Item-method directed forgetting is (usually) impaired in clinical populations: A meta-analysis.

The item-method directed forgetting paradigm is a common laboratory task used to measure memory control. While impaired memory control may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of a variety of psychological disorders, comparisons between clinical and nonclinical groups using this paradigm have been inconsistent-even within the same disorder. A systematic search for related articles utilizing clinical populations was conducted revealing 823 articles of which 36 met inclusion criteria. Raw mean differences were calculated and aggregated using Bayesian multilevel random-effects models. These models revealed a significant difference in the magnitude of directed forgetting between clinical and control populations, such that clinical populations (collapsing across all disorders or combining only the critical anxiety and depression clusters) exhibited a reduced directed forgetting effect. This difference tended to be larger in clinical (as opposed to clinical-analog) populations and in older samples. These results support the notion that item-method directed forgetting provides a suitable measure of memory control sensitive to real-world control deficits and further implies that memory control deficits may contribute to mental illness (although causality remains to be determined). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Production improves recognition and reduces intrusions in between-subject designs: An updated meta-analysis.

The production effect refers to the finding that words read aloud are better remembered than those read silently. This pattern has most often been explained as arising from the incorporation of sensorimotor elements into the item representation at study, which could then be used to guide performance at later test. This theoretical framework views aloud items as being distinctive in relation to silent items, and thus the effect was thought to emerge only when production was manipulated within-subjects. This claim was later challenged, and a reliable (albeit smaller) between-subject production effect has since been shown in recognition memory. Across a series of meta-analyses, we extend this earlier work, replicating the between-subject production effect for recognition, and demonstrating no such effect for overall target recall. However, supporting recent theoretical claims, we further observed an interaction between the production effect and serial position within recall, such that a production effect was observed for late time points but not early time points (a similar, albeit smaller and noncredible trend was observed for recognition). Finally, we provide evidence that production reduces off-list intrusions. In summary, production has a reliable impact on recognition memory when manipulated between-subjects, but a more complex relationship with recall performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).