Pop-out into memory: a retrieval mechanism that is enhanced with the recall of subject-performed tasks.

Subject-performed tasks (SPTs; i.e., carrying out the actions during study) improve free recall of action phrases without enhancing relational information. By this mechanism, items pop into a person's mind without active search, and this process especially extends the recency effect. The authors demonstrated the existence of the extended recency effect and its importance for the SPT recall advantage (Experiments 1 and 2). Carrying out the action and not semantic processing caused the effect (Experiment 3). The extended recency effect was also not a consequence of a deliberate last-in, first-out strategy (Experiment 4), and performing a difficult secondary task (an arithmetic task) during recall reduced memory performances but did not influence the extended recency effect (Experiment 5). These data support the theory that performing actions during study enhances the efficiency of an automatic pop-out mechanism in free recall.

Item and order information in subject-performed tasks and experimenter-performed tasks.

This study investigated the enactment effect from the perspective of the item-order hypothesis (e.g., M. Serra & J. S. Nairne, 1993). The authors assumed that in subject-performed tasks (SPTs), item encoding is improved but order encoding is disrupted compared with experimenter-performed tasks (EPTs), that order encoding of EPTs is only better in pure lists, and that the item--order hypothesis is confined to short lists. Item information was tested in recognition memory tests, order information in order reconstruction tasks, and both item and order information in free-recall tests. The results of 5 experiments using short (8 items) and long lists (24 items) in a design with list type (pure, mixed) and encoding condition (EPT, SPT) as factors supported the hypotheses.

[Selective interference, process dissociation and serial information in recall of performed actions. A comment on Thorsten Meiser's remarks on the multimodal memory theory]. / Selektive Interferenz, Prozess-Dissoziation und Reihenfolgeinformation beim Erinnern ausgeführter Handlungen. Ein Kommentar zu Thorsten Meisers Anmerkungen zur multimodalen Gedächtnistheorie.

In this commentary, I deal with three questions. (1) Do the findings of interference experiments justify the distinction between motor and visual-imaginal processes? (2) Can automatic and controlled process components be identified by the process-dissociation technique? (3) Does encoding of order information depend on encoding instructions?

[Episodic recall with special reference to German contributions]. / Zur Erforschung des episodischen Erinnerns unter besonderer Berücksichtigung deutscher Beiträge.

The paper deals with the study of remembering episodes and particularly with German contributions to the field. It is characteristic for remembering episodes that we experience them only once and not repeatedly as in multitrial learning. The paper focuses on three distinctions which are made in studying episodic memory. These distinctions refer to modality-specific and amodal (conceptual) information, item-specific and relational information, and automatic and controlled processes. Among them, the distinction between modality-specific and amodal conceptual information is the most important. It is argued that the assumption of storing modality-specific besides conceptual information is indispensable and that it modifies the assumptions concerning the two other distinctions. Relational information refers to conceptual knowledge and is independent of modality-specific information processing, whereas encoding and retrieval of item-specific information is dependent on modality-specific processes. The distinction between automatic and controlled processes is obviously relevant. However, it turns out that this distinction is difficult to define conceptually and operationally. Interestingly, this distinction has attracted more attention in the context of retrieval than of encoding processes. The most important progress has been made in applying it to the processes underlying recognition memory.

Levels-of-processing effects in subject-performed tasks.

In memory for subject-performed tasks (SPTs), subjects encode a list of simple action phrases (e.g., thumb through a book, knock at the door) by performing these actions during learning. In three experiments, we investigated the size of the levels-of-processing effects in SPTs as compared with those in standard verbal learning tasks (VTs). Subjects under SPT and VT conditions learned lists of action phrases in a surface or a conceptual orienting task. Under both encoding conditions, the subjects recalled fewer items with surface orienting tasks than with conceptual orienting tasks, but the levels-of-processing effects were strongly reduced in the SPT condition. In the SPT condition, items that were encoded in a surface orienting task were still substantially recalled. The items were recalled almost as well as the conceptually encoded items in the VT condition. The distinct reduction of the levels-of-processing effect is caused by the fact that, in SPT encoding even with a verbal surface orienting task, subjects process conceptual information in order to perform the denoted action. We attribute the small conceptual advantage, which remains with SPT despite the conceptual processing for performing, to the fact that items are not as well integrated into memory as they are when conceptual processing is focused on the action component, rather than on the semantic contexts. This lower integration reduces the accessibility of items in the verbal surface task, even with SPT encoding.

Relational and item-specific information: trade-off and redundancy.

In two experiments, the trade-off and the redundancy hypotheses for relational and item-specific information proposed by Hunt and Seta (1984) were tested. Lists consisting of categories of varying sizes were presented under categorising instructions and under pleasantness-rating instructions. Memory was tested in free recall and a recognition test. Different measures were used for relational and item-specific information. According to the trade-off hypothesis, the amount of relational information should increase with increasing category size, and at the same time, the amount of item-specific information should decrease. This hypothesis could not be confirmed. Whereas the amount of relational information increased with increasing category size, the amount of item-specific information did not decrease. The redundancy hypothesis assumes that relational and item-specific information depend on category size only if the relevant information is not provided otherwise, as by orienting tasks. This hypothesis could not be conformed either. Rather, relational encoding is supplemented when both orienting task and the list structure focus encoding of that type of information. Item-specific encoding, on the other hand, is independent of category size and increases when the instruction focuses on it. The findings of free recall show that free recall is determined by more than the interplay of relational and item-specific information in an additive manner.

On the independence of modality effects and end-term and distance effects in episodic comparative judgement: dissociations of errors and reaction times.

The experiments reported in this paper explore the effect of modality variations on end-term and distance effects in an episodic comparative judgement task. In each experiment, subjects were to store serial orders of objects on a size dimension. Memory was tested after a brief retention interval by a comparative judgement task, in which subjects were presented with two elements of an order and had to point to the formerly larger one. Regarding the response times, we hypothesized that modality variations affect speed of stimulus identification and code access processes. We further hypothesized that distance variations and end-term variations affect processing components that are independent of the component affected by the modality variation. Finally, we assumed that end-term and distance effects interact in a predictable way, because they mirror competing response selection strategies. The latency data clearly support these hypotheses. As regards the accuracy data, we argued that modality and end-term effects, if they show up within the accuracy data, very likely have a different basis than the effects within the latency data. Again, the data support this assumption showing clear dissociations of accuracy and latency data. With respect to the stimulus modality variation, the whole data pattern shows that explanations which rely on modality-specific codings are not justifiable.

Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for performed tasks.

Memory for subject-performed tasks-that is, for simple actions such as lifting a pen, which subjects perform overtly-is better than memory for verbal tasks-that is, when subjects only listen to the action phrases. Here I investigated whether this effect depends on actual performance or whether it also shows up when there is only an intention to perform the task. Koriat, Ben-Zur, and Nussbaum (1990) found that the intention to perform items at test enhanced free recall more than did verbal tasks. Brooks and Gardiner (1994), however, were not able to replicate this finding. In four experiments, I attempted to reconcile this discrepancy by comparing subject-performed tasks, to-be-performed tasks, and verbal tasks under different conditions. The outcome depended on whether a within-subjects design or a between-subjects design was used. In the between-subjects design, memory for subject-performed tasks was better than memory for to-be-performed tasks, and both of these led to better recall performance than did verbal tasks. In a within-subjects design, in contrast, memory for to-be-performed tasks was no different from memory for verbal tasks. These results were independent of whether the test mode was congruent or incongruent. Thus, the discrepant findings of Koriat et al and of Brooks and Gardiner seem to be due to the design used, pointing to encoding processes as the critical variable. The present results are interpreted to show that actual performance of actions at study provides more information than does only the intention to perform actions at test.

Routes to actions and their efficacy for remembering.

Four experiments focused on the influence that different controls of actions have on memory for these actions. A verbal-to-action task in which subjects had to perform actions on verbal command was distinguished from a movement-to-action task in which subjects had to perform the same action that a model had shown (imitation). We expected free recall to be worse for the imitation condition than for the enactment-on-command condition. The following rank order of recall performances was observed: verbal learning << perceiving the model = imitating the watched model < performing on command = performing on command in addition to perceiving the model. The less pronounced effect of imitation on memory is explained by the fact that subjects in this condition could directly use the information provided by perception for enactment without selection and detailed planning of motor actions. In contrast, subjects in the command-to-action condition had to look up the "motor program". The inefficiency of using two modalities, i.e. perception and action, as compared to using only one is explained by the redundancy of encoded information in the visual and "motor" modality.

Visual imagery and enactment of actions in memory.

It was assumed that self-performing an action necessarily focuses information-processing on action-relevant information in order to guarantee smooth enactment. As a consequence, enacting an action should provide the subjects with excellent item-specific information and hinder the subjects from encoding contextual information that is not a part of the action proper. These hypotheses were tested in paired-associate learning experiments in which unrelated action-verb-pairs served as stimuli. Free recall (FR) of the action verbs was considered to indicate item-specific encoding, and cued recall (CR)--with one element of a pair serving as a cue for the other--to reflect context encoding. The verb-pairs were learned essentially under four types of instructions: under standard learning instructions (as a control), under enactment instructions, under self-imagery instructions, and under other-imagery instructions. The results demonstrated that enactment led to better FR than standard learning and the two imagery conditions, showing that enactment provides excellent item-specific information. CR was equally poor after overt enactment and self-imagined performance and worse after standard learning and after imagining somebody else performing an action, showing that motor encoding hinders pair integration--i.e. efficient context encoding.

Verb frequency and enactment in implicit and explicit memory.

In this article we report on two experiments concerning the effects of verb frequency and enactment on explicit- and implicit-memory tests. The results showed that verb frequency and enactment had additive effects on (explicit) recognition. Moreover, an (implicit) verb-identification test showed that prior enactment had absolutely no influence on this test, while verb frequency had a clear-cut effect. These results speak in favor of the assumption that verb-frequency and enactment effects are based on different types of information. It is further assumed that the verb-frequency effect is a lexical effect, whereas the enactment effect is not.

Motor similarity in subject-performed tasks.

In two experiments, subjects learned action phrases in verbal and subject-performed tasks. They had to recognize these action phrases among foils that denoted either completely different actions, conceptually similar actions, or actions that were conceptually and motorically similar. It was found that recognition performance was impaired equally after both kinds of learning when conceptually similar distractors were used, but was impaired more after subject-performed-task learning when the distractors were both conceptually and motorically similar. The possible contribution of motor information in this interaction is discussed.

Memory of self-performed tasks: self-performing during recognition.

Two experiments focused on whether performing actions described by to-be-remembered phrases during recognition enhances recognition compared with results of a standard verbal recognition test. The enhancement was predicted when the actions described by the phrases had been performed during study, but not when the phrases were verbally encoded by simply listening to and memorizing the material. Both experiments showed that enactment prior to recognition improved memory performance, but only when subjects had encoded by enactment. Experiment 1 also demonstrated that this test-procedure effect was independent of a bizarreness effect, which was observed only with the verbal encoding task. Experiment 2 showed that the effect of enactment during recognition was reduced when subjects used different hands for performing the actions during study and recognition. The findings support the assumption that some kind of motor memory record underlies the enactment effect that occurs when actions are performed during recognition.