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The mnemonic effect of choice.

Michelle E Coverdale1, James S Nairne2

  • 1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2081, USA. mcoverda@purdue.edu.

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Summary

Choosing items enhances memory recall. This study found a unique mnemonic benefit for chosen items, separate from their relevance to the encoding task, improving memory performance.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Memory Studies
  • Decision Making

Background:

  • Making choices during information encoding improves memory compared to externally determined choices.
  • Prior research indicated chosen items are more memorable, but the cause (act of choosing vs. item relevance) was unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To differentiate the mnemonic benefits of choice from item congruity (fit) with the encoding situation.
  • To determine if the act of choosing itself confers a memory advantage.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted manipulating both choice and congruity.
  • Participants made choices about word usefulness in specific situations.
  • Memory for chosen versus unchosen and congruent versus incongruent words was assessed.

Main Results:

  • A mnemonic benefit was observed for chosen words over unchosen words.
  • A mnemonic benefit was also found for congruent words over incongruent words.
  • Crucially, these effects did not interact, suggesting independence.

Conclusions:

  • The act of choosing confers a unique mnemonic benefit on memory.
  • This benefit is distinct from and not explained by the item's congruity or fit to the encoding task.