Part-set cueing and lexical decisions: Testing an inhibitory account

Abstract

Providing some elements of a studied set during testing (part-set cues) can impair memory for the remaining elements (noncues)—a counterintuitive effect that has recently been attributed to inhibition of noncues. To test for such inhibition using a lexical decision task, we manipulated semantic and episodic relationships, such that cues and noncues were related only semantically, only episodically, or both semantically and episodically. Results showed that part-set cueing evoked inhibition, slowing lexical decisions for noncues that were related to cues both semantically and episodically, consistent with previous results involving the retrieval practice paradigm. However, either type of relationship alone was insufficient to slow decisions, despite previous evidence of impaired memory in similar conditions when tested with other measures such as free recall. The latter results raise questions regarding the extent to which inhibition can account for cueing-induced impairment when cues and noncues are related only semantically or only episodically.