The ROCK Tool: A Novel Method for the Structural Exploration of Schemata

Information stored in the human memory is organized in the form of mental schemata. In this paper we report on the Reproduction of Categorical Knowledge (ROCK) tool, a novel method for uncovering the structure of mental schemata of memorized information. The tool applies serial reproduction and hierarchical clustering to magnify memory bias and uncover inner configurations of fragmented information, using strength of association. We conducted behavioral experiments to test the validity of the tool. Experiment 1a demonstrated that the schematic structure of personality traits uncovered by the ROCK tool highly matched those described by the Big Five theory. This finding was replicated in Experiment 1b, focusing on a lower-level personality dimension extroversion with results aligned with personality theories. Experiment 2 assessed the ROCK tool using artificial stimuli with a pre-defined structure, created using a Markov chain model. Participants acquired the structure of the stimuli through an implicit learning procedure, and the ROCK tool was used to assess their level of recall. The results showed that the learned structure was identical to the designed structure of the stimuli. The results from both studies suggest that the ROCK tool could effectively reveal the structure of mental schemata.