Benefits and costs of predictive processing: How sentential constraint and word expectedness affect memory formation
Gerrit Höltje1, Axel Mecklinger1
1Experimental Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Brain Research
|May 13, 2022
Summary
Schema support strength influences word memory encoding. Strongly constraining sentences enhance memory for expected words, while weakly constraining sentences require more elaborate processing, impacting predictive memory effects.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Memory Research
Background:
- Schema support in sentences influences cognitive processing.
- Understanding predictive processing in memory is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how schema strength (strong vs. weak constraining sentences) affects encoding of expected/unexpected words.
- Examine event-related potentials (ERPs) related to memory encoding.
- Analyze recognition memory performance for studied and unstudied words.
Main Methods:
- Studied word encoding using event-related potentials (ERPs).
- Surprise recognition memory test with expected lures.
- Comparison of ERPs for subsequently remembered vs. forgotten words.
Main Results:
- Stronger schema support (SC) enhanced memory for expected words, shown by parietal subsequent memory effect (SME).
- SC sentences reduced N400 amplitudes, indicating easier semantic integration.
- Weakly constraining (WC) sentences showed late frontal slow wave SME, suggesting sustained encoding.
- Expected but unpresented words led to false positives, especially after SC sentences.
Conclusions:
- Schema strength significantly impacts word encoding and memory.
- Predictive processing can lead to mnemonic costs, particularly with strong semantic predictions.
- ERPs provide insights into the neural mechanisms of schema-based memory encoding.
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