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Automatic processing influences free recall: converging evidence from the process dissociation procedure and
David P McCabe1, Henry L Roediger, Jeffrey D Karpicke
1Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1876, USA. david.mccabe@colostate.edu
Memory & Cognition
|January 26, 2011
Summary
Free recall memory is not solely based on conscious recollection. Automatic processes also significantly influence how we retrieve information, even in simple recall tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Memory
- Human Memory Research
Background:
- Dual-process theories posit that memory retrieval involves both controlled and automatic processing.
- Free recall tests are traditionally viewed as measures of controlled recollection only.
- The role of automatic processes in free recall has been debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether automatic processes influence free recall performance.
- To differentiate between controlled recollection and automaticity in free recall.
- To challenge the notion that free recall exclusively measures conscious recollection.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using a novel variant of the process dissociation procedure.
- Inclusion and exclusion tasks were employed to estimate recollection and automaticity.
- Experiment 2 included remember-know-guess judgments during recall under divided attention.
Main Results:
- Dividing attention during study selectively impaired recollection estimates but not automaticity.
- Remember judgments decreased with divided attention, while know responses remained unaffected.
- Both methods consistently indicated that automatic processes contribute to free recall.
Conclusions:
- Free recall is influenced by both conscious recollection and automatic retrieval processes.
- Automatic influences in free recall are similar to those observed in implicit memory tests.
- Memory retrieval in free recall is not solely driven by volition or conscious remembering.
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