Cognitive operations and the generation effect.

Abstract

The present experiments were designed to test a cognitive operations hypothesis of the generation effect, or memorial advantage for stimuli that are generated rather than simply read. In two experiments two aspects of generation were manipulated independently: (a) whether the to-beremembered stimulus was absent (and therefore produced by the subject) or present (and therefore not produced) and (b) whether the relevant cognitive operations were performed by the subject or were instead performed by another agent. Specifically, subjects were given simple multiplication problems with the answers either absent or present in the original problems and with the calculations performed either by themselves or by another agent (either the experimenter or a calculator). The first experiment tested immediate recall of the answers, and the second experiment tested both recall and recognition of the answers after retention intervals up to a week. In all cases, a highly significant retention advantage was found for the tasks requiring multiplication operations by the subjects themselves as opposed to another agent, but there was no main effect for whether the answer was absent or present in the original problem. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results with respect to the generation effect as well as the practical implications with respect to using a calculator in learning the multiplication facts.A growing number of experiments have demonstrated a distinct retention advantage for material that is generated by an individual rather than simply read. In these experiments, the stimuli are often pairs of words presented to subjects under two conditions: read and generate. In the read condition, a pair of words is presented, and subjects read the pair aloud. In the generate condition, a word pair is presented with the first word intact and the second missing one or more letters; subjects must then generate the second word of the pair by using the first word as a context. In the original experiments by Slamecka and Graf (1978), subjects were provided with different contexts or rules for generating the target words. Regardless of the generate context or production rule and regardless of the specific retention task (e.g., free recall, cued recall, or recognition), subjects consistently showed better retention for the generated items versus the items that were simply read.

Retrieval processes in arithmetic production and verification

“…This was based on the observation that positive error priming occurred with previously retrieved answers but not with answers that had been named only. Crutcher and Healy (1989), however, obtained equivalent generation effects from multiplication production and verification tasks. Thus, the task-specific error priming observed in the present study casts doubt on the possibility that positive error priming and generation effects are manifestations of a common process.…”

Learning how to learn: Can experiencing the outcome of different encoding strategies enhance subsequent encoding?

“…In the procedural account (Crutcher & Healy, 1989;McNamara & Healy, 1995a, 1995b, it is assumed that when generating information at study, as opposed to reading it, learners are more likely to employ encoding procedures that can be reinstated in a later retention test. If these procedures are invoked on a later test, a generation advantage should occur; if not, a generation advantage should not occur.…”

The effects of "effort after meaning" on recall: Differences in within- and between-subjects designs

“…On a general level, due to the active or synthetic nature of comprehension, effort after meaning appears to be an active process. More specifically, the Auble and Franks (1978) paradigm is similar to generation tasks that require subjects to solve verbal or mathematical problems, as opposed to passively receiving the solutions (Crutcher & Healy, 1989;Erdelyi, Buschke, & Finkelstein, 1977;Jacoby, 1978). The purpose of the present research is to shed light on the processes underlying the memorial advantage of effort after meaning by asking whether the same variables that modulate generation effects will also determine the effects of effort after meaning in the Auble and Franks paradigm.…”