| Abstract: | In three experiments subjects performed one of five tasks after an initial study phase. Results showed that performance on conceptually driven retention tasks (those requiring the processing of meaning) was consistently dissociated from that on data-driven tasks (those relying more on analysis of physical features). Performance on conceptually driven tasks of free recall, semantic cued recall, and a task of answering general knowledge questions was enhanced most when target items had been generated rather than read at study (Experiment 1) and when subjects formed mental images of item referents at study (Experiment 3). Conversely, the data driven tasks of word fragment completion and recall using graphemic cues were performed best when subjects read rather than generated items at input (Experiment 1) and when the physical features of study and test items matched in terms of modality (Experiment 2) and typography (Experiment 3). These findings indicate that dissociations among memory tasks are better explained in terms of the degree of overlap between mental operations at study and test than in terms of various memory systems underlying different tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
