More on contextual effects on learning and memory

The self-choice effect from a multiple-cue perspective

“…If participants simply choose easier items, context items should be harder to remember, resulting in a negative self-choice effect for context items. The data indicated, however, that context items were remembered better in the choice condition than in the force condition (Monty, Perlmuter, Libon, & Bennet, 1982;Watanabe, 2001). Second, it has been reported in several studies that response choice enhanced memory even when choice was fully "constrained."…”

Memorial consequences of choosing nonwords

“…Several interpretations have been suggested to explain the self-choice effect. For example, it has been suggested that the effect might be due to a general enhancement in motivation (Monty, Rosenberger, & Perlmuter, 1973) or greater degree of attention (Monty, Perlmuter, Libon, & Bennet, 1982;. These interpretations of the self-choice effect do not implicate the meaningfulness of the chosen materials as its locus.…”

Effects of constrained choice on memory: The extension of the multiple‐cue hypothesis to the self‐choice effect

“…Similar effects were also observed in studies with simultaneous, and not separate, choice and learning phases (e.g., Takahashi & Umemoto, 1987). With respect to memory tasks, the effects have been reported not only with cued recall, but also with free recall (Takahashi, 1991(Takahashi, , 1992(Takahashi, , 1993Takahashi & Umemoto, 1987) and recognition (Monty, Perlmuter, Libon, & Bennet, 1982;Takahashi, 1991Takahashi, , 1992Takahashi, , 1993Takahashi & Umemoto, 1987). Two competing interpretations of the selfchoice effect have been proposed, one related to motivation and the other to metamemory.…”

“…For example, Perlmuter and Monty (1982) reported better recognition of unchosen items in a choice condition than in a force condition. According to Monty et al (1982), when participants were guided to pay attention to the unchosen alternatives by rejecting them during choice tasks, their memory performance with the items to be remembered (i.e., chosen items) was greater than in the simple choice condition. Although they interpreted these results as support for their motivation theory, their findings are actually consistent with the multiple-cue hypothesis.…”