Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1876, USA.
Mem Cognit. 2011 Apr;39(3):389-402. doi: 10.3758/s13421-010-0040-5.
Dual-process theories of retrieval suggest that controlled and automatic processing contribute to memory performance. Free recall tests are often considered pure measures of recollection, assessing only the controlled process. We report two experiments demonstrating that automatic processes also influence free recall. Experiment 1 used inclusion and exclusion tasks to estimate recollection and automaticity in free recall, adopting a new variant of the process dissociation procedure. Dividing attention during study selectively reduced the recollection estimate but did not affect the automatic component. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results of Experiment 1, and subjects additionally reported remember-know-guess judgments during recall in the inclusion condition. In the latter task, dividing attention during study reduced remember judgments for studied items, but know responses were unaffected. Results from both methods indicated that free recall is partly driven by automatic processes. Thus, we conclude that retrieval in free recall tests is not driven solely by conscious recollection (or remembering) but also by automatic influences of the same sort believed to drive priming on implicit memory tests. Sometimes items come to mind without volition in free recall.
双加工理论认为，控制加工和自动加工都对记忆表现有贡献。自由回忆测试通常被认为是纯粹的再认测量，只评估控制加工。我们报告了两项实验，证明了自动加工也会影响自由回忆。实验 1 使用包含和排除任务来估计自由回忆中的再认和自动性，采用了过程分离程序的一种新变体。在学习期间分散注意力会选择性地降低再认估计，但不会影响自动成分。在实验 2 中，我们复制了实验 1 的结果，并且在包含条件下，被试在回忆期间还报告了记得-知道-猜测判断。在后者的任务中，在学习期间分散注意力会减少对学习项目的记得判断，但知道反应不受影响。两种方法的结果都表明，自由回忆部分是由自动加工驱动的。因此，我们得出结论，自由回忆测试中的提取不仅受有意识的再认（或记住）驱动，而且还受自动加工的影响，这种自动加工被认为会驱动内隐记忆测试中的启动。有时候，在自由回忆中，有些项目会不由自主地出现在脑海中。
