Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Cognition. 2022 Aug;225:105111. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105111. Epub 2022 Apr 26.
Schema knowledge can dramatically affect how we encode and retrieve memories. Current models propose that schema information is combined with episodic memory at retrieval to influence memory decisions, but it is not known how the strength or type of episodic memory (i.e., unconscious memory versus familiarity versus recollection) influences the extent to which schema information is incorporated into memory decisions. To address this question, we had participants search for target objects in semantically expected (i.e., congruent) locations or in unusual (i.e., incongruent) locations within scenes. In a subsequent test, participants indicated where in each scene the target had been located previously, then provided confidence-based recognition memory judgments that indexed recollection, familiarity strength, and unconscious memory for the scenes. In both an initial online study (n = 133) and replication (n = 59), target location recall was more accurate for targets that had been located in schema-congruent rather than incongruent locations; importantly, this effect was strongest for new scenes, decreased with unconscious memory, decreased further with familiarity strength, and was eliminated entirely for recollected scenes. Moreover, when participants recollected an incongruent scene but did not correctly remember the target location, they were still biased away from congruent regions-suggesting that detrimental schema bias was suppressed in the presence of recollection even when precise target location information was not remembered. The results indicate that episodic memory modulates how schemas are used: Schema knowledge contributes to spatial memory judgments primarily when episodic memory fails to provide precise information, and recollection can override schema bias completely.
模式知识会极大地影响我们对记忆的编码和提取方式。目前的模型提出，模式信息在检索时与情景记忆相结合，以影响记忆决策，但尚不清楚情景记忆的强度或类型（即无意识记忆、熟悉度或回忆）如何影响模式信息融入记忆决策的程度。为了解决这个问题，我们让参与者在语义上预期（即一致）的位置或场景中不寻常（即不一致）的位置搜索目标物体。在随后的测试中，参与者指出目标之前在每个场景中的哪个位置，然后提供基于信心的再认记忆判断，这些判断索引了场景的回忆、熟悉度强度和无意识记忆。在最初的在线研究（n=133）和复制研究（n=59）中，目标位置的回忆在与模式一致的位置比不一致的位置更准确；重要的是，这种效果在新场景中最强，随着无意识记忆的增加而减弱，随着熟悉度强度的增加而进一步减弱，对于回忆的场景则完全消除。此外，当参与者回忆起一个不一致的场景但没有正确记住目标位置时，他们仍然偏向于一致的区域——这表明即使没有记住准确的目标位置信息，在回忆的情况下，有害的模式偏见也会被抑制。研究结果表明，情景记忆调节了模式的使用方式：模式知识主要在情景记忆无法提供精确信息时影响空间记忆判断，而回忆可以完全消除模式偏见。
