Effects of prediction error on episodic memory retrieval: evidence from sentence reading and word recognition

Abstract

Prediction facilitates word processing in the moment, but the longer-term consequences of prediction remain unclear. We investigated whether prediction error during language encoding enhances memory for words later on. German-speaking participants read sentences in which the gender marking of the pre-nominal article was consistent or inconsistent with the predictable noun. During subsequent word recognition, we probed participants' recognition memory for predictable and unpredictable nouns. Our results indicate that individuals who demonstrated early prediction error during sentence reading, showed enhanced recognition memory for nouns overall. Results from an exploratory step-wise regression showed that prenominal prediction error and general reading speed were the best proxies for recognition memory. Hence, prediction error may facilitate recognition by furnishing memory traces built during initial reading of the sentences. Results are discussed in the light of hypotheses positing that predictable words show a memory disadvantage because they are processed less thoroughly.

How odd: Diverging effects of predictability and plausibility violations on sentence reading and word memory

“…Prior research has shown that in situations where a sentence context enables very specific predictions (like the ones used here), language users may pre-activate word form (e.g., DeLong et al, 2005;Fleur et al, 2020;Haeuser, Kray, & Borovsky, 2020;Van Berkum et al, 2005; but see Ito et al, 2017, andNieuwland et al, 2018, for failed replication; see Nieuwland, 2019, for critical discussion) and orthographical features of words (e.g., Balota et al, 1985;Kim & Lai, 2012;Laszlo & Federmeier, 2009;Luke & Christianson, 2012). In fact, we know that the stimuli used in this study did have such an effect on people in that they allowed for specific predictions regarding word forms (see Haeuser et al, 2020;Haeuser et al, accepted;Haeuser & Kray, 2021). We could speculate that, in the case of disconfirmed predictions, the early-emerging predictability effect may have reflected some early-emerging detection mechanism, signaling that the predicted word has not been encountered (cf., Kuperberg et al, 2020), or that vice versa, predictable words show a boost in pre-activation compared to other words which are at baseline (Frisson et al, 2017).…”

“…In addition, unpredictable-somewhat plausible nouns showed a lateremerging positivity, an ERP effect that is sometimes associated with explicit recollection (compared to an initial stage of implicit, gist-wise memory without conscious recollection; Rugg & Curran, 2007). Hence, these findings suggest that unpredictable information that is somewhat plausible boosts short-term memory maybe because of the greater semantic elaboration associated with having predictions disconfirmed (i.e., prediction error; see Haeuser & Kray, 2021).…”

When and where did it happen? Systematic differences in recall of core and optional sentence information

“…Based on our findings, it seems that information coded in adjuncts (and unfocused information) is attended to a lower degree and it therefore often fails to reach readers’ awareness. Nevertheless, it is highly likely that other factors are at play here, such as information predictability ( Haeuser & Kray, 2021 ), a speaker’s experience ( Zwaan & Madden, 2005 ), context ( Bransford et al, 1972 ), imageability ( James, 1972 ), and so on. However, a thorough examination of such factors is already beyond the scope of this article.…”

“…Nevertheless, such an idea is aligned with findings reported in the previous literature. For example, Haeuser and Kray (2021) recently documented a clear relationship between RTs during processing (in a self-paced reading paradigm) and recognition memory (the longer the RTs, the better the subsequent recognition of the word).…”