Testing a Strategy-Disruption Account of the List-Strength Effect
Are Sampling Bias and Output Interference Responsible?
Abstract
Abstract. Presenting items multiple times on a study list increases their memorability, a process known as item strengthening. The list-strength effect (LSE) refers to the finding that, compared to unstrengthened (pure) lists, lists for which a subset of the items have been strengthened produce enhanced memory for the strengthened items and depressed memory for the unstrengthened items. Although the LSE is found in free recall (Tulving & Hastie, 1972), it does not occur in recognition (Ratcliff et al., 1990). In free recall, the LSE in mixed lists is attributed to a sampling bias promoting priority recall of strong items and consequent output interference affecting weak items. We suggest that, in recognition, the disruption of this pattern through the randomization of test probes is responsible for the null LSE. We present several pilot experiments consistent with this account; however, the registered experiment, which had more statistical power, did not support this account.
References
(2011). Part set cuing in older adults: Further evidence of intact forgetting in aging. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 18(4), 385–395. 10.1080/13825585.2010.542892
(2015). The list-length effect does not discriminate between models of recognition memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 85, 27–41. 10.1016/j.jml.2015.06.001
(2013). Sources of interference in recognition testing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(5), 1365–1376. 10.1037/a0032188
(1967). Differential retention of individual paired associates within an RTT “learning” trial. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(3), 443–451. 10.1037/h0024712
(2007). Part-list cuing with and without item-specific probes: The role of encoding. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 489–494. 10.3758/BF03194095
(2007). The role of inhibitory processes in part-list cuing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(2), 335–341. 10.1037/0278-7393.33.2.335
(2015). Dynamic memory searches: Selective output interference for the memory of facts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22, 1798–1806. 10.3758/s13423-015-0840-5
(1995). Some tests of the strategy disruption interpretation of part-list cuing inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 21(6), 1656–1669. 10.1037/0278-7393.21.6.1656
(1991). Setting boundary conditions on the part-set cuing effect. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 29(2), 213–216. 10.3758/BF03342681
(1977). Inhibition with part-list cuing: Some tests of the item strength hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 3(1), 100–108. 10.1037/0278-7393.3.1.100
(2002). Part-set cuing of order information in recall tests. Journal of Memory and Language, 47(4), 517–529. 10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00016-5
(2006). Part-list cuing can be transient and lasting: The role of encoding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(1), 33–43. 10.1037/0278-7393.32.1.33
(1950). The relationship between order and frequency of occurrence of restricted associative responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 40(5), 643–647. 10.1037/h0059019
(1956). The extension of Marbe’s law to the recall of stimulus-words. The American Journal of Psychology, 69(3), 429–433. 10.2307/1419046
(1944). An analysis of sequences of restricted associative responses. The Journal of General Psychology, 30(2), 149–165. 10.1080/00221309.1944.10544467
(1954). Certain temporal characteristics of the recall of verbal associates. The American Journal of Psychology, 67(1), 111–118. 10.2307/1418075
(1958). Serial position effects and the “Marbe effect” in the free recall of meaningful words. The Journal of General Psychology, 59(2), 255–262. 10.1080/00221309.1958.9710194
(2009). Applied part-set cuing (pp. 73–87). Nova Science Publishers.
(1915). Incidental memory in a group of persons. Psychological Review, 22(1), 81–85. 10.1037/h0073959
(1954). The nature of set-to-learn and of intra-material interference in immediate memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6(4), 141–148. 10.1080/17470215408416659
(1968). Reciprocal facilitation and impairment of free recall. Psychonomic Science, 10(2), 41–42. 10.3758/BF03331397
(2009). Global subjective memorability and the strength-based mirror effect in recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 37(6), 807–818. 10.3758/MC.37.6.807
(2003). A dual-process account of the list-length and strength-based mirror effects in recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 49(2), 231–248. 10.1016/S0749-596X(03)00061-5
(1996). Global matching models of recognition memory: How the models match the data. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3(1), 37–60. 10.3758/BF03210740
(1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159. 10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
(2013). Part-set cuing facilitation for spatial information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(5), 1615–1620. 10.1037/a0032424
(1981). The MRC psycholinguistic database. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33A(4), 497–505. 10.1080/14640748108400805
(2010). Neural correlates of episodic retrieval: An FMRI study of the part-list cueing effect. NeuroImage, 50(2), 678–692. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.114
(2012). Spotting expertise in the eyes: Billiards knowledge as revealed by gaze shifts in a dynamic visual prediction task. Journal of Vision, 12(11), 30. 10.1167/12.11.30
(2006). The consequences of differentiation in episodic memory: Similarity and the strength based mirror effect. Journal of Memory and Language, 55(4), 461–478. 10.1016/j.jml.2006.08.003
(2009). The distribution of subjective memory strength: List strength and response bias. Cognitive Psychology, 59(4), 297–319. 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2009.07.003
(2010). Differentiation and response bias in episodic memory: Evidence from reaction time distributions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(2), 484–499. 10.1037/a0018435
(2015). Models of episodic memory. In J. R. BusemeyerZ. WangJ. T. TownsendA. Eidels (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Computational and Mathematical Psychology (pp. 165–183). Oxford University Press.
(2015). Differentiation in episodic memory. In J. G. W. RaaijmakersR. GoldstoneM. SteyversA. CrissR. Nosofsky (Eds.), Cognitive Modeling in Perception and Memory – A Festschrift for Richard M. Shiffrin (pp. 112–125). Psychology Press.
(2011). Output interference in recognition memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 64(4), 316–326. 10.1016/j.jml.2011.02.003
(2006). Differentiating the differentiation models: A comparison of the retrieving effectively from memory model (REM) and the subjective likelihood model (SLiM). Journal of Memory and Language, 55(4), 447–460. 10.1016/j.jml. 2006.06.003
(2004). Context noise and item noise jointly determine recognition memory: A comment on Dennis and Humphreys (2001). Psychological Review, 111(3), 800–807. 10.1037/0033-295X.111.3.800
(2001). A context noise model of episodic word recognition. Psychological Review, 108(2), 452–478. 10.1037/0033-295X.108.2.452
(2008). Bayesian analysis of recognition memory: The case of the list-length effect. Journal of Memory and Language, 59(3), 361–376. 10.1016/j.jml.2008.06.007
(1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. Teachers College Press. (Original work published 1885)
(1982). A composite holographic associative recall model. Psychological Review, 89(6), 627–661. 10.1037/0033-295X.89.6.627
(1985). Levels of processing, encoding specificity, elaboration, and charm. Psychological Review, 92(1), 1–38. 10.1037/0033-295X.92.1.1
(2018). Cogandmem version 0.1.0. Python package. 10.5281/zenodo.1297123
(2019). Listening to the picture-superiority effect: Evidence for the conceptual-distinctiveness account of picture superiority in recognition. Experimental Psychology, 66(2), 1–20. 10.1027/1618-3169/a000437
(2020). Modeling list-strength and spacing effects using version 3 of the retrieving effectively from memory (REM.3) model and its superimposition-of-similar-images assumption. Advance online publication. Behavior Research Methods. 10.3758/s13428-019-01324-z
(1955). Statistical theory of spontaneous recovery and regression. Psychological Review, 62(3), 145–154. 10.1037/h0048509
(2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. 10.3758/BF03193146
(2017). The smell of terroir! Olfactory discrimination between wines of different grape variety and different terroir. Food Quality and Preference, 58, 18–23. 10.1016/j.foodqual.2016.12.012
(1975). Intralist repetition effects in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1(6), 756–763. 10.1037/0278-7393.1.6.756
(1940). A systematic application of the concepts of generalization and differentiation to verbal learning. Psychological Review, 47(3), 196–229. 10.1037/h0060582
(1955). Perceptual learning: Differentiation or enrichment? Psychological Review, 62(1), 32–41. 10.1037/h0048826
(1984). A retrieval model for both recognition and recall. Psychological Review, 91(1), 1–67. 10.1037/0033-295X.91.1.1
(1998). Perceptual learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49(1), 585–612. 10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.585
(1975). Intralist repetition in free recall: Effects of frequency attribute recall instructions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1(1), 3–12. 10.1037/0278-7393.1.1.3
(1984). MINERVA 2: A simulation model of human memory. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 16(2), 96–101. 10.3758/BF03202365
(1988). Judgments of frequency and recognition memory in a multiple-trace memory model. Psychological Review, 95(4), 528–551. 10.1037/0033-295X.95.4.528
(1989). Different ways to cue a coherent memory system: A theory for episodic, semantic, and procedural tasks. Psychological Review, 96(2), 208–233. 10.1037/0033-295X.96.2.208
(1989). Global matching: A comparison of the SAM, Minerva II, Matrix, and TODAM models. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 33(1), 36–67. 10.1016/0022-2496(89)90003-5
(1961). Theory of probability (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
(2020). Age differences in the persistence of part-list cuing impairment: The role of retrieval inhibition and strategy disruption. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 191, 104746. 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104746
(1995). Bayes factors. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 90(430), 773–795. 10.1080/01621459.1995.10476572
(2016). Spatial part-set cuing facilitation. Memory, 24(6), 737–745. 10.1080/09658211.2015.1046382
(2017). Models that allow us to perceive the world more accurately also allow us to remember past events more accurately via differentiation. Cognitive Psychology, 92, 65–86. 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2016.11.005
(2011). The list length effect in recognition memory: An analysis of potential confounds. Memory & Cognition, 39(2), 348–363. 10.3758/s13421-010-0007-6
(2015). The role of mnemonic processes in pure-target and pure-foil recognition memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22(2), 509–516. 10.3758/s13423-014-0703-5
(2019). A strength-based mirror effect persists even when criterion shifts are unlikely. Memory & Cognition, 47(4), 842–854. 10.3758/s13421-019-00906-8
(1967). Computational analysis of present-day American English. Brown University Press.
(2016). ez: Easy analysis and visualization of factorial experiments [R package]. http://github.com/mike-lawrence/ez
(2005). The “one-shot” hypothesis for context storage. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31(2), 322–336. 10.1037/0278-7393.31.2.322
(1998). Familiarity breeds differentiation: A subjective-likelihood approach to the effects of experience in recognition memory. Psychological Review, 105(4), 724–760. 10.1037/0033-295X.105.4.734-760
(1988). A model for interference and forgetting. Psychological Review, 95(4), 434–455. 10.1037/0033-295X.95.4.434
(1989). A model for contextual fluctuation. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 33(2), 172–186. 10.1016/0022-2496(89)90029-1
(2016). The philosophy of bayes factors and the quantification of statistical evidence. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 72, 6–18. 10.1016/j.jmp.2015.11.001
(1977). Output interference and intralist repetition in free recall. American Journal of Psychology, 90(1), 157–164. 10.2307/1421649
(1962). The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(5), 482–488. 10.1037/h0045106
(1982). A theory for the storage and retrieval of item and associative information. Psychological Review, 89(6), 609–626. 10.1037/0033-295X.89.6.609
(1993a). Analysis of the list-strength effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19(3), 689–697. 10.1037/0278-7393.19.3.689
(1993b). List-strength and list-length effects: Reply to Shiffrin, Ratcliff, Murnane, and Nobel (1993). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19(6), 1450–1453. 10.1037/0278-7393.19.6.1450
(1991a). Interference and the representation of events in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(5), 855–874. 10.1037/0278-7393.17.5.855
(1991b). Word repetitions in sentence recognition. Memory & Cognition, 19(2), 119–130. 10.3758/BF03197109
(1988). The influence of expertise on X-ray image processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 14(3), 553–557. 10.1037/0278-7393.14.3.553
(1984). Retrieval inhibition from part-set cuing: A persisting enigma in memory research. Memory & Cognition, 12(6), 531–552. 10.3758/BF03213342
(2002). Differential effects of list strength on recollection and familiarity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28(6), 1083–1094. 10.1037/0278-7393.28.6.1083
(2008). Event-related potential correlates of interference effects on recognition memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15(1), 36–43. 10.3758/PBR.15.1.36
(1968). Stimulus and response interference in recognition-memory experiments. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 78(4), 551–559. 10.1037/h0026637
(1987). Attention and learning processes in the identification and categorization of integral stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(1), 87–108. 10.1037/0278-7393.13.1.87
(2003). Generalized eta and omega squared statistics: Measures of effect size for some common research designs. Psychological Methods, 8(4), 434–447. 10.1037/1082-989X.8.4.434
(2014). Associative recognition and the list strength paradigm. Memory & Cognition, 42(4), 583–594. 10.3758/s13421-013-0386-6
(2015). Sources of interference in item and associative recognition memory. Psychological Review, 122(2), 260–311. 10.1037/a0038692
(2014). Stimulus type and the list strength paradigm. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67(9), 1826–1841. 10.1080/17470218.2013. 872824
(2018). The list strength effect in source memory: Data and a global matching model. Journal of Memory and Language, 103, 91–113. 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.002
(2018). Modeling the dynamics of recognition memory testing with an integrated model of retrieval and decision making. Cognitive Psychology, 104, 106–142. 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2018.04.002
(2002). Demystifying wine expertise: Olfactory threshold, perceptual skill and semantic memory in expert and novice wine judges. Chemical Senses, 27(8), 747–755. 10.1093/chemse/27.8.747
(2007). PsychoPy – psychophysics software in python. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 162(1–2), 8–13. 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017
(1947). Proactive inhibition in the recognition of nonsense syllables. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 37(1), 81–91. 10.1037/h0060509
(1984). Comparison of convolution and matrix distributed memory systems for associative recall and recognition. Psychological Review, 91(3), 281–294. 10.1037/0033-295X.91.3.281
(2016). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
(1980). SAM: A theory of probabilistic search in associative memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 14, pp. 207–262). Academic Press.
(1981). Search of associative memory. Psychological Review, 88(2), 93–134. 10.1037/0033-295X.88.2.93
(1995). Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology, 25, 111–163. 10.2307/271063
(1990). List-strength effect: I. Data and discussion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16(2), 163–178. 10.1037/0278-7393.16.2.163
(1994). Empirical generality of data from recognition memory receiver-operating characteristic functions and implications for the global memory models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(4), 763–785. 10.1037/0278-7393.20.4.763
(1976). Retrieval processes in recognition memory. Psychological Review, 83(3), 190–214. 10.1037/0033-295X.83.3.190
(1992). Testing global memory models using ROC curves. Psychological Review, 99(3), 518–535. 10.1037/0033-295X.99.3.518
(1972). Free recall of word lists varying in length and rate of presentation: A test of total-time hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 92(3), 365–372. 10. 1037/h0032278
(1974). Inhibiting effects of recall. Memory & Cognition, 2(2), 261–269. 10.3758/BF03208993
(1982). Retrieval blocks in episodic and semantic memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 36(2), 213–242. 10.1037/h0080640
(1980). Output interference in the recall of categorized and paired-associate lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6(1), 91–105. 10.1037/0278-7393.6.1.91
(2013). Default Bayes factors for model selection in regression. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 47(6), 877–903. 10.1080/00273171.2012.734737
(2012). Default Bayes factors for ANOVA designs. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56(5), 356–374. 10.1016/j.jmp.2012.08.001
(2009). Bayesian t tests for accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(2), 225–237. 10.3758/PBR.16.2.225
(1973). Negative effects of using list items as recall cues. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12(1), 43–50. 10.1016/S0022-5371(73)80059-3
(1970). Rehearsal processes in free recall: A procedure for direct observation. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 9(1), 99–105. 10.1016/S0022-5371(70)80015-9
(2014). Individual differences in contextual storage: Evidence from the list-strength effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(3), 873–881. 10.1037/a0035222
(2018). Divided attention during encoding causes separate memory traces to be encoded for repeated events. Journal of Memory and Language, 101, 153–161. 10.1016/j.jml.2018.04.004
(1963). Compound stimuli in verbal learning: Cognitive and sensory differentiation versus stimulus selection. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 66(3), 1–5. 10.1037/h0043170
(1974). The declining course of recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 2(1), 14–18. 10.3758/BF03197485
(2017). The emergence of perceptual expertise with fingerprints over time. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 442–451. 10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.08.006
(2000). Part-set cuing of order information: Implications for associative theories of serial order memory. Memory & Cognition, 28(5), 847–855. 10.3758/ BF03198420
(2014). Expert vs. novice differences in the detection of relevant information during a chess game: Evidence from eye movements. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 941. 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00941
(1992). The SAM retrieval model: A retrospective and prospective. In A. F. HealyS. M. KosslynR. M. Shiffrin (Eds.), From learning processes to cognitive processes: Essays in honor of William K. Estes (Vol. 2, pp. 69–86). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
(1990). List-strength effect: II. Theoretical mechanisms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16(2), 179–195. 10.1037/0278-7393.16.2.179
(1993). Todam and the list-strength and list-length effects: Comment on Murdock and Kahana (1993a). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19(6), 1445–1449. 10.1037/0278-7393.19.6.1445
(1997). A model for recognition memory: REM-retrieving effectively from memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4(2), 145–166. 10.3758/BF03209391
(1968). An examination of trace storage in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(4), 504–513. 10.1037/h0025695
(1991). Congruency effects in part-list cuing inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(5), 974–982. 10.1037/0278-7393.17.5.974
(1971). Output interference and organized recall from long-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10(4), 400–408. 10.1016/S0022-5371(71)80039-7
(1973). Input order and output interference in organized recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 100(1), 147–150. 10.1037/h0035513
(1970). Output interference in long-term memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 24(2), 85–89. 10.1037/h0082845
(2012). Diffusion model drift rates can be influenced by decision processes: An analysis of the strength-based mirror effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38(5), 1137–1151. 10.1037/a0028151
(2010). A direct test of the differentiation mechanism: REM, BCDMEM, and the strength-based mirror effect in recognition memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 63(1), 18–34. 10.1016/j.jml.2010.03.004
(2012). The strength-based mirror effect in subjective strength ratings: The evidence for differentiation can be produced without differentiation. Memory & Cognition, 40(8), 1189–1199. 10.3758/s13421-012-0225-1
(1998). On the difference between strength-based and frequency-based mirror effects in recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24(6), 1379–1396. 10.1037/0278-7393.24.6.1379
(1912). The effect of length of series upon recognition memory. Psychological Review, 19(6), 447–462. 10.1037/h0069812
(2012). Making games with Python & Pygame (2nd ed.). http://inventwithpython.com.
(2018). Effsize: Efficient effect size computation [R package]. 10.5281/zenodo.1480624
(1963). Sources of intratrial interference in immediate recall of paired associates. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1(5), 321–334. 10.1016/S0022-5371(63)80012-2
(1966). Input and output interference in short-term associative memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72(1), 145–150. 10.1037/h0023344
(1972). Inhibition effects of intralist repetition in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 92(3), 297–304. 10.1037/h0032367
(1998). Eye movements in a simple music reading task: A study of expert and novice musicians. Psychology of Music, 26(1), 46–60. 10.1177/0305735698261005
(2007). Reshaping data with the reshape package. Journal of Statistical Software, 21(12), 1–20. 10.18637/jss.v021.i12
(2011). The split–apply–combine strategy for data analysis. Journal of Statistical Software, 40(1), 1–29. 10.18637/jss.v040.i01
(1970). A test of the spew hypothesis using intralist repetition and a free-recall task. Psychonomic Science, 19(6), 349–350. 10.3758/BF03328854
(2017). The list strength effect in cued recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 95, 78–88. 10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.006
(1997). Recall latency following pure- and mixed-strength lists: A direct test of the relative strength model of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 23(3), 523–538. 10.1037/0278-7393.23.3.523
(1992). Tests of the list-strength effect in recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18(2), 345–355. 10.1037/0278-7393.18.2.345
