Contextual associations and memory for serial position

Memory, 2020

. A list-length constraint on incidental item-to-item associations. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 1253-1258] examined incidental memory of whether two words had occurred in the same list or different lists, after the lists had been presented with an orienting task that did not require memorisation. Performance was superior for 3-word lists compared to 6-or 9-word lists, with memory for the longer lists near chance levels. Here we re-examine this phenomenon with methodological modifications to ensure that learning was incidental: we removed potential clues that a memory test would follow, eliminated trials with special mnemonic cues related to the orienting task, eliminated participants who suspected a memory test according to a post-experimental questionnaire, used signal detection measures to distinguish between memory sensitivity and bias, and tested list length with the relative serial position controlled. Incidental memory formed primarily for the most recent part of each list, an effect that was stronger than that of list length. The new evidence helps to constrain theories about the relation between working memory and incidental learning. A capacity-limited approach to the incidental-learning process still is possible but must be modified compared to Cowan et al., and the evidence is favourable to other theoretical approaches as well.

2003

Three experiments investigate the effects of mixing items of different types in the same list. Experiments 1 and 2 compare the immediate serial recall of high-and low-frequency words in pure and alternating lists. In pure lists highfrequency words are better recalled, but in alternating lists the two types of words are recalled at intermediate, and identical, levels. Experiment 3 compares the recall of words and nonwords. In pure lists nonwords are recalled substantially less well than words. In alternating lists nonwords gain a substantial recall advantage compared to pure lists but are still less well recalled than words, which are recalled at identical levels in both mixed and alternating lists. The results refute item-based redintegration accounts of frequency effects in immediate serial recall and provide evidence for the importance of inter-item associative mechanisms.

Memory & Cognition, 2012

The frequency effect in short-term serial recall is influenced by the composition of lists. In pure lists, a robust advantage in the recall of high-frequency (HF) words is observed, yet in alternating mixed lists, HF and lowfrequency (LF) words are recalled equally well. It has been argued that the preexisting associations between all list items determine a single, global level of supportive activation that assists item recall. Preexisting associations between items are assumed to be a function of language cooccurrence; HF-HF associations are high, LF-LF associations are low, and mixed associations are intermediate in activation strength. This account, however, is based on results when alternating lists with equal numbers of HF and LF words were used. It is possible that directional association between adjacent list items is responsible for the recall patterns reported. In the present experiment, the recall of three forms of mixed lists-those with equal numbers of HF and LF items and pure lists-was examined to test the extent to which item-to-item associations are present in serial recall. Furthermore, conditional probabilities were used to examine more closely the evidence for a contribution, since correct-in-position scoring may mask recall that is dependent on the recall of prior items. The results suggest that an item-to-item effect is clearly present for early but not late list items, and they implicate an additional factor, perhaps the availability of resources at output, in the recall of late list items.

Intonation can convey information about how lists are struc¬tured into groups, as well as about specific item positions within a group. In Bari Italian, this function is expressed by three different tunes a) a rising contour, signalling that the list has not yet been completed; b) a high-rising contour, marking the penultimate item, i.e. signalling that the end of the list is approaching; c) a falling contour, marking the last item, i.e. cueing the end of the sequence. In this paper we explore the effects of such intonational information on working memory. In particular, we demonstrate that when listeners are requested to recall spoken nine-digit sequences by strictly following their serial order, their performance is significantly better when lists are characterised by tunes of the type described above, compared to sequences whose items are marked by a neutral, peak accent and/or are grouped by inserting a silent pause. We also observed that recall of items marked by spe¬cific cont...

Journal of Memory and Language, 2005

A growing body of research has emphasized the linkage between performance in immediate serial recall of lists, nonword repetition, and word learning. Recently, it has been reported that primacy and recency effects are obtained in repetition of individual syllables within nonwords (Gupta, in press). Five experiments examined whether such within-nonword primacy and recency effects are attributable to common sequencing mechanisms that are shared with immediate list recall. Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that the primacy and recency effects are not simply due to greater morphological salience at the beginnings/endings of nonwords, and that the serial position effects generalize to different stimuli and across a variety of stimulus lengths. Experiment 3 indicated that the primacy and recency effects are similar to those obtained in list recall. Experiments 4 and 5 examined alternative hypotheses for the observed serial position effects, concluding that the alternative hypotheses fail to account for the obtained pattern of results. These results provide support for the common sequencing mechanisms hypothesis. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the relationship between list recall and nonword repetition, and in terms of broader issues in word learning.

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1996

effects in visual shortterm memory for words and abstract spatial patterns. scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 37, 62-13. Two experiments tested the effects of list postion, and retention-interval in recognition for two distinct stimulus categories in young adults. Stimulus categories were spatial abstract patterns and words presented on a computer screen. At short delay intervals recency effects predominates and at longer delay intervals a primacy effect predominates in both experiments, indicating similar basic memory processes producing the serial position functions for the two different categories of visual stimuli, but as length of retention-interval increases, memory for first list items improves for words and remains constant for abstract patterns. Recency functions are similar for both stimulus categories tested.

A serial reproduction of order with distractors task was developed to make it possible to observe successive snapshots of the learning process at each serial position. The new task was used to explore the effect of several variables on serial memory performance: stimulus content (words, blanks, and pictures), presentation condition (spatial information vs. none), semantically categorized item clustering (grouped vs. ungrouped), and number of distractors relative to targets (none, equal, double). These encoding and retrieval variables, along with learning attempt number, affected both overall performance levels and the shape of the serial position function, although a large and extensive primacy advantage and a small 1-item recency advantage were found in each case. These results were explained well by a version of the scale-independent memory, perception, and learning model that accounted for improved performance by increasing the value of only a single parameter that reflects reduced interference from distant items.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2011

The influence of semantic processing on the serial ordering of items in short-term memory was explored using a novel dual-task paradigm. Participants engaged in 2 picture-judgment tasks while simultaneously performing delayed serial recall. List material varied in the presence of phonological overlap (Experiments 1 and 2) and in semantic content (concrete words in Experiment 1 and 3; nonwords in Experiments 2 and 3). Picture judgments varied in the extent to which they required accessing visual semantic information (i.e., semantic categorization and line orientation judgments). Results showed that, relative to line-orientation judgments, engaging in semantic categorization judgments increased the proportion of item-ordering errors for concrete lists but did not affect error proportions for nonword lists. Furthermore, although more ordering errors were observed for phonologically similar relative to dissimilar lists, no interactions were observed between the phonological overlap and picture-judgment task manipulations. These results demonstrate that lexical-semantic representations can affect the serial ordering of items in short-term memory. Furthermore, the dual-task paradigm provides a new method for examining when and how semantic representations affect memory performance.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 1975

A visual search orienting task and incidental free-recall test were used to examine the effects of "nonelaborative" rehearsal, as defined by Craik and Watkins, on recall from long-term store. Each of 16 40-wordi lists was to be searched for a different target item. To control the length of time targets remained in short-term store, the placement of targets in the search list was varied systematically. Performance on a free-recall test of all target items was a direct function of an item's search-list position, indicating that nonelaborative, "attending" rehearsal may increment an item's retrievability from long-term store. Recall was also dependent on a target's position in the series of target and search-list presentations with both primacy and recency effects present. Since neither differential rehearsal frequency nor differential depth of processing are adequate explanations for the primacy effect observed here, we propose that the search-or entry-set notions of Shiffrin and Anderson may explain the effect.

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1970

List discrimination (LD) performance was measured in an experimental design in which effects of recency and frequency could be assessed independently. Two groups of Ss were each presented with two word lists and later were asked to identify list membership of the words. Recency and frequency (number of repetitions) of words were manipulated within List 1 in a way that avoided their confounding, while frequency of List 2 words was varied between groups. LD performance on a List 1 word depended on: (a) its difference from List 2 in recency, (b) its difference from List 2 in frequency, and also (c) its absolute frequency. Thus, LD seems to be based on discriminations along separate recency and frequency dimensions of memory, and frequency apparently makes a second contribution by affecting list organization.

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 2003

Many recent computational models of verbal short-term memory postulate a separation between processes supporting memory for the identity of items and processes supporting memory for their serial order. Furthermore, some of these models assume that memory for serial order is supported by a timing signal. We report an attempt to find evidence for such a timing signal by comparing an "item probe" task, requiring memory for items, with a "list probe" task, requiring memory for serial order. Four experiments investigated effects of irrelevant speech, articulatory suppression, temporal grouping, and paced finger tapping on these two tasks. In Experiments 1 and 2, irrelevant speech and articulatory suppression had a greater detrimental effect on the list probe task than on the item probe task. Reaction time data indicated that the list probe task, but not the item probe task, induced serial rehearsal of items. Phonological similarity effects confirmed that both probe tasks induced phonological recoding of visual inputs. Experiment 3 showed that temporal grouping of items during list presentation improved performance on the list probe task more than on the item probe task. In Experiment 4, paced tapping had a greater detrimental effect on the list probe task than on the item probe task. However, there was no differential effect of whether tapping was to a simple or a complex rhythm. Overall, the data illustrate the utility of the item probe/list probe paradigm and provide support for models that assume memory for serial order and memory for items involve separate processes. Results are generally consistent with the timing-signal hypothesis but suggest further factors that need to be explored to distinguish it from other accounts.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2006

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning …, 1997

It has been argued that temporal and spatial position information are represented similarly, but prior research comparing their time course of retrieval with item information has not supported this conclusion. The time course of retrieval was compared for spatial position and item information in 3 response signal experiments, and differences were found in the time course of retrieval that paralleled those found previously for temporal position and item information (B. M. . The finding was unaffected by restrictions on the degree of relational support, postretrieval decision difficulty, and the elimination of a strategy favoring item recognition. The authors conclude by discussing whether the data indicate that a recall process was contributing to recognition performance.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2011

The American Journal of Psychology, 2010

This study tested the hypothesis that the serial position function in serial order memory derives from a gradient of activation strength, with the end anchor point having the highest strength and accessibility. Subjects memorized an ordered series of names and were tested on their memory of the order with a comparative judgment task. In Experiment 1, a traditional comparative judgment task was used in which they chose the one member in a pair that was either higher or lower in the ranking on the attribute dimension. The 3 typical effects from comparative judgment for serial items-the bowed serial position function, the distance effect, and the congruity effect-were obtained. In Experiment 2, subjects were instructed to choose the item either closer to or farther from the middle reference point of the series. Remarkably different forms of the 3 effects were obtained. Most notable was a deep drop in the middle of the RT function, supporting the activation gradient hypothesis but further separating the role of the reference point from that of the endpoints in the assumption of the activation strength gradient theories. The findings also generalized the concept of each of these 3 effects.