Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
How the measurement of memory processes can affect memory performance: the case of remember/know judgments
Moshe Naveh-Benjamin1, Angela Kilb
1Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. navehbenjaminm@missouri.edu
Abstract:
Relatively little attention has been paid thus far in memory research to the effects of measurement instruments intended to assess memory processes on the constructs being measured. The current article investigates the influence of employing the popular remember/know (R/K) measurement procedure on memory performance itself. This measurement procedure was extensively used in the past to assess the respective contributions of 2 processes to memory judgments, one based on familiarity and the other on recollection. Two experiments using unrelated word pairs showed that the use of an R/K procedure can alter memory performance. Specifically, the R/K procedure improved associative memory among older but not younger adults compared to conditions in which participants were not asked to provide R/K judgments. Such an effect was not observed in item memory performance. Potential mechanisms mediating these differential memory measurement effects are outlined, and the measurement effects' implications for memory and cognitive research are discussed.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Interference and Decay
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Understanding Memory
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...
Forgetting
Encoding...
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory

