involve the mechanisms of early selection—the restriction of memory search to features diagnostic of study occurrence (Jacoby, Shimizu, Daniels, & Rhodes, 2005; Zawadzka, Hanczakowski, & Wilding, 2017), and the mechanisms of late correction—such as the distinctiveness heuristic, by which a person is able to judge an item as new because it possesses distinctive features that would be remembered had the item actually been studied (Dodson & Schacter, 2002; Hanczakowski & Mazzoni, 2011). It would be of interest to see whether the same mechanisms are responsible for monitoring one’s state of knowledge to arrive at a judgment concerning the answerability of a question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Translating (lack of) memories into reports: Conversion processes in responding to unanswerable questions.

Krogulska¹,

Skóra²,

Scoboria³

et al. 2020

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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When queried about events in the past, a person may face questions that concern details that have been witnessed-answerable questions-and details that have not been witnessed-unanswerable questions. With regard to answerable questions, the person's willingness to answer these questions increases as a function of not only information available about the queried detail itself, but also as a function of contextual information. The present research assesses whether the willingness to report specific-and thus incorrect-answers when facing unanswerable questions also increases with the amount of available contextual information. In 3 experiments, we show that when recognition questions for critical details one had not encoded are preceded by reinstated contexts, participants are less willing to respond "don't know" to these questions, thus making more commission errors. These results show how greater access to contextual information, commonly associated with better memory for answerable questions, can also lead to more incorrect responses in the case of unanswerable questions. This documents how conversion processes-metacognitive processes of monitoring retrieval from memory and controlling the quality of output-play an important role in shaping the accuracy of memory reports.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Translating (lack of) memories into reports: Conversion processes in responding to unanswerable questions.

Krogulska¹,

Skóra²,

Scoboria³

et al. 2020

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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“…With regard to retrieval of IAMs, it is not yet clear what stage of the memory process becomes disrupted by the increased attentional load. Retrieval is not a single process but rather a collection of processes which, apart from the core process of accessing memory with the use of cues, includes other processes such as the adoption of a retrieval mode (Evans, Williams, & Wilding, 2015) and retrieval o r i e n t a t i o n (H e r r o n & R u g g , 2 0 0 3 ; Z a w a d z k a , Hanczakowski, & Wilding, 2017) or cue encoding and elaboration (Herron, Evans, & Wilding, 2016). Some of these subprocesses of retrieval become irrelevant when the focus is on spontaneous cognition; for example, retrieval mode is not required in nonmemory tasks in which IAMs are collected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual attentional load affects the frequency of involuntary autobiographical memories and their level of meta-awareness

et al. 2018

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Involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) are memories of past events that come to mind without deliberate retrieval attempts. Common in everyday life, IAMs have recently become a topic of experimental investigations with laboratory procedures. In the present study, we build on the recent methodological advancements in the study of IAMs, and we investigate the effects of manipulating the attentional load on the incidence of IAMs, as well as on the level of meta-awareness of these memories. In two experiments, attentional load was manipulated by varying the demands of the focal vigilance task, and reports of IAMs were collected. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to stop the vigilance task whenever mental contents unrelated to the task came to their minds (self-caught method). In Experiment 2, participants were intermittently interrupted and probed regarding the contents of their experience (probe-caught method) and the level of meta-awareness for these contents. In both experiments, we found a reduction in the frequency of reported IAMs under increased attentional load. Moreover, in Experiment 2, IAMs were characterized by varied levels of meta-awareness, which was reduced by increased attentional load. These results indicate that allocation of attentional resources toward a focal task reduces reporting of IAMs experienced while performing this task because attentional resources play a role in both retrieval of IAMs and the realization that one is experiencing a memory.

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“…Because semantic encoding typically leads to more accurate memory compared with nonsemantic encoding, this “foil effect” implies that participants strategically orient their retrieval toward a semantic processing mode when attempting to retrieve semantic encoded information and a nonsemantic processing mode when retrieving nonsemantic information, resulting in better incidental encoding of semantic compared with nonsemantic foils. Jacoby and colleagues interpreted this foil finding in light of the transfer appropriate processing principle by emphasizing the importance of the overlap in study–test operations for optimizing retrieval success (see also Zawadzka, Hanczakowski, & Wilding, 2017 ; Gray & Gallo, 2015 ; Kantner & Lindsay, 2013 ; Alban & Kelley, 2012 ; Halamish, Goldsmith, & Jacoby, 2012 ; Danckert, MacLeod, & Fernandes, 2011 ; Marsh et al, 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alpha Oscillations during Incidental Encoding Predict Subsequent Memory for New “Foil” Information

Vogelsang

Gruber

Bergström

et al. 2018

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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People can employ adaptive strategies to increase the likelihood that previously encoded information will be successfully retrieved. One such strategy is to constrain retrieval toward relevant information by reimplementing the neurocognitive processes that were engaged during encoding. Using EEG, we examined the temporal dynamics with which constraining retrieval toward semantic versus nonsemantic information affects the processing of new “foil” information encountered during a memory test. Time–frequency analysis of EEG data acquired during an initial study phase revealed that semantic compared with nonsemantic processing was associated with alpha decreases in a left frontal electrode cluster from around 600 msec after stimulus onset. Successful encoding of semantic versus nonsemantic foils during a subsequent memory test was related to decreases in alpha oscillatory activity in the same left frontal electrode cluster, which emerged relatively late in the trial at around 1000–1600 msec after stimulus onset. Across participants, left frontal alpha power elicited by semantic processing during the study phase correlated significantly with left frontal alpha power associated with semantic foil encoding during the memory test. Furthermore, larger left frontal alpha power decreases elicited by semantic foil encoding during the memory test predicted better subsequent semantic foil recognition in an additional surprise foil memory test, although this effect did not reach significance. These findings indicate that constraining retrieval toward semantic information involves reimplementing semantic encoding operations that are mediated by alpha oscillations and that such reimplementation occurs at a late stage of memory retrieval, perhaps reflecting additional monitoring processes.

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Late consequences of early selection: When memory monitoring backfires

Cited by 8 publications

References 42 publications

Translating (lack of) memories into reports: Conversion processes in responding to unanswerable questions.

Translating (lack of) memories into reports: Conversion processes in responding to unanswerable questions.

Visual attentional load affects the frequency of involuntary autobiographical memories and their level of meta-awareness

Alpha Oscillations during Incidental Encoding Predict Subsequent Memory for New “Foil” Information

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