Abstract
When recalling an event, people usually retrieve the main facts and a reduced proportion of specific details. The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of conceptually and perceptually driven encoding in the recall of conceptual and perceptual information of an event. The materials selected for the experiment were two movie trailers. To enhance the encoding instructions, after watching the first trailer participants answered conceptual or perceptual questions about the event, while a control group answered general knowledge questions. After watching the second trailer, all of the participants completed a closed-ended recall task consisting of conceptual and perceptual items. Conceptual information was better recalled than perceptual details and participants made more perceptual than conceptual commission errors. Conceptually driven processing enhanced the recall of conceptual information, while perceptually driven processing not only did not improve the recall of descriptive details, but also damaged the standard conceptual/perceptual recall relationship.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Brainerd CJ, Reyna VF (1990) Gist is the grist: fuzzy-trace theory and the new intuitionism. Dev Rev 10:3–47
Coane JH (2013) Retrieval practice and elaborative encoding benefit memory in younger and older adults. J Appl Res Mem Cognit 2:95–100
Conway MA (2009) Episodic memories. Neuropsychologia 47:2305–2313
Cook LK, Mayer RE (1988) Teaching readers about the structure of scientific text. J Educ Psychol 80:448–456
Coxon P, Valentine T (1997) The effects of age of eyewitness on the accuracy and suggestibility of their testimony. Appl Cognit Psychol 11:415–430
Craik FIM, Lockhart RS (1972) Levels of processing: a framework for memory research. J Verbal Learn Verbal Behav 11:671–684
Craik FIM, Tulving E (1975) Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. J Exp Psychol Gen 104:268–294
Förster J (2012) GLOMOsys: the how and why of global and local processing. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 21:15–19
García-Bajos E, Migueles M (2013) An integrative study of autobiographical memory for positive and negative experiences. Span J Psychol 16:E102
Israel L, Schacter DL (1997) Pictorial encoding reduces false recognition of semantic associates. Psychon Bull Rev 4:577–581
Johnson MK, Hashtroudi S, Lindsay DS (1993) Source monitoring. Psychol Bull 14:3–28
Karpel ME, Hoyer WJ, Toglia MP (2001) Accuracy and qualities of real and suggested memories: nonspecific age differences. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 56B:103–110
Kindt M, van der Hout M, Arntz A, Drost J (2008) The influence of data-driven versus perceptually-driven processing on the development of PTSD-like symptoms. J Behav Ther 39:546–557
Migueles M, García-Bajos E (1999) Recall, recognition, and confidence patterns in eyewitness testimony. Appl Cognit Psychol 13:257–268
Morris CD, Bransford JD, Franks JF (1977) Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing. J Verbal Learn Verbal Behav 16:519–533
Mulligan NW (2000) Perceptual interference at encoding enhances item-specific encoding and disrupts relational encoding: evidence from multiple recall tests. Mem Cognit 28:539–546
Navon D (1977) Forest before trees: the precedence of global features in visual perception. Cognit Psychol 9:353–383
Neuschatz JS, Payne DG, Lampinen JM, Toglia MP (2001) Assessing the effectiveness of warnings and the phenomenological characteristics of false memories. Memory 9:53–71
Roediger III HL (1990) Implicit memory: retention without remembering. Am Psychol 45:1043–1056
Roediger HL, Gallo DA, Geraci L (2002) Processing approaches to cognition: the impetus from the levels-of processing framework. Memory 10:319–332
Storbeck J (2013) Negative affect promotes encoding of and memory for details at the expense of the gist: affect, encoding, and false memories. Cognit Emot 27:800–819
Tulving E (1985) Memory and consciousness. Can Psychol 26:1–12
Williams HL, Conway MA, Baddeley AD (2008) The boundaries of episodic memories. In: Shipley TF, Zacks JM (eds) Understanding events: from perception to action. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 589–616
Woltin K, Corneille O, Yzerbyt VY (2012) Improving communicative understanding: the benefits of global processing. J Exp Soc Psychol 48:1179–1182
Yang T, Gathercole SE, Allen RJ (2014) Benefit of enactment over oral repetition of verbal instruction does not require additional working memory during encoding. Psychon Bull Rev 21:186–192
Zaragoza MS, Mitchell KJ, Payment K, Drivdahl S (2011) False memories for suggestions: the impact of conceptual elaboration. J Mem Lang 64:18–31
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Grants PSI2012-32960 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and GIU12/19 from the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
García-Bajos, E., Migueles, M. & Aizpurua, A. Conceptual and perceptual encoding instructions differently affect event recall. Cogn Process 15, 535–541 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0615-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0615-3