Department of Psychology, University of California.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2013 Nov;39(6):1726-41. doi: 10.1037/a0033671. Epub 2013 Jul 8.
A prominent finding in recognition memory is that studied items are associated with more variability in memory strength than new items. Here, we test 3 competing theories for why this occurs-the encoding variability, attention failure, and recollection accounts. Distinguishing among these theories is critical because each provides a fundamentally different account of the processes underlying recognition memory. The encoding variability and attention failure accounts propose that old item variance will be unaffected by retrieval manipulations because the processes producing this effect are ascribed to encoding. The recollection account predicts that both encoding and retrieval manipulations that preferentially affect recollection will affect memory variability. These contrasting predictions were tested by examining the effect of response speeding (Experiment 1), dividing attention at retrieval (Experiment 2), context reinstatement (Experiment 3), and increased test delay (Experiment 4) on recognition performance. The results of all 4 experiments confirm the predictions of the recollection account and are inconsistent with the encoding variability account. The evidence supporting the attention failure account is mixed, with 2 of the 4 experiments confirming the account and 2 disconfirming the account. These results indicate that encoding variability and attention failure are insufficient accounts of memory variance and provide support for the recollection account. Several alternative theoretical accounts of the results are also considered.
在再认记忆中，一个突出的发现是，被研究的项目与记忆强度的变异性比新的项目更强。在这里，我们测试了 3 种竞争理论来解释为什么会出现这种情况——编码变异性、注意失败和回忆解释。区分这些理论是至关重要的，因为每个理论都对再认记忆的基本过程提供了不同的解释。编码变异性和注意失败理论认为，旧项目的方差不会受到检索操作的影响，因为产生这种效应的过程归因于编码。回忆理论预测，编码和检索操作都会优先影响回忆，从而影响记忆的变异性。通过检查反应速度的影响（实验 1）、在检索时分散注意力（实验 2）、上下文恢复（实验 3）和增加测试延迟（实验 4）对识别性能的影响，检验了这些相反的预测。所有 4 个实验的结果都证实了回忆理论的预测，与编码变异性理论不一致。支持注意失败理论的证据是混合的，其中 4 个实验中的 2 个证实了该理论，而另外 2 个则不支持该理论。这些结果表明，编码变异性和注意失败不能充分解释记忆的变异性，并为回忆理论提供了支持。还考虑了对结果的几种替代理论解释。
