Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
Published on: June 14, 2019
Collaborative memory in a serial combination procedure
Annie Stanfield Ditta1, Mark Steyvers
1Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-5100, USA.
Abstract:
This article describes a new approach for studying collaborative memory that examines people's editing processes for naturally occurring memory errors. In this approach, memories of individuals are combined via a chaining method in which each participant indirectly receives information from the previous participant. Participants were asked to individually study word lists and recall as many words as possible in an online setting. Once a participant completed the recall task, his/her answers were provided for the next participant as suggested answers for their own recall. However, that participant was allowed to add or subtract words from the provided list of suggested answers. The final answer of the group was an aggregate of recalled words based on the answer given by the last participant in the chain. Results showed that participants displayed a very high accuracy of recall throughout the chain, although they were not able to replicate the entire study list or eliminate all errors by the end of the chain. This procedure has the advantage that it allows examination of the memory-editing processes individuals utilise when they communicate information indirectly, independent from social factors that arise in face-to-face group memory settings.
Related Concept Videos
Storage
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...
Mnemonic Devices
Acronyms
Acronyms are created by using the initial letters of a series of words to form a new word or phrase. This approach condenses complex information into a single, memorable entity. For example,...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory
System of Memory

