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Retrieval volition and memorial awareness in stem completion: an empirical analysis
A Richardson-Klavehn1, J M Gardiner
1School of Psychology, Middlesex University, Queensway, Enfield, U.K.
Psychological Research
|January 1, 1995
Summary
This study reveals that involuntary conscious memory influences word recall differently in incidental and opposition tests. Retrieval volition, whether voluntary or involuntary, is distinct from conscious awareness of memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Memory
Background:
- Depth of processing at study influences memory retrieval.
- Distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary memory retrieval is crucial for understanding memory dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of involuntary conscious memory in stem completion tasks.
- To differentiate retrieval volition from memorial awareness.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of facilitation effects in incidental and opposition stem completion tests.
- Utilizing on-line recognition measures and conditionalizing on recognition failure.
- Measuring stem completion speed across incidental, opposition, and intentional tests.
Main Results:
- Opposition tests showed graphemic processing priming, unlike semantic processing.
- Incidental tests demonstrated a semantic processing advantage in recognition, but not priming.
- Stem completion was faster in incidental and opposition tests compared to intentional tests.
Conclusions:
- Involuntary conscious memory affects performance differently across memory tests.
- Retrieval volition is dissociable from the conscious state of memory.
- The process-dissociation approach may confound conscious awareness with voluntary retrieval.