Evaluating recall error in preschoolers: Category expectations influence episodic memory for color

Persaud, Kimele; Macias, Carla; Hemmer, Pernille; Bonawitz, Elizabeth

doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2020.101357

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Additionally, work with Bayesian models of memory has suggested that rather than cooperating or competing per se, episodic memory and schema knowledge are rationally combined to support behavior (Duffy et al, 2006;Hemmer et al, 2015;Hemmer & Persaud, 2014;Hemmer & Steyvers, 2009;Huttenlocher et al, 1991Huttenlocher et al, , 2000Persaud et al, 2021;Persaud & Hemmer, 2016). For example, work using these models has found that memory responses are consistently biased by category-related schema information, such that people draw upon schemas in order to maximize the accuracy of memory decisions (e.g., Huttenlocher et al, 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

Episodic memory processes modulate how schema knowledge is used in spatial memory decisions

Ramey¹,

Henderson²,

Yonelinas³

2021

Preprint

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Schema knowledge can dramatically affect how we encode and retrieve memories. Current models propose that schema information is combined with episodic memory at retrieval to influence memory decisions, but it is not known how the strength or type of episodic memory (i.e., unconscious memory versus familiarity versus recollection) influences the extent to which schema information is incorporated into memory decisions. To address this question, we had participants search for target objects in semantically expected (i.e., congruent) locations or in unusual (i.e., incongruent) locations within scenes. In a subsequent test, participants indicated where in each scene the target had been located previously, then provided confidence-based recognition memory judgments that indexed recollection, familiarity strength, and unconscious memory for the scenes. In both an initial online study (n=133) and replication (n=59), target location recall was more accurate for schema-congruent than incongruent locations, but importantly, this effect was strongest for unconscious memory, decreased with familiarity strength, and was eliminated entirely for recollected scenes. Moreover, when participants recollected an incongruent scene but did not correctly remember the target location, they were still biased away from congruent regions—suggesting that detrimental schema bias was suppressed in the presence of recollection even when precise target location information was not remembered. The results indicate that episodic memory modulates how schemas are used: Schema knowledge contributes to spatial memory judgments primarily when episodic memory fails to provide precise information, and recollection can override schema bias completely.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic memory processes modulate how schema knowledge is used in spatial memory decisions

Ramey¹,

Henderson²,

Yonelinas³

2021

Preprint

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“…Our analyses assume that participants have no prior associations between the objects and the colours in which they are presented. However, several studies have demonstrated that pre-existing associations do bias how colour for an object is perceived and recalled [16,73,74]. Speculatively, this may explain why responses for object-colour associations (Exp.…”

Section: Methodological Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, when participants are tasked with encoding dots presented within a circle, subsequent recollection of individual dots will be biased by the centre mass of other nearby dots [5]. This prototypical bias has been observed for a range of stimuli, including spatial locations [3,5,[7][8][9][10], objects [4,6,11,12], colours [13][14][15][16][17][18], faces [19][20][21] and words [22][23][24]. Importantly, these influences have real-world consequences such as in eyewitness testimony [25][26][27][28]: misidentification may occur when recalling an individual face that aligns with a "criminal" stereotype [29], which may result in wrongful convictions [30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metacognitive awareness of memory distortion during recall

Kerren,

Zhao,

Griffiths

2024

Preprint

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When we recall a past event, we reconstruct the event based on a combination of episodic details and semantic knowledge (e.g., prototypes). Though prototypes can impair the veracity of recall, it remains unclear whether we are metacognitively aware of the distortions they introduce. To address this, we conducted six experiments in which participants learned object-colour/object-location pairs and subsequently recalled the colour/location when cued with the object. Leveraging unsupervised machine learning algorithms, we extracted participant-specific prototypes and embedded responses in two-dimensional space to quantify prototype-based distortions in individual memory traces. Our findings reveal robust and conceptually replicable evidence to suggest that prototype-based distortion is accompanied by a reduction in self-reported confidence - an implicit measure of metacognitive awareness. Critically, we find evidence to suggest that it is prototype-based distortion of a memory trace that undermines confidence, rather than a lack of confidence biasing reconstruction towards the use of prototypes. Collectively, these findings suggest that we possess metacognitive awareness of distortions embedded in our memories.

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“…In particular, it has not been possible to tease apart the underlying memory itself from the influence of schemas on memory responses. That is, studies in younger adults indicate that during memory retrieval, schema-relevant memory decisions (e.g., remembering the size or location of studied objects) result from the rational combination of memory representations themselves (i.e., underlying memory) with schema knowledge in a Bayesian fashion, which leads responding to be more schema-congruent (Hemmer & Steyvers, 2009;Huttenlocher et al, 1991;Persaud et al, 2021). The possibility of rational combination of memory representations with schema knowledge at retrieval has not yet, to our knowledge, been examined with respect to memory decline in aging-but separately examining these influences on memory decisions is critical for testing the competing theories of aging.…”

Section: How Schema Knowledge Influences Memory In Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How schema knowledge influences memory in older adults: Filling in the gaps, or leading memory astray?

Ramey,

Yonelinas,

Henderson

2023

Preprint

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The decline of episodic memory is perhaps the most detrimental consequence of cognitive aging. However, when to-be-remembered information is in line with one’s prior knowledge, or schema-congruent, older adults often show no impairments. There are two major accounts of these effects: One proposes that schemas compensate for memory failures in aging, and the other proposes that schemas instead actively impair older adults’ memory for incongruent information. However, the evidence thus far is inconclusive, likely due to methodological constraints in teasing apart these complex underlying dynamics. We developed a new paradigm that separates underlying memory from the final memory decision, allowing these dynamics to be examined directly. In the present study, older and younger adults first searched for target objects in congruent or incongruent locations within scenes. In a subsequent test, participants indicated where in each scene the target had been located previously, and provided confidence-based recognition memory judgments that indexed underlying memory, in terms of recollection and familiarity, for the background scenes. We found that age-related increases in schema effects on spatial recall were predicted and statistically mediated by age-related increases in underlying memory failures, specifically within recollection. Moreover, we found that older adults had poorer spatial memory precision than younger adults within recollected (but not familiar) scenes, irrespective of schema congruency. Interestingly, there were also age-related increases in schema effects on spatial recall above and beyond what could be explained by memory failure or reduced memory precision alone. Together, these findings support the account that age-related schema effects on memory are driven by underlying memory failures, and they also suggest that there may be active schema influences on memory occurring alongside these compensatory effects.

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Evaluating recall error in preschoolers: Category expectations influence episodic memory for color

Cited by 15 publications

References 39 publications

Episodic memory processes modulate how schema knowledge is used in spatial memory decisions

Episodic memory processes modulate how schema knowledge is used in spatial memory decisions

Metacognitive awareness of memory distortion during recall

How schema knowledge influences memory in older adults: Filling in the gaps, or leading memory astray?

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