Efficient conversation is guided by the mutual knowledge, or common ground, that interlocutors form as a conversation progresses. Characterized from the perspective of commonly used measures of memory, efficient conversation should be closely associated with item memory-what was said-and context memory-who said what to whom. However, few studies have explicitly probed memory to evaluate what type of information is maintained following a communicative exchange. The current study examined how item and context memory relate to the development of common ground over the course of a conversation, and how these forms of memory vary as a function of one's role in a conversation as speaker or listener. The process of developing common ground was positively related to both item and context memory. In addition, content that was spoken was remembered better than content that was heard. Our findings illustrate how memory assessments can complement language measures by revealing the impact that basic conversational processes have on memory for what has been discussed. By taking this approach, we show that not only does the process of forming common ground facilitate communication in the present, but it also promotes an enduring record of that event, facilitating conversation into the future.

No abstract

The reminding effect (Tullis, Benjamin, & Ross, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143[4], [1526][1527][1528][1529][1530][1531][1532][1533][1534][1535][1536][1537][1538][1539][1540] 2014) describes the increase in recall of a studied word when a related word is presented later in the study list. However, because the process of reminding is thought to occur during study, measures of test performance are indirect indicators of the process of reminding and are subject to influences that arise during testing. The present research seeks evidence of reminding during encoding. In two experiments, self-paced study times were used to index the online process of reminding. In Experiment 1, pairs of repeated words, related words, and unrelated words were included in a study list. Study times were shorter for words related to prior words in the list, but only when the lag between those two words was short. Relatedness affected study time by inspiring a reduction in the threshold for termination of study for related words under massed conditions. Experiment 2 replicated the reduction in study time for related words and further showed that the study time allotted to an associate of an earlier item predicted better memory for that earlier word on a cued-recall test. In this experiment, an advantage in memory was observed for related words, and self-paced study time of one word during encoding was predictive of later memory for a related word. These results suggest a link between the action of reminding at study, as indexed by changes in the distribution of study time, and later benefits to remembering, as revealed by the reminding effect.

No abstract