Does survival processing enhance implicit memory?

A test of the survival processing advantage in implicit and explicit memory tests

“…Thus, the present study does not support the suggestion that survival processing enhances automatic forms of memory, as tested with the implicit tests used in these experiments. These findings are consistent with those reported by Tse and Altarriba (2010) for stem completion and concreteness judgment implicit tests. Their nonsignificant survival effect for implicit memory tests was supported in the present study with a different set of stimuli, a different sample, and a different form of conceptual implicit test (category production in the present study, concreteness judgments in their study).…”

“…Thus, a level-of-encoding interpretation of the survival effect would predict a dissociation between perceptual and conceptual implicit tests, such that a conceptual test should show the effect, and perceptual tests should not. Contrary to this prediction, Tse and Altarriba (2010) reported no survival effect in their conceptual implicit test, and none was found in the present study for a different conceptual implicit test. One might also expect more categorical intrusions on the category production tasks in the survival conditions Standard errors in parentheses if elaboration were higher for the survival scenario, but intrusions were similar across study conditions, with the survival conditions resulting in the numerically fewest intrusions in both tasks.…”

“…Thus, only a weak survival processing advantage was found in the explicit stem completion tests. Tse and Altarriba (2010) concluded that the survival processing effect may not be present in either perceptual or conceptual implicit tests. The lack of a survival advantage in the explicit stem completion rates may also suggest that the effect is limited to only certain types of explicit tests, in terms of memory accuracy.…”

“…For example, Savine, Scullin and Roediger (2011) failed to find a survival processing advantage for face memory. Furthermore, Tse and Altarriba (2010) failed to find a survival processing advantage when testing with implicit memory tests that were matched with explicit tests that showed effects of survival processing.…”

“…In the present study, we further explored survival processing in implicit memory tests in order to build on the work of Tse and Altarriba (2010). One reason to examine survival processing effects in implicit memory tests is to look for extensions of these effects in other forms of memory.…”