Retrieval Cues Research Articles

Repeated retrieval of generalized memories can impair specific autobiographical recall: A retrieval induced forgetting account.

Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) refers to the tendency toward increased general memory and reduced specific memory recall, observed in various psychiatric disorders. Previous studies have suggested that inhibitory processes involved in resolving competition between competing memories may reduce memory specificity via retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). However, it remains unclear whether the repeated retrieval of general memories can induce forgetting of specific memories. We adapted the RIF paradigm to address this question across three experiments. Participants first generated specific memories in response to positively and negatively valenced cue words. They then generated and repeatedly retrieved general memories for half of the cue words. Recall for all of the original specific memories was later tested. Experiment 1 showed that the retrieval practice of general memories reduced the recall of associated specific memories, regardless of cue valence. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this forgetting effect was cue independent, occurring even when novel retrieval cues were used on the final test. Experiment 3 suggested that this effect was competition dependent, finding a greater RIF effect following practice of general memories (high competition) than following a cue-color association task (low competition). These results suggest that repeated retrieval of general memories suppressed specific memory representations through RIF. These findings are discussed in relation to hierarchical models of autobiographical memory, mechanisms that maintain overgeneral memory tendencies, and the role of retrieval in shaping autobiographical memory.

The part-list cuing effect in working memory: The influence of task presentation mode

The modulation of part-list cues on long-term memory has been well-documented, whereas its impact on working memory remains largely unknown. The current study recruited a working memory part-list cuing paradigm to investigate how re-exposing part-list items affected item representation in working memory, and more specifically, whether the cuing effect was modulated by the task presentation mode. Our results showed that when the part-list re-exposure and no-part-list re-exposure trials were presented in separate blocks, using the re-exposed items as retrieval cues (part-list cue condition) significantly impaired recognition speed, accuracy and elevated judgement criteria (Experiment 1a), whereas merely relearning the re-exposed items (part-list relearning condition) has no such effect (Experiment 1b). When the part-list cue trials are randomly interleaved with the no-part-list cue trials, recognition accuracy was significantly lower in the part-list cue condition, whereas the recognition speed and judgement criteria were not significantly different under the two conditions (Experiment 2). These results indicate that re-exposing subsets of previously memorized items as retrieval cues can reduce the strength of other representations in working memory. Moreover, the effect of part-list cues in working memory is affected by task presentation mode. The mechanisms of part-list cuing within working memory were discussed.

Neurogenesis-dependent transformation of hippocampal engrams

In humans and other mammals, memories of events are encoded by neuronal ensembles (or engrams) in the hippocampus. The mnemonic information stored in these engrams can then be used to guide future behavior, including prediction- and decision-making in dynamic environments. While some hippocampal engrams may be persistently stored, others are modified over time, suggesting that the represented memories may also be transformed. How might hippocampal engrams be modified through time? Adult hippocampal neurogenesis represents one process that continuously rewires hippocampal circuitry, presumably including stored hippocampal engrams. At intermediate stages, we propose that neurogenesis-mediated rewiring of hippocampal engram circuitry induces forgetting of specific stimulus attributes, and this less precise engram allows for generalization. At more advanced stages, we propose that neurogenesis-mediated rewiring of hippocampal engram circuitry leads to silencing of hippocampal engrams, rendering them no longer accessible by natural retrieval cues.

A direct comparison of attentional orienting to spatial and temporal positions in visual working memory

Different visual attributes effectively guide attention to specific items in visual working memory (VWM), ensuring that particularly important memory contents are readily available. Predictable temporal structures contribute to this efficient use of VWM: items are prospectively prioritized when they are expected to be needed. Occasionally, however, visual events only gain relevance through their timing after they have passed. We investigated retrospective attentional orienting based on temporal position by directly comparing it with orienting to spatial locations, which is typically considered the most powerful selection mechanism. In a colour-change-detection task, in which items appeared sequentially at different locations, symbolic number cues validly indicated the temporal or spatial location of the upcoming probe item either before encoding (precues; Experiment 1) or during maintenance (retrocues; Experiments 1–3). Temporal and spatial cues were physically identical and only differed in their mapping onto either temporal or spatial positions. Predictive cues yielded cueing benefits (i.e., higher accuracy and shorter reaction times) as compared with neutral cues, with larger benefits for precues than for retrocues. Importantly, spatial and temporal cueing benefits did not differ. Equivalent retrocueing benefits were also observed across different cue-probe intervals and irrespective of whether spatial or temporal position was used as retrieval cue, indicating that items were directly bound to temporal position and not prioritized via a space-based mechanism. These findings show that spatial and temporal properties can be used equally well to flexibly prioritise representations held in VWM and they highlight the functional similarities of space and time in VWM.

Remembering online and offline: the effects of retrieval contexts, cues, and intervals on autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT The current study examined the impact of social media as a retrieval context (in contrast to private recall) on the retention of autobiographical memory. At session 1, participants (N = 177) generated recent life events in response to cue words and then described the event details as if they were writing about the events either on WeChat or in their diaries. They received a surprise memory test for the events at session 2 either one week or two weeks later, either with or without the original cue words. Participants in the WeChat condition recalled less consistent memories between the two sessions than those in the diary condition, especially when the memory test took place at the one-week interval and when there were no cues to assist recall at the two-week interval. It appears that memories recalled on social media are subject to greater reconstruction in subsequent offline recall, and that the timing of recall and the presence of memory cues interact with the reconstructive process. These findings shed new light on autobiographical remembering in the digital age.

Self-paced part-list cuing

Ironically, the presentation of a subset of studied material as retrieval cues at test often impairs recall of the remaining (target) material—an effect known as part-list cuing impairment. Part-list cues are typically provided at the beginning of the recall period, a time when nearly all individuals would be able to recall at least some studied items on their own. Across two experiments, we examined the effects of part-list cuing when student participants could decide on their own when the cues were presented during the recall period. Results showed that participants activated the cues relatively late in the recall period, when recall was already close to asymptote. Critically, such delayed cuing no longer impaired recall performance. The detrimental effect of part-list cuing, as it has been demonstrated numerous times in the memory literature, thus seems to depend on presentating the cue items (too) early in the recall period.

Oscillatory Correlates of Selective Restudy.

Prior behavioral work has shown that selective restudy of some studied items leaves recall of the other studied items unaffected when lag between study and restudy is short, but improves recall of the other items when lag is prolonged. The beneficial effect has been attributed to context retrieval, assuming that selective restudy reactivates the context at study and thus provides a retrieval cue for the other items (Bäuml, 2019). Here the results of two experiments are reported, in each of which subjects studied a list of items and then, after a short 2-min or a prolonged 10-min lag, restudied some of the list items. Participants' electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during both the study and restudy phases. In Experiment 2, but not in Experiment 1, subjects engaged in a mental context reinstatement task immediately before the restudy phase started, trying to mentally reinstate the study context. Results of Experiment 1 revealed a theta/alpha power increase from study to restudy after short lag and an alpha/beta power decrease after long lag. Engagement in the mental context reinstatement task in Experiment 2 eliminated the decrease in alpha/beta power. The results are consistent with the view that the observed alpha/beta decrease reflects context retrieval, which became obsolete when there was preceding mental context reinstatement.

Impact of processing demands at encoding, maintenance and retrieval in visual working memory

There has been surprisingly little examination of how recall performance is affected by processing demands induced by retrieval cues, how manipulations at encoding interact with processing demands during maintenance or due to the retrieval cue, and how these are affected with aging. Here, we investigate these relationships by examining the fidelity of working memory recall across two delayed reproduction tasks with a continuous measure of report across the adult lifespan. Participants were asked to remember and subsequently reproduce from memory the identity and location of a probed item from the encoding display. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of filtering irrelevant information at encoding and the impact of filtering distracting information at retrieval simultaneously. In Experiment 2, we tested how ignoring distracting information during maintenance or updating current contents with new information during this period affects recall.The results reveal that manipulating processing requirements induced by retrieval cues (by altering the nature of the retrieval foil) had a significant impact on memory recall: the presence of two previously viewed features from the encoding display in the retrieval foil led to a decrease in identification accuracy. Although irrelevant information can be filtered out well at encoding, both ignoring irrelevant information and updating the contents of memory during the maintenance delay had a detrimental effect on recall. These effects were similar across the lifespan, but older individuals were particularly affected by manipulations of processing demands at encoding as well as increasing set size of information to be retained in memory. Finally, analyses revealed that there were no systematic relationships between filtering performance at encoding, maintenance and retrieval suggesting that these processing demands are independent of each other. Rather than filtering being a single, monolithic entity, the data suggest that it is better accounted for as distinctly dissociable cognitive processes that engage and articulate with different phases of working memory.

Apical intercalated cell cluster: A distinct sensory regulator in the amygdala.

GABAergic neurons regulate different aspects of information processing in the amygdala. Among these are clusters of intercalated cells (ITCs), which have been implicated in fear-related behaviors. Although a few of the ITC clusters have been studied, the functional role of apical ITCs (apITCs) is unknown. Here, we combine monosynaptic rabies tracing with optogenetics and demonstrate that apITCs receive synaptic input from medial geniculate nucleus (MGm), posterior intralaminar nucleus (PIN), and medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus and from a diverse range of cortical areas including temporal association, entorhinal, insular, piriform, and somatosensory cortex. Upon fear learning, PIN/MGm inputs are strengthened, indicative of their involvement in fear behaviors. 3-D reconstruction of apITCs reveals local arborization and innervation of the dorsal striatum and lateral amygdala. We further show that apITCs provide sensory feedforward inhibition to LA principal cells, a putative mechanism for controlling plasticity during fear learning.

Assessing the robustness of feature-based selection in visual working memory.

Visual working memory (VWM) is a capacity-limited system to temporarily maintain visual information. Attending to information in VWM conveys a benefit, as revealed by the retro-cue effect. For example, when the location of one memory item is retro-cued during VWM maintenance, memory accuracy for that item improves. Attentional selection in VWM can also be feature-based: One feature (e.g., shape) may serve as a retrieval cue for another feature (e.g., color) of the same item. Here, we assessed the scope of feature retro-cue benefits with continuous report of colors and orientations. Across six experiments, we observed robust feature retro-cue benefits with manipulations of the cued and recalled feature dimensions, as well as against different baselines controlling for temporal and interference effects. Furthermore, we replicated with continuous report the hallmark of external feature-based attention-concurrent selection of multiple items. Mixture modeling indicated that feature retro-cue benefits increased recall probability and sometimes precision, paralleling findings on spatial attention. Importantly, cuing multiple items did not produce costs, indicating that concurrently attended items did not interfere with each other. Lastly, manipulation constraining spatial location to a single position suggested that feature retro-cue benefits persist even when spatial context is not singular, but take longer to emerge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Behavioural and neurophysiological signatures in the retrieval of individual memories of recent and remote real-life routine episodic events

Autobiographical memory (AM) has been largely investigated as the ability to recollect specific events that belong to an individual's past. However, how we retrieve real-life routine episodes and how the retrieval of these episodes changes with the passage of time remain unclear. Here, we asked participants to use a wearable camera that automatically captured pictures to record instances during a week of their routine life and implemented a deep neural network-based algorithm to identify picture sequences that represented episodic events. We then asked each participant to return to the lab to retrieve AMs for single episodes cued by the selected pictures 1 week, 2 weeks and 6–14 months after encoding while scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded. We found that participants were more accurate in recognizing pictured scenes depicting their own past than pictured scenes encoded in the lab, and that memory recollection of personally experienced events rapidly decreased with the passing of time. We also found that the retrieval of real-life picture cues elicited a strong and positive ‘ERP old/new effect’ over frontal regions and that the magnitude of this ERP effect was similar throughout memory tests over time. However, we observed that recognition memory induced a frontal theta power decrease and that this effect was mostly seen when memories were tested after 1 and 2 weeks but not after 6–14 months from encoding. Altogether, we discuss the implications for neuroscientific accounts of episodic retrieval and the potential benefits of developing individual-based AM exploration strategies at the clinical level.

Rhyme as resonance in poetry comprehension: An expert-novice study.

Previous research has identified alliteration as a powerful device for investigating implicit memory effects. For example, alliterative phrases can provide retrieval cues that extend to a sublexical level and reactivate previous information that shares alliterative content (Lea et al., Psychological Science, 19[7], 709-716, 2008). But it is an open question if other surface forms might provide similar effects in line with these empirical findings, and in accord with writer intuitions. The present study examined whether rhyme produces analogous memory-reactivation effects, given the ubiquity of its use and endorsement of its power in a range of materials and experiences. We also examined whether the surface benefits attributed to rhyme might support anticipatory processes such as those traditionally examined with semantic content. In Experiment 1, participants exhibited faster recognition responses to previous poetic content as a function of rhyming cues. In Experiment 2, we recruited participants identified as experts on the study and use of rhyme, replicating the probe facilitations obtained in Experiment 1, but also revealing anticipations of imminent rhymes. The results are discussed in terms of implications for theories of memory-based text processing and of nonsemantic anticipatory processes during the reading of poetry, and perhaps for discourse experiences more generally.

Recognition memory for human motor learning

Motor skill retention is typically measured by asking participants to reproduce previously learned movements from memory. The analog of this retention test (recall memory) in human verbal memory is known to underestimate how much learning is actually retained. Here we asked whether information about previously learned movements, which can no longer be reproduced, is also retained. Following visuomotor adaptation, we used tests of recall that involved reproduction of previously learned movements and tests of recognition in which participants were asked whether a candidate limb displacement, produced by a robot arm held by the subject, corresponded to a movement direction that was experienced during active training. The main finding was that 24h after training, estimates of recognition memory were about twice as accurate as those of recall memory. Thus, there is information about previously learned movements that is not retrieved using recall testing but can be accessed in tests of recognition. We conducted additional tests to assess whether, 24h after learning, recall for previously learned movements could be improved by presenting passive movements as retrieval cues. These tests were conducted immediately prior to recall testing and involved the passive playback of a small number of movements, which were spread across the workspace and included both adapted and baseline movements, without being marked as such. This technique restored recall memory for movements to levels close to those of recognition memory performance. Thus, somatic information may enable retrieval of otherwise inaccessible motor memories.

Distinguishing between high-confidence true and false memories: evidence from eye movements

ABSTRACT Objective: Memory confidence tends to be positively related to accuracy. However, false memory that fits well with the theme of an experience can also produce high-confidence responses. How to distinguish between high-confidence true and false recognition is unknown. The current study used eye movements to measure the retrieval processes of retrieval cues (i.e., item and theme) on recognition confidence and accuracy. Method: Participants (N = 30, Mage = 21.13 ± 2.06, 15 males) studied four visual thematic scenes, and after a filler task, took an item-theme recognition test in which their eye movements were recorded. Results: The gaze behaviour could distinguish between high-confidence true and false recognition. High-confidence false recognition was associated with longer fixation duration on item and theme, and more regression counts on theme as compared to high-confidence true recognition. Conclusion: High-confidence false recognition, compared to high-confidence true recognition, may have a weaker memory strength, such that more time-consuming and effortful retrieval-related monitoring processes were required before making a decision. The gaze behaviour based on both item and theme implied these processes. Thus, tracking eye movements during the identification may help evaluate whether a high-confidence recognition is true or false. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic? False memories occur when people rely on the theme of an experience. The unexperienced item (e.g., “beach ball”) which is contextually associated with the theme (e.g., “beach scene”) of the experience can be recognized as “old”. Memory confidence tends to be positively related to accuracy. However, false memory that fits well with the theme of an experience can also produce high-confidence responses. Gaze behaviour recorded at retrieval can serve as indices of memory-related processing: previously viewed items had shorter fixation duration relative to high-interference novel items. What does this paper add? This study is the first to provide evidence suggesting that eye movements on either item cue or theme cue can differentiate between high-confidence true and false recognition. Compared to high-confidence true recognition, high-confidence false recognition was associated with longer fixation duration on item and theme. These results suggest that the time-consuming retrieval-related processes are based on both item and theme retrieval. High-confidence false recognition was related to more regression counts on theme than high-confidence true recognition, suggesting that inflated confidence of false recognition may be associated with more effortful retrieval-related monitoring processes.

Odor is more effective than a visual cue or a verbal cue for the recovery of autobiographical memories in AD

ABSTRACT Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with an impairment of autobiographical memories, leading to the production of nonspecific memories. Recent research has demonstrated that odor can serve as a powerful cue for the retrieval of autobiographical memories in AD. Moreover, studies conducted in young adults have showed that odor-evoked autobiographical memories are evoked with more details compared with memories triggered by other sensory modalities. Building on the latter research, we compared specificity, subjective experience, emotional characteristics and retrieval time of autobiographical memories evoked by odor cue, visual cue and verbal cue. To this end, we invited participants with mild AD and control participants to retrieve autobiographical memories after the presentation of an odor, a visual representation of the odorant, or a verbal label of the odorant. Results showed more specificity, higher arousal and more positive memories after odor exposure compared to the visual cue and verbal cue in AD and control participants. In AD participants, autobiographical were retrieved faster after odor-exposure compared to memories evoked by a visual cue and a verbal cue, suggesting the automatic nature of odor-evoked autobiographical memories. Overall, these findings demonstrate that odor is more effective than visual or verbal cues for autobiographical retrieval in AD.

An Egocentric Network Contact Tracing Experiment: Testing Different Procedures to Elicit Contacts and Places.

Contact tracing is one of the oldest social network health interventions used to reduce the diffusion of various infectious diseases. However, some infectious diseases like COVID-19 amass at such a great scope that traditional methods of conducting contact tracing (e.g., face-to-face interviews) remain difficult to implement, pointing to the need to develop reliable and valid survey approaches. The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of three different egocentric survey methods for extracting contact tracing data: (1) a baseline approach, (2) a retrieval cue approach, and (3) a context-based approach. A sample of 397 college students were randomized into one condition each. They were prompted to anonymously provide contacts and populated places visited from the past four days depending on what condition they were given. After controlling for various demographic, social identity, psychological, and physiological variables, participants in the context-based condition were significantly more likely to recall more contacts (medium effect size) and places (large effect size) than the other two conditions. Theoretically, the research supports suggestions by field theory that assume network recall can be significantly improved by activating relevant activity foci. Practically, the research contributes to the development of innovative social network data collection methods for contract tracing survey instruments.

The warning stimulus as retrieval cue: The role of associative memory in temporal preparation

In a warned reaction time task, the warning stimulus (S1) initiates a process of temporal preparation, which promotes a speeded response to the impending target stimulus (S2). According to the multiple trace theory of temporal preparation (MTP), participants learn the timing of S2 by storing a memory trace on each trial, which contains a temporal profile of the events on that trial. On each new trial, S1 serves as a retrieval cue that implicitly and associatively activates memory traces created on earlier trials, which jointly drive temporal preparation for S2. The idea that S1 assumes this role as a retrieval cue was tested across eight experiments, in which two different S1s were associated with two different distributions of S1-S2 intervals: one with predominantly short and one with predominantly long intervals. Experiments differed regarding the S1 features that made up a pair, ranging from highly distinct (e.g., tone and flash) to more similar (e.g., red and green flash) and verbal (i.e., “short” vs “long”). Exclusively for pairs of highly distinct S1s, the results showed that the S1 cue modified temporal preparation, even in participants who showed no awareness of the contingency. This cueing effect persisted in a subsequent transfer phase, in which the contingency between S1 and the timing of S2 was broken – a fact participants were informed of in advance. Together, these findings support the role of S1 as an implicit retrieval cue, consistent with MTP.

Retrospective protocols in simultaneous interpreting: Testing the effect of retrieval cues

Retrospection in simultaneous interpreting research often uses either (1) transcripts of the source text or (2) recordings of the target texts as retrieval cues. This study tested their influence on the informativeness and the accuracy of retrospective reports in addition to the verbosity of the interpreters. The study also set out to examine the participants’ perception of the cueing stimuli. The participants in the study were 36 trainee interpreters, who took part in an experiment consisting of interpreting a speech simultaneously and performing self-retrospection immediately after the interpreting task. They were divided into two groups: group A, which was exposed to a source-text transcript as the retrieval cue during retrospection, and group B, which relied on target-text recordings. The results suggest that the differences between the two retrieval cues may be less marked than is generally assumed: the three parameters of verbosity, informativeness and accuracy do not display statistically significant differences between the two experimental conditions. However, some discrepancies can be observed as far as the participants’ perception of the cueing stimuli is concerned. The results also suggest that idiosyncratic reporting styles might have more impact on the retrospective reports than the type of cueing administered.

The Role of Surface Text Processing in Centrality Deficit and Poor Text Comprehension of Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Think‐Aloud Study

AbstractThe present study employed a think‐aloud method to explore the origin of centrality deficit (i.e., poor recall of central ideas) in individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Moreover, utilizing the diverse think‐aloud responses, we examined the overall quality of text processing employed by individuals with ADHD during reading, in order to shed more light on text‐level deficiencies underlying their poor comprehension after reading. To address these goals, adolescents with and without ADHD were asked to state aloud whatever comes to their minds during the reading of two expository texts. After reading, the participants freely recalled text ideas and answered multiple‐choice questions on the texts. Compared to controls, participants with ADHD generated fewer responses that reflect deep, efficient text processing, and reinstated fewer prior text ideas, particularly central ones, during reading. Moreover, the proportions of deep processing responses positively associated with participants’ performance on recall and comprehension tasks. These findings suggest that individuals with ADHD exhibit poor text comprehension and memory, particularly of central ideas, because they construct a low‐quality, less‐connected text representation during reading, and produce fewer, less‐elaborated retrieval cues for subsequent tasks after reading.

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