Metamnemonic control over the discriminability of memory evidence: A signal detection analysis of warning effects in the associative list paradigm

doi:10.1016/j.jml.2006.08.013

Journal of Memory and Language

Volume 56, Issue 4, May 2007, Pages 592-607

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2006.08.013 Get rights and content

Abstract

According to signal detection theory (SDT), retrieval warnings may decrease false memory in the associative list paradigm either by inducing a conservative criterion shift or by decreasing the amount of evidence that critical theme words were studied. Fitting a SDT model to 12 existing datasets revealed suggestive evidence that warnings impact critical theme evidence, and two new experiments confirmed this conclusion. We argue that this pattern of results is consistent with warned participants relying less on relational and more on item-specific forms of information at retrieval as compared to unwarned participants. We conclude that warnings enhance metamnemonic awareness, thus allowing participants to select a retrieval strategy that capitalizes on discriminative forms of evidence.

Section snippets

Datasets and fitting procedure

We fit the signal detection model for associative lists to 12 comparisons of warned versus unwarned recognition performance.² Datasets 1–4 were taken from Neuschatz et al.’s (2001) Experiment 3, and the proportions in these datasets were

Experiment 1

In this experiment, participants studied associative lists and then completed a recognition test given either standard instructions or instructions that warned them about the false memory illusion. Participants in the warned condition were told that the lists they studied likely made them think about non-presented but highly associated words, and that they should be careful not to falsely recognize these words. Participants made recognition responses on a 4-point confidence scale ranging from

Experiment 2

The current experiment eliminated the possibility of an identification strategy by using a more extreme version of a technique developed by McDermott and Roediger, 1998, Gallo et al., 2001. These researchers presented some critical themes in the study list, thus creating a situation in which the “special” items mentioned in the warning were sometimes targets. If participants reject items that are highly related to a number of studied words, this will affect not only the false-alarm rate to

General discussion

Our results support the claim that retrieval warnings can change the amount of illusory memory evidence experienced for critical theme words, which is modeled as a shift in the critical theme distribution in signal detection theory. Fitting an equal variance model to 12 datasets taken from existing literature on retrieval warnings revealed that the critical theme distribution was consistently closer to the unrelated lure distribution for warned versus unwarned participants, and this difference

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Courtney Bourgeois, Dana Ellis, David Marshall, Stephanie Martin, Valerie MacNeill, Brent Nobles, Christina Peairs, and Paige Raschke for their invaluable help collecting the data. This research was supported by State of Louisiana Board of Regents grant LEQSF(2004-07)-RD-A-12 awarded to S.M. L.

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In yet another example, the false-memory effect (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995), participants are likely to falsely recognize critical lures (e.g., sleep) associated with study list items (e.g., bed, pillow, night, etc.). In this paradigm, warning instructions tend to reduce the false-memory effect (Starns, Lane, Alonzo, & Roussel, 2007). Others found that the ability to suppress the false-memory effect depends on interindividual differences in working-memory capacity with higher capacity increasing the likelihood of successful warning instructions (Watson, Bunting, Poole, & Conway, 2005).
In recognition tests, participants claim that stimuli appear more familiar after an intervening task (e.g., solving an anagram) than without an intervening task—the revelation effect. In Experiment 1, we warned half of the participants about the revelation effect and asked them to prevent any judgment bias. However, compared to a control group without warning instructions, the revelation effect remained unaltered. In Experiment 2, participants who received warning instructions additionally received accuracy feedback for their recognition judgments. We assumed that feedback would aid participants in detecting any judgment bias. Again, warning instructions and feedback failed to reduce the revelation effect. In Experiment 3, participants demonstrated that they understood the warning instructions and generally believed that they were successful in suppressing the revelation effect. Yet, again, a revelation effect occurred. The experiments suggest that the revelation effect is a robust judgment bias that lies outside of the participants’ control.
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Metamnemonic control over the discriminability of memory evidence: A signal detection analysis of warning effects in the associative list paradigm

Abstract

Section snippets

Datasets and fitting procedure

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

General discussion

Acknowledgments

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

Journal of Memory & Language

Journal of Memory and Language

Journal of Memory and Language

Trends in Cognitive Neurosciences

Distinguishing between memory illusions and actual memories using phenomenological measurements and explicit warnings

American Journal of Psychology

On the prediction of occurrence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall

Journal of Experimental Psychology

Remember-know: A matter of confidence

Psychological Review

Remembering words not presented in lists: Can we avoid creating false memories?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Associative false recognition occurs without strategic criterion shifts

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

The regularities of recognition memory

Psychological Review

Strategic influences on recollection in the exclusion task: Electrophysiological evidence

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Attempts to reduce the incidence of false recall with source monitoring

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

False recognition occurs more frequently during source identification than during old–new recognition

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

The role of cognitive control: Early selection vs. late correction

Modes of cognitive control in recognition and source memory: Depth of retrieval

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Phenomenal characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined autobiographical events

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Source monitoring

Psychological Bulletin

Memory in naturalistic and laboratory contexts: Distinguishing the accuracy-oriented and quantity-oriented approaches to memory assessment

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Monitoring and control processes in the strategic regulation of memory accuracy

Psychological Review