The basic-level convergence effect in memory distortions

Article Abstract:

Whereas most previous findings suggest that memory may become more abstract over time, so that memory for gist outlasts verbatim memory, there are findings suggesting that abstract information may sometimes be instantiated in more specific terms. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that retained information tends to converge at an intermediate level of abstractness the basic level. In two experiments, we found bidirectional, symmetrical shifts in the memory for story material: Participants presented with either subordinate terms (e.g., sports car) or superordinate terms (e.g., vehicle) tended to falsely report basic-level terms (e.g., car) instead. This pattern emerged for both recall and recognition memory tests, at both immediate and delayed testing, and under free and forced reporting. The results suggest that the basic level, which has been considered cognitively optimal for perception, categorization, and communication, is also the preferred level for retaining episodic information in memory.

Recollection (Psychology), Recall (Memory)

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Short-term episodic memory for visual textures; a roving probe gathers some memory

Article Abstract:

Cognition is shaped by the way that past experiences are represented in memory. To examine the representation of recent visual experiences, we devised a novel procedure that measures episodic recognition memory for synthetic textures. On each trial, two brief study stimuli were followed by a probe, which either replicated one of the study stimuli or differed in spatial frequency from both. The probe's spatial frequency roved from trial to trial, testing recognition with a range of differences between probe and study items. Repeated testing of recognition generated mnemometric functions, snapshots of memory strength's distribution. The distributional characteristics of the functions rule out several hypotheses about memory representation, including the hypothesis that representations are prototypes constructed from previously seen stimuli; instead, stimuli are represented in memory as noisy exemplars.

Cognition, Short-term memory, Recognition (Psychology), Mnemonics, Recognition (Memory)

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Chimpanzees remember the results of one-by-one addition of food items to sets over extended time periods

Article Abstract:

Four chimpanzees were highly accurate in selecting the larger of two concurrent accumulations of bananas in two opaque containers over a span of 20 min. One at a time, bananas were placed into the containers, which were outside the chimpanzees' cages. The chimpanzees never saw more than one banana at a time, and there were no cues indicating the locations of the bananas after they were placed into the containers. The performance of these animals matched that of human infants and young children in similar tests. The chimpanzees were successful even when the sets to be compared were sufficiently large (5 vs. 8, 5 vs. 10, and 6 vs. 10) to cast doubt on the possibility that the chimpanzees were using an object file mechanism. These chimpanzees are the first nonhuman animals to demonstrate extended memory for accumulated quantity.

Chimpanzees, Animal memory, Counting

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