Coding modality vs. input modality in hypermnesia: Is a rose a rose a rose?

Erdelyi, Matthew Hugh; Finkelstein, Shira; Herrel, Nadeanne; Miller, Bruce N.; Thomas, J.R.

doi:10.1016/0010-0277(76)90014-7

Cited by 105 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…One hypothesis is that hypermnesia depends on the imaginal encoding of list items. Erdelyi, Finkelstein, Herrell, Miller, and Thomas (1976), for example, presented subjects with a list of easily named pictures or the names of easily imagined objects. For subjects receiving the names of objects, some were instructed to form vivid mental images of those objects and some were not.…”

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confidence: 99%

Analyzing the dynamics of free recall: An integrative review of the empirical literature

Wixted

Rohrer

1994

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

205

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Relatively few experiments have measured the time course of free recall from episodic or semantic memory. Of those that have, most report that cumulative recall is a negatively accelerated exponential (or hyperbolic) function that is characterized by two properties: asymptotic recall and rate of approach to asymptote. The most common measure of free recall performance (viz., the number of items recalled) provides a reasonably good estimate of asymptotic recall if a relatively long recall period is used (which is rare), but the effect of experimental manipulations on the rate of approach to asymptote cannot be determined without timing when recall responses occur. The research reviewed herein suggests that the rate of approach to asymptote may offer an estimate of the breadth of search through long-term memory. The search in question, unlike most ofthose investigated in the memory literature, is unique in that it requires minutes rather than milliseconds to complete.When subjects attempt to generate items from a semantic category or to recall a recently presented list of words, they do not complete the task in an instant. Instead, their performance is almost invariably characterized by intermittent successes occurring over an extended period of time. In spite of this interesting fact, memory researchers have exhibited an overwhelming preference for recording which (or how many) items are recalled during some brief period of time, regardless of the speed with which those items have been retrieved. Does the time course of free recall offer any useful information about the nature of retrieval? Because this subject is an old one that commands little attention today, one might assume that the answer is no. However, a review of the extant literature, limited as it is, suggests otherwise.Exactly what can be learned that is not already known by studying the dynamics of free recall? First, the studies that have tracked the time course of recall usually reveal that subjects continue to make progress far beyond the 1-or 2-min recall period typically provided. Indeed, Roediger and Thorpe (1978)-to take one example that will be considered in detail later-reported that recall on an episodic memory task continued to increase more than 20 min into the recall period. Moreover, a clear difference in the level of recall between two conditions (easily named pictures vs. words) became evident only after several minutes had elapsed. Had these authors used the standard brief recall period, they might have mistakenly concluded that the two conditions produced equal levels of performance. How often are incorrect conclusions arrived at because the recall period is too brief? The answer is Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to John Wixted, Department of Psychology-OfOs, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093. 89 unknown because most researchers simply ignore the potential problem.Second, most of the literature reviewed below suggests that the time course of free recall, like reaction time in the Sternber...

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Analyzing the dynamics of free recall: An integrative review of the empirical literature

Wixted

Rohrer

1994

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

205

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“…Yet these classic fmdings have been questioned. A recent concentration of research effort has been directed toward the phenomenon of hypermnesia, the increase of recall over repeated recall trials (Erdelyi & Becker, 1974;Erdelyi, Finkelstein, Herrell, Miller, & Thomas, 1976;Erdelyi & Kleinbard, 1978;Madigan, 1976). The results of these studies raise questions about the inevitability of the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.…”

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Hypermnesia in the eyewitness to a crime

Eugenio

Buckhout

Kostes

et al. 1982

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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Forty students served as subjects in two groups of witnesses to which a surprise filmed crime was shown. All subjects gave free recall statements about the crime. Following either a directed thinking interval or a diversionary task to block rehearsal, witnesses gave two additional statements. Hypermnesia for hits and memory intrusions was observed, but d' scores did not show hypermnesia. The witnesses fell into two groups: "good" witnesses who had ascertained the correct schema and "bad" witnesses who were obviously on the wrong track. While most witnesses showed short-term hypermnesia for correct responses (hits), the good witnesses showed a significant increase in memory intrusions (false alarms) during the third recall trial (p < .01). Only with correct-schema witnesses did d' scores above the guessing level occur. Witnesses who had ascertained the correct schema but who were interrogated too often tended to make things up to suit the demands for detail, with a resultant increase in memory intrusions and lower d'.

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“…When pictures are the items to be recalled, the results appear unanimous that hypermnesia is obtained (Erdelyi & Becker, 1974;Erdelyi, Finkelstein, Herrell, Miller, & Thomas, 1977;Hasher, Riebman, & Wren, 1976;Madigan, 1976;Roediger & Thorpe, 1978, Experiment 1). The effect with words, however, is less clear.…”

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“…Their experiment compared performance on stimulus lists comprised of either pictures or words. Subjects in the word condition showed a decrease in recall over three recall trials; however, the performance of subjects in the picture condition increased over trials.Erdelyi (Erdelyi, Finkelstein, Herrell, Miller, & Thomas, 1977) reasoned that production of visual images promoted the hypermnesia effect. Such images would readily be produced in the picture condition, but would be less likely to occur in the word condition.…”

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Hypermnesia and the role of imagery

Popkin

Small

1979

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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Subjects were instructed to produce images to either high-imagery or low-imagery word lists. Recall over three trials indicated that hypermnesia occurred in the high-imagery condition, but that a decline in performance occurred in the low-imagery condition. Furthermore, analyses of the recall of individual items indicated that· the difference in recall occurred because there was less forgetting and more reminiscence in the high-imagery condition than in the lowimagery condition. The relationship between imagery and hypermnesia is discussed. Erdelyi and Becker (1974) demonstrated that under certain conditions, memory improves with multitrial recall (hypermnesia). Their experiment compared performance on stimulus lists comprised of either pictures or words. Subjects in the word condition showed a decrease in recall over three recall trials; however, the performance of subjects in the picture condition increased over trials.Erdelyi (Erdelyi, Finkelstein, Herrell, Miller, & Thomas, 1977) reasoned that production of visual images promoted the hypermnesia effect. Such images would readily be produced in the picture condition, but would be less likely to occur in the word condition. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the performance of three groups. One group saw the pictures used in the Erdelyi and Becker (1974) study. The other two groups saw the verbal equivalents of the pictures. In one word condition, subjects were instructed to make images to each word as it was presented (WIM, or "words with imagery instructions"). The other word condition did not receive such instructions (WNO, or "words with no imagery instructions"). As expected, the picture condition and the WIM condition both had increased recall over trials, while the hypermnesia effect did not occur in the WNO condition.The present experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that imagery encoding increases the likelihood of hypermnesia. In this experiment, all subjects were instructed to make images to the words. The imagery ratings of the word lists, however, were varied. Hypermnesia was expected in the high-imagery condition but not in the low-imagery group. This research was submitted as an honors thesis for the BA degree at Bowdoin College by the first author and was supported, in part, by a Langbein Fellowship to the first author. Samuel J. Popkin is now at the Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007. METHOD MaterialsThe Paivio, Yuille, and Madigan (1968) norms were used to select the two 40-word lists. The words in the high-imagery list (Hi I) had ratings of 5 to 7; those in the low-imagery list (Lo I) were rated 1 to 3. The frequency and meaningfulness of the words in each list were equated by selection of words with Thorndike-Lorge counts between 40 and AA and meaningfulness ratings between 4 and 6. Two random orders of the two lists were constructed. SubjectsThe subjects were 40 undergraduates who were naive to verbal learning experiments. Twenty subjects were assigned to the Hi I list,...

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Coding modality vs. input modality in hypermnesia: Is a rose a rose a rose?

Cited by 105 publications

References 29 publications

Analyzing the dynamics of free recall: An integrative review of the empirical literature

Analyzing the dynamics of free recall: An integrative review of the empirical literature

Hypermnesia in the eyewitness to a crime

Hypermnesia and the role of imagery

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