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Related Experiment Videos

Intimacy, concreteness, and the "self-reference effect".

Uwe Czienskowski1, Stefanie Giljohann

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Lentzeallee 94, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. sciencec@mpib-berlin.mpg.de

Experimental Psychology
|April 27, 2002
PubMed
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Self-reference enhances memory recall more than referring to others, but only when learning abstract material. Concrete or pictorial elements diminish this self-reference effect in memory.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Memory Studies

Background:

  • Self-referential encoding often improves memory recall compared to referencing others.
  • The strength and conditions of this self-reference effect vary, sometimes leading to reversed outcomes.
  • Previous research indicates the effect is strongest with non-intimate others and abstract material.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of material concreteness in the self-reference effect on memory.
  • To test the hypothesis that the self-reference effect diminishes when concrete features aid encoding.
  • To explain previously puzzling findings regarding imagery instructions and self-reference.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted using incidental word learning tasks.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Participants encoded nouns under self-reference and other-reference conditions.
  • Material concreteness and imageability were controlled or manipulated.

    • Main Results:

    • The self-reference recall advantage was absent when learning concrete nouns.
    • Concreteness and imageability of the material significantly impacted recall, overriding self-reference effects.
    • Results align with predicted effect sizes from prior meta-analyses and studies.

    Conclusions:

    • The memory benefit of self-reference is subordinate to the effects of material concreteness or imageability.
    • The absence of pictorial or concrete features is crucial for observing the self-reference effect.
    • This provides a theoretical framework for understanding discrepancies in previous self-reference and imagery research.