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Gepubliceerd in:

01-12-2004 | Original Article

Memory for actions: Item and relational information in categorized lists

Auteurs: Johannes Engelkamp, Kerstin H. Seiler, Hubert D. Zimmer

Gepubliceerd in: Psychological Research | Uitgave 1-2/2004

Abstract

Enacting action phrases in subject-performed tasks (SPTs) leads to better free recall than hearing or reading the same materials in verbal tasks (VTs). This enactment effect is usually explained by better item-specific information in SPTs than in VTs. The role of relational information is controversial. In the present paper, we will take the multiple recall approach to study the role of item and relational information in memory for actions by computing the number of item gains and the number of item losses over trials. This approach has previously been applied to lists of unrelated action phrases. We applied it to categorically related lists, also allowing a measure of relational information by clustering scores. It was found that SPTs produced more item gains than VTs. This finding confirmed the assumption that SPTs provide better item-specific information than VTs. The number of item losses did not differ between VTs and SPTs. This finding suggests that relational information is equally provided by VTs and SPTs. However, the organizational scores showed a more differentiated picture. Clustering was greater in SPTs than in VTs with randomly presented lists, but not with blocked lists. We suggested that these results, as well as other findings from the literature, could be explained by distinguishing automatic and strategic processes and the types of item associations that are addressed by these processes.

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It was demonstrated by Engelkamp and Seiler (2003) that order information (i.e., encoding of the accidental item neighborhood) is not the basis of the number of losses in unrelated lists.

In this analysis the third trial was not included because it is exactly the midpoint that divides the recall sequences into the two halves. However, the effect remains the same if we contrast the first two against the last three recall trials.

Nairne, Riegler, and Serra (1991) and Golly-Häring, and Engelkamp (2003) showed that order information is not the basis of categorical clustering.

In each VT condition, one participant was excluded from the analysis because one of their ARC scores was not defined due to division by zero. The corresponding ANOVA is therefore based on 70 participants.

Whether the strategic processes in VTs are helpful seems to depend also on the specific categorical structure of the list. In most studies, the categorical list structure was based on the categorical status of the objects (e.g., actions with fruits such as “eat the apple,” “peel the banana,” “pick up the peach,” etc.; e.g., Bäckman et al., 1986; Engelkamp & Zimmer, 1996; Norris & West, 1993). In some studies, list structure was based on categories of actions or on actions that belong to certain episodes (e.g., Zimmer & Engelkamp, 1989, Experiments 1 and 2), or that were based on scripts, i.e., on typical action sequences (Engelkamp & Zimmer, 2002). It seems, for example, as if VTs benefit somewhat more from script information than SPTs. A further factor that is differentially determining the organization processes comes to the fore if the lists are organized according to two structures. Koriat and Pearlman-Avnion (2003) used a list that could be organized according to conceptual categories (much like episodes) as well as according to motor categories, i.e., according to certain movement patterns (e.g., “to spread a cover over the car,” or “to cover a patient with a blanket”). In this case, VTs were organized more than SPTs according to conceptual categories and SPTs more than VTs according to motor categories.

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Titel: Memory for actions: Item and relational information in categorized lists
Auteurs: Johannes Engelkamp
Kerstin H. Seiler
Hubert D. Zimmer
Publicatiedatum: 01-12-2004
Uitgeverij: Springer-Verlag
Gepubliceerd in: Psychological Research / Uitgave 1-2/2004
Print ISSN: 0340-0727
Elektronisch ISSN: 1430-2772
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-003-0160-7

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