Separating the recollective and automatic influences on memory using simultaneous judgements about fame and memory for prior occurrence / by Christine J. Kivi

Abstract

Two experiments evaluated the utility ofreconstructing exclusion and inclusion responses which are used in the process dissociation procedure (Jacoby, 1991) from simultaneous subject responses about fame and recollective memory. In Experiment 1, subjects studied 60 nonfamous-names with full or divided attention. In Experiment 2, subjects studied both 60 nonfamous and 60 famous-names under the same attention conditions. Subjects were tested using either a) separate inclusion and exclusion judgements offame as described in the process dissociation procedure or b) simultaneous judgements offame and prior occurrence. In the simultaneous conditions, subjects responded using a forced-choice paradigm with four choices: A) famous and studied, B) not famous and studied, C) famous and not studied, or D) not famous and not studied. I Inclusion responses were constructed by summing across responses A, B and C, while exclusion responses were constructed using only response C. Comparisons were made between reconstructed and actual inclusion and exclusion responses and estimates of recollective and automatic memory for both test conditions. In addition, the use of simultaneous judgements provided means to directly calculate the relation between estimates ofrecollective and automatic memory. In both Experiment 1 and 2 the use of simultaneous judgements qualitatively replicated findings from separate judgements. For both test groups, it was found that relative to full attention, divided attention reduced estimates ofrecollective memory but had no effect on automatic memory performance. Experiment 1 found negative dependence between the factors ofrecollection and fame judgements in the simultaneous groups (attributed to a responses bias based on subjects’ knowledge that no famous names were included on the study list), while Experiment 2 found independence between recollective and automatic memory in the simultaneous groups.