Search PubMed⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 7985885

Memory. When less is more.

D C Riccio·V C Rabinowitz·S Axelrod
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Loss of memory for the characteristics of stimuli (i.e., forgetting of stimulus attributes) can lead to increases in behavior, a consequence quite different from the impairments associated with the forgetting of responses. Evidence from animal and human research for the forgetting of stimuli as a distinct memory principle is presented, and the methodological and conceptual implications of this pervasive type of memory loss are considered. Malleability of eyewitness memory, cognitive confusions, sleeper and familiarity effects, and temporal distortions in inferences and attributions are among the varied behavioral phenomena that can be accounted for in terms of forgetting of stimulus attributes.

Explore related subjects

CognitionHumansMemorySocial BehaviorJournal ArticleResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.Review

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

D C Riccio, V C Rabinowitz, S Axelrod. 1994. Memory. When less is more.. https://doi.org/10.1037/%2F0003-066x.49.11.917

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed1996

Cue recognition and cue elaboration in learning from examples.

This paper describes the processes used by students to learn from worked-out examples and by working through problems. Evidence is derived from protocols of students learning secondary school mathematics and physics. The students acquired knowledge from the examples in the form of productions (condition-->action): first discovering conditions under which the actions are appropriate and then elaborating the conditions to enhance efficiency. Students devoted most of their attention to the condition side of the productions. Subsequently, they generalized the productions for broader application and acquired specialized productions for special problem classes.

Cognition↗
PubMed1996

What can prosody tell a parser?

In this paper, I consider how a sentence processor might use specific prosodic cues at various points in the processing of particular sentences containing (at least temporary) syntactic ambiguity. In principle, the usefulness of prosodic information depends on what a given cluster of prosodic cues typically signifies, and on which syntactic options exist for a given string: in only some instances can prosodic information provide useful disambiguating information.

Cognition↗
PubMed1996

The influence of prosodic structure on the resolution of temporary syntactic closure ambiguities.

This paper investigates the influence of prosodic structure on the process of sentence comprehension, with a specific focus on the relative contributions of syntactic and prosodic information to the resolution of temporary syntactic closure ambiguities. We argue that prosodic structure provides an initial memory representation for spoken sentences, and that information from this prosodic representation is available to inform syntactic parsing decisions. This view makes three predictions for the processing of temporary syntactic ambiguity: 1. When prosodic and syntactic boundaries coincide, syntactic processing should be facilitated. 2. When prosodic boundaries are placed at misleading points in syntactic structure, syntactic processing should show interference effects. 3. The processing difficulties that have been reliably demonstrated in reading experiments for syntactically complex sentences should disappear when those sentences are presented with a felicitous prosodic structure in listening experiments. These predictions were confirmed by series of experiments measuring end-of-sentence comprehension time and cross-modal naming time for sentences with temporary syntactic closure ambiguities. Sentences with coinciding or conflicting prosodic and syntactic boundaries were compared to a prosodic baseline condition.

Cognition↗