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ABSTRACTThree experiments used a paradigm based on Retrieval-Induced Forgetting research to test for the competition from non-useful sources of information in cross-domain analogical transfer. This was accomplished by presenting people with texts introducing multiple candidate solutions prior to attempting the Radiation problem, and later testing memory for the texts. In Experiment 1, viable and unviable candidate solutions that varied in surface and structural similarity were presented in their own story contexts. In Experiments 2 and 3, the viable and unviable solutions were embedded within the same story context. The results suggest that forgetting unviable solutions that share surface-level overlap with the target problem may be less important than suggested by prior work. Instead, greater evidence of forgetting was obtained when unviable solutions were embedded within the same context as viable solutions. These findings suggest that competition from superficially similar, unviable solutions may not be the main obstacle during analogical problem-solving attempts, but rather the main obstacle for transfer may be the selection of relevant solution concepts.
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Solución de Problemas , HumanosRESUMEN
Two experiments examined whether the specific composition of the set of cues might influence performance on a part-set cueing task. Although researchers traditionally have chosen their part-set cues either at random or systematically across the original set of materials, in the current study, the part-set cues comprised sets of either the most or least memorable items in the stimulus set (based on past research with the materials). With both word list (Experiment 1) and paragraph (Experiment 2) stimuli, the results showed differential effects of cue composition on part-set cueing performance. That is, part-set cueing impairment occurred following the presentation of high memorability cues, whereas there was no difference between cued and uncued performance following presentation of low memorability cues. These results suggest that the presence or absence of part-set cueing impairment can be influenced by the specific composition of the cue set.
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Señales (Psicología) , Inhibición Psicológica , Recuerdo Mental/fisiología , Lectura , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The very act of retrieval modifies the accessibility of memory for knowledge and past events and can also cause forgetting. A prominent theory of such retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) holds that retrieval recruits inhibition to overcome interference from competing memories, rendering these memories inaccessible. The present study tested a fundamental tenet of the inhibitory-control account: The competition-dependence assumption. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants engaged in a competitive retrieval task. Competition levels were manipulated within the retrieval task by varying the cue-item associative strength of competing items. In order to temporally separate ERP correlates of competitor activation and target retrieval, memory was probed with the sequential presentation of 2 cues: A category cue, to reactivate competitors, and a target cue. As predicted by the inhibitory-control account, competitors with strong compared with weak cue-competitor association were more susceptible to forgetting. Furthermore, competition-sensitive ERP modulations, elicited by the category cue, were observed over anterior regions and reflected individual differences in ensuing forgetting. The present study demonstrates ERP correlates of the reactivation of tightly bound associated memories (the competitors) and provides support for the inhibitory-control account of RIF.