Sweegers C C G, Coleman G A, van Poppel E A M, Cox R, Talamini L M
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Nov 26;9:629. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00629. eCollection 2015.
Mental schemas exert top-down control on information processing, for instance by facilitating the storage of schema-related information. However, given capacity-limits and competition in neural network processing, schemas may additionally exert their effects by suppressing information with low momentary relevance. In particular, when existing schemas suffice to guide goal-directed behavior, this may actually reduce encoding of the redundant sensory input, in favor of gaining efficiency in task performance. The present experiment set out to test this schema-induced shallow encoding hypothesis. Our approach involved a memory task in which faces had to be coupled to homes. For half of the faces the responses could be guided by a pre-learned schema, for the other half of the faces such a schema was not available. Memory storage was compared between schema-congruent and schema-incongruent items. To characterize putative schema effects, memory was assessed both with regard to visual details and contextual aspects of each item. The depth of encoding was also assessed through an objective neural measure: the parietal old/new ERP effect. This ERP effect, observed between 500-800 ms post-stimulus onset, is thought to reflect the extent of recollection: the retrieval of a vivid memory, including various contextual details from the learning episode. We found that schema-congruency induced substantial impairments in item memory and even larger ones in context memory. Furthermore, the parietal old/new ERP effect indicated higher recollection for the schema-incongruent than the schema-congruent memories. The combined findings indicate that, when goals can be achieved using existing schemas, this can hinder the in-depth processing of novel input, impairing the formation of perceptually detailed and contextually rich memory traces. Taking into account both current and previous findings, we suggest that schemas can both positively and negatively bias the processing of sensory input. An important determinant in this matter is likely related to momentary goals, such that mental schemas facilitate memory processing of goal-relevant input, but suppress processing of goal-irrelevant information.
心理图式对信息处理施加自上而下的控制，例如通过促进与图式相关信息的存储。然而，鉴于神经网络处理中的容量限制和竞争，图式可能还会通过抑制具有低即时相关性的信息来发挥其作用。特别是，当现有图式足以指导目标导向行为时，这实际上可能会减少对冗余感官输入的编码，以利于提高任务执行效率。本实验旨在检验这种由图式引起的浅编码假设。我们的方法涉及一项记忆任务，其中面孔必须与房屋配对。对于一半的面孔，反应可以由预先学习的图式引导，对于另一半面孔则没有这样的图式。比较了图式一致和图式不一致项目之间的记忆存储。为了表征假定的图式效应，从每个项目的视觉细节和背景方面评估记忆。编码深度也通过一种客观的神经测量方法进行评估：顶叶新旧ERP效应。这种ERP效应在刺激开始后500 - 800毫秒之间观察到，被认为反映了回忆的程度：生动记忆的检索，包括来自学习过程的各种背景细节。我们发现图式一致性在项目记忆中导致了显著损害，在背景记忆中导致的损害甚至更大。此外，顶叶新旧ERP效应表明，与图式一致的记忆相比，图式不一致的记忆有更高的回忆。综合研究结果表明，当可以使用现有图式实现目标时，这可能会阻碍对新输入的深入处理，损害形成感知上详细且背景丰富记忆痕迹的能力。考虑到当前和以前的研究结果，我们认为图式可以对感官输入的处理产生正向和负向偏差。这件事情中的一个重要决定因素可能与即时目标有关，即心理图式促进与目标相关输入的记忆处理，但抑制与目标无关信息的处理。
