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Biomedical subjects

E L Bjork

Publications and source records attributed to E L Bjork.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Processing instructions and the generation effect: a test of the multifactor transfer-appropriate processing theory.

We report two experiments designed to test further the multifactor transfer-appropriate processing explanation of generation effects (deWinstanley, Bjork, & Bjork, 1996). The present research focuses on the following assumptions: (a) that processing resources are limited and, thus, the processing of one type of information can be, and often is, incompatible with the processing of other types of information; and (b) that reading and generating differ in terms of the flexibility they permit for the distribution of the subject's processing resources across the available information in an experimental context. These assumptions were tested by examining the consequences of processing instructions on the occurrence of generation effects, and the lack thereof, in free recall and cued recall. Across both experiments, identical processing instructions had strikingly different consequences on the later free-recall and cued-recall performance of subjects who encoded targets by generating them versus reading them, a pattern consistent with the foregoing assumptions.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Generation effects and the lack thereof: the role of transfer-appropriate processing.

We report two experiments designed to test a multifactor transfer-appropriate processing explanation of generation effects, and the lack thereof, in free recall and cued recall. The basic argument is that the act of generating a target enhances the processing of one or more possible types of information (e.g. target-specific information, cue-target relationships, or target-target relationships) and that subsequent retention tests will reveal an advantage (or disadvantage) of such generation (compared to a "read" control) to the degree that a test is sensitive to the information on which processing was focused during study. Across the two experiments, manipulations of identical stimulus materials forced subjects to process different types of information in order to generate targets, producing a striking reversal in the relative levels of free recall and cued recall for targets that had been generated vs. read, and lending strong support to the transfer-appropriate processing aspect of the proposed framework for explaining generation effects.

Association Learning↗
PubMed1994

Remembering can cause forgetting: retrieval dynamics in long-term memory.

Three studies show that the retrieval process itself causes long-lasting forgetting. Ss studied 8 categories (e.g., Fruit). Half the members of half the categories were then repeatedly practiced through retrieval tests (e.g., Fruit Or_____). Category-cued recall of unpracticed members of practiced categories was impaired on a delayed test. Experiments 2 and 3 identified 2 significant features of this retrieval-induced forgetting: The impairment remains when output interference is controlled, suggesting a retrieval-based suppression that endures for 20 min or more, and the impairment appears restricted to high-frequency members. Low-frequency members show little impairment, even in the presence of strong, practiced competitors that might be expected to block access to those items. These findings suggest a critical role for suppression in models of retrieval inhibition and implicate the retrieval process itself in everyday forgetting.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Continuing influences of to-be-forgotten information.

In the present paper, we first argue that it is critical for humans to forget; that is, to have some means of preventing out-of-date information from interfering with the recall of current information. We then argue that the primary means of accomplishing such adaptive updating of human memory is retrieval inhibition: Information that is rendered out of date by new learning becomes less retrievable, but remains at essentially full strength in memory as indexed by other measures, such as recognition and word-fragment completion. We conclude with a speculation that certain unconscious influences of prior events may, in fact, be stronger if those events were to be forgotten rather than to be remembered.

Adult↗