Mitigating the adverse effects of response deadline on recognition memory: Differential effects of semantic memory support on item and associative memory

Abstract

Abstract Prior research indicates that the effects of response deadline on episodic memory retrieval may be selective. Accordingly, this paper examines whether response deadline causes differential impairments in item and associative memory. Further, it investigates and contrasts the role of two types of semantic memory support– item memory support (in the form of meaningfulness of items, Experiment 1) and associative memory support (in the form of relatedness between items, Experiment 2), in potentially alleviating these episodic memory impairments. Across two experiments, participants studied pairs composed of pictures (presented as brand logo graphics) and words (presented as brand names), and later were tested on the components (item recognition) or the association between the components (associative recognition) under either long or short response deadlines. The results demonstrate the differential effects of response deadline on recognition memory, with larger detriments caused in associative memory versus item memory. Furthermore, while meaningfulness of items attenuates the negative effects of response deadline on item (versus associative) recognition (Experiment 1), relatedness between items alleviates the adverse effects of response deadline on associative (versus item) recognition (Experiment 2), though this was not the case in a boundary condition in which related pairs were used as foils, posing greater demand on recollection processes. The results are interpreted to indicate that the attenuation of the negative effects of response deadline on recognition memory occurs in the type of episodic memory that receives greater semantic memory support.