Department of Psychology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
Anderson University, 1100 East 5th Street, Anderson, IN, 46012, USA.
Mem Cognit. 2021 Oct;49(7):1360-1369. doi: 10.3758/s13421-021-01175-0. Epub 2021 Apr 9.
Recently, researchers have identified word animacy as a strong predictor of recall. In contrast, the method of loci is an ancient mnemonic technique which takes advantage of highly structured encoding and recall processes alongside a strong imagery component to create easily remembered "memory palaces." The present experiments examine the combined effectiveness of these techniques: Experiment 1 (N = 154) demonstrates that the method of loci and word animacy have additive effects, while Experiment 2 (N = 200) demonstrates that the additive effect of animacy is likely related to both the animate nature of words themselves and animate imagery associated with them. These results have implications for hypotheses about the proximate mechanism of animacy effects (ruling out temporal order and imagery as explanations), implications regarding the nature of animacy (as being both static and dynamic), and practical implications for memory athletes and educational settings alike: The method of loci and use of animate imagery can be taught easily, and they produce high levels of recall.
最近，研究人员发现词汇的有生命性是回忆的一个强有力的预测指标。相比之下，位置记忆法是一种古老的记忆术，它利用高度结构化的编码和回忆过程，以及强烈的意象成分，来创造易于记忆的“记忆宫殿”。本实验研究了这些技术的综合效果：实验 1（N=154）表明，位置记忆法和词汇的有生命性具有累加效应，而实验 2（N=200）表明，有生命性的累加效应可能与词汇本身的有生命性和与之相关的有生命的意象有关。这些结果对有生命性效应的近似机制假说（排除时间顺序和意象作为解释）、有生命性的本质（既是静态的又是动态的）以及记忆运动员和教育环境的实际应用都有影响：位置记忆法和使用有生命的意象可以很容易地教授，并且它们可以产生高水平的回忆。
