Can we have a distinctive theory of memory?

Abstract

The current status of the concept of distinctiveness as applied to memory research is discussed. In spite of the fact that distinctiveness is difficult to define, an increasing number of memory phenomena have been explained in terms of distinctiveness. These phenomena are grouped into four classes, which vary in how distinctiveness is operationalized. Distinctiveness has different effects on memory performance, depending on how it is defined, suggesting that the concept of distinctiveness has been overapplied. In addition, current theoretical explanations of the effects of distinctiveness on memory fail to specify what the different definitions of distinctiveness have in common, and fail to encompass adequately the broad range of phenomena to be explained. A limited theory of distinctiveness is proposed, in order to explain why conceptually incongruent material is remembered well.The unusual, bizarre, or distinctive event seems inherently more memorable than common, everyday occurrences. Psychologists often refer to this phenomenon as the von Restorff (1933) effect. The effects of distinctiveness on memory are exploited in textbooks in which major concepts are printed in bold print, and in virtually every form of advertising in which loud music, bright colors, or other distinctive stimuli scream for our attention. Recently, memory researchers have invoked the concept of distinctiveness to explain an increasing range of phenomena, from detailed memory of the space shuttle explosion (McCloskey, Wible, & Cohen 1988) to enhanced memory of concrete words (Marschark, Richman, Yuille, & Hunt, 1987). Unfortunately, the features shared by the many faces of distinctiveness have not been specified, and the mechanisms responsible for the effects of distinctiveness on memory have not been delineated.The current status of research concerning the effects of distinctiveness on memory is reviewed below. For the sake of brevity, this review will be restricted to a discussion of long-term memory performance. Many of the issues that will be raised, however, could easily be applied to research concerning short-term memory performance as well. A brief historical review of distinctiveness in memory research will be followed by an analysis of the definition of distinctiveness. Several criteria will be selected that should enable us to classify previous operational definitions of distinctiveness. The different classes of distinctiveness do not lead to a common set or pattern of results, and thus they do not converge on a common hypothetical construct. Prominent theoretical frameworks will be considered, but none of the theories encompasses the many faces of distinctiveness. A more limited definition of distinctiveness will be proposed, and a theoretical framework for the effects of distinctiveness, based on this limited definition, will be presented. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTSThe distinctiveness hypothesis is a direct descendent of the von Restorff effect, which was investigated extensively in the 1950s and 60s. In the most recent review of...

A matter of design: Priming context and person perception

“…The results supported this contention. Through enhanced categorical distinctiveness (Schmidt, 1991), intermixed priming stimuli created the optimal contextual conditions for category and stereotype activation to emerge. Moreover, the relative distinctiveness of priming stimuli moderated the strength of category activation.…”

“…Driving this effect is the contextual distinctiveness of stimuli (Wallace, 1965), with mixed lists enhancing the relative salience (i.e., 'primary' distinctiveness), hence memorability, of unusual items (Schmidt, 1991).…”

“…One of the most potent contextual factors in experimental research is the structure of the task environment in which stimuli are encountered (Schmidt, 1991). For example, when participants are required to memorize items from two distinct classes (e.g., high-vs. low-frequency words, typical vs. distinctive faces), performance is reliably influenced by the order in which stimuli are presented.…”

“…Given that the salience of applicable categories is an important determinant of person perception, it is possible that category activation may be impacted by the relative distinctiveness of facial primes. According to Schmidt (1991), the relative distinctiveness of an item is determined by the degree to which it overlaps with an active representation that is held in working memory. Critically, this representation is based on the nature of the preceding stimuli in the information-processing stream (e.g., the number of same-sex faces).…”

A dynamic approach to recognition memory.

“…In particular, such theories posit that the representations of low frequency words in memory are more distinctive (Schmidt, 1991;Nosofsky & Zaki, 2003). According to the REM model (Shiffrin & Steyvers, 1997, this distinctiveness manifests in the features used to encode the words themselves.…”