ERIC Number: EJ755950
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Mar
Pages: 15
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Recognition Memory for Novel Stimuli: The Structural Regularity Hypothesis
Cleary, Anne M.; Morris, Alison L.; Langley, Moses M.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v33 n2 p379-393 Mar 2007
Early studies of human memory suggest that adherence to a known structural regularity (e.g., orthographic regularity) benefits memory for an otherwise novel stimulus (e.g., G. A. Miller, 1958). However, a more recent study suggests that structural regularity can lead to an increase in false-positive responses on recognition memory tests (B. W. A. Whittlesea & L. D. Williams, 1998). In the present study the authors attempted to identify the circumstances under which structural regularity benefits old-new discrimination and those under which it leads to an increase in false-positive responses. The highly generalizable tendency shown here is for structural regularity to benefit old-new discrimination. The increase in false-positive responses for structurally regular novel items may be limited to situations in which regularity is confounded with similarity to studied items.
Descriptors: Stimuli, Recognition (Psychology), Responses, Generalization, Cognitive Processes, Experimental Psychology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A