Conceptual knowledge modulates memory recognition of common items: The selective role of item-typicality

In the literature, a memory advantage for bizarre items over common ones has been found only in a few studies, especially with materials prepared ad hoc by the experimenter and with free recall rather than cued recall tests. These results contrast with the widespread conviction that bizarreness helps recall. The present paper explores the role of some variables involved in the “bizarreness” effect: (1) It examines the typical self-generation procedure in which the subject is asked to create an interaction between a pair of nouns, as well as the case in which only one noun is given. Higher freedom in generating sentences appears to correspond to higher free recall of bizarre items. (2) It is shown that bizarre items must be distinguished from “unusual” ones, which have different effects on memory. (3) By contrasting groups instructed to use either imagery or verbal elaboration, it is shown that the bizarreness effect is linked to the use of imagery. Instructions to use imagery without the possibility of creating bizarre representations do not improve the recall of common items. (4) The classification of parts of sentences generated reveals that, under common instructions, one subject's choice of verb and noun is more likely to be shared by other subjects. This fact may explain the different effects found by previous research in cued and free recall. (5) The overestimation of the recallability of bizarre items appears less evident than in previous research, probably because subjects had direct experience of the difficulties met in generating bizarre images.

Download Full-text

The Link Between Conceptual and Perceptual Information in Memory

10.31234/osf.io/e75ks ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marc N Coutanche

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Conceptual Knowledge ◽

Human Memory ◽

Research Area ◽

Perceptual Information ◽

Related Factors ◽

Conceptual Processing ◽

Perceptual Systems

We continually draw on, and link, conceptual knowledge with perception as we process and interact with our surroundings. This chapter highlights issues at the intersection of perceptual and conceptual processing in human memory. First, it discusses the role of the brain’s perceptual systems and connected regions during conceptual processing. Next, a case study of real-world (or ‘canonical’) size is used to illustrate questions and issues that arise when seeking to understand phenomena that can require information from both perceptual input and semantic memory to be integrated. The influence of conceptual processing on perception is then described, before outlining some additional related factors: conceptual granularity, episodic memory, and individual differences. The chapter concludes by looking to the future of this research area – a field that requires a unique understanding of issues that lie at the heart of perception, memory, and more.

Download Full-text

The role of polarity in antonym and synonym conceptual knowledge: Evidence from stroke aphasia and multidimensional ratings of abstract words

Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.07.015 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 50 (11) ◽

pp. 2636-2644 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Sebastian J. Crutch ◽

Paul Williams ◽

Gerard R. Ridgway ◽

Laura Borgenicht

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Knowledge ◽

Abstract Words

Download Full-text

The Anatomy of Object Processing: The Role of Anteromedial Temporal Cortex

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B ◽

10.1080/02724990544000013 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 58 (3-4b) ◽

pp. 361-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Peter Bright ◽

Helen E. Moss ◽

Emmanuel A. Stamatakis ◽

Lorraine K. Tyler

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

Conceptual Knowledge ◽

Nonhuman Primates ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Perirhinal Cortex ◽

Object Processing ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Temporal Structures ◽

The Brain

How objects are represented and processed in the brain remains a key issue in cognitive neuroscience. We have developed a conceptual structure account in which category-specific semantic deficits emerge due to differences in the structure and content of concepts rather than from explicit divisions of conceptual knowledge in separate stores. The primary claim is that concepts associated with particular categories (e.g., animals, tools) differ in the number and type of properties and the extent to which these properties are correlated with each other. In this review, we describe recent neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies in which we have extended our theoretical account by incorporating recent claims about the neuroanatomical basis of feature integration and differentiation that arise from research into hierarchical object processing streams in nonhuman primates and humans. A clear picture has emerged in which the human perirhinal cortex and neighbouring anteromedial temporal structures appear to provide the neural infrastructure for making fine-grained discriminations among objects, suggesting that damage within the perirhinal cortex may underlie the emergence of category-specific semantic deficits in brain-damaged patients.

Download Full-text

The Influence of Player Experience on Problem Solving during Batting Preparation in Baseball

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.15.3.304 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 304-325 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Sue L. McPherson

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Conceptual Knowledge ◽

Problem Space ◽

Think Aloud Protocols ◽

Regulatory Strategies ◽

Game Situation ◽

Collegiate Baseball ◽

Player Experience ◽

Simulated Game

This study examined how conceptual knowledge concerning batting preparation develops with playing experience and how this knowledge influences decision making during a simulated game situation. Twelve experts, their coach, and 12 novices viewed a half-inning of a videotaped collegiate baseball game and assumed the role of the fourth batter. Propositional-type analysis of subjects' think-aloud protocols revealed experts' conceptual representation of batting preparation enabled them to search through a highly restricted problem space, which facilitated the development of sophisticated condition-action rules used to solve the problem. Experts' rules were more tactical, refined, and associated compared to novices' rules. Experts were different from novices in what attributes were considered important to solving the problem. Experts generated self-regulatory strategies to update, check, and modify their predictions of pitcher characteristics. This study provides initial evidence of the nature of adult expert sport performers' conceptual knowledge underlying decision making in sport situations.

Download Full-text