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S Mecklenbräuker

Publications and source records attributed to S Mecklenbräuker.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

What colour is the car? Implicit memory for colour information in children.

Three experiments were conducted to examine age-related differences in colour memory. In Experiment 1, preschool age and elementary school age children were given a conceptual test of implicit colour memory (a colour-choice task). They were presented with the names or achromatic versions of previously studied coloured line drawings and asked to select an appropriate colour. Significant priming could be demonstrated: The children chose the previously seen colours more often than was expected by chance. Equivalent priming was found for both versions (pictorial and verbal) suggesting that colour priming may be conceptually mediated. Moreover, colour priming proved to be age invariant. Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding by using a wider age group (preschool, elementary school, and young adults) and by giving a perceptual implicit task (picture identification) in addition to a verbal colour-choice task. Colour did not affect priming in the perceptual task. Whereas priming showed no developmental change, age-related improvements were observed on an explicit colour memory task that differed only in the test instructions from the implicit colour-choice task (Experiments 2 and 3). Taken together, the results suggest that implicit colour memory may be mediated by conceptual processes that are age invariant.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

Effects of color on perceptual and conceptual tests of implicit memory.

Two experiments are reported that explore why recent investigations of implicit memory failed to find any effects of color information on test performance. In the first experiment, participants studied colored pictures as well as words printed in colored ink without any memory instructions. During the test phase, a verbal and a pictorial version of a color-choice task (a conceptual priming test) were compared to two perceptual tests (word-stem completion and picture-fragment identification). Similar and significant amounts of priming to color occurred in both color-choice tasks. The perceptual tests were found to be sensitive to changes in the stimulus-presentation mode from study to test, but stimuli remaining the same color and those changed to black-and-white did not differ in the priming scores. In the second experiment, a mild division of attention was introduced in the study phase. Once again, priming to color was observed only in the verbal version of a color-choice test and not in the word-stem completion test. Dividing attention did not decrease performance on both implicit tests, whereas an explicit test of color recall for studied pictures suffered from dividing attention at encoding. It is concluded that a perceptual attribute such as color may be represented and coded by conceptual processing. Furthermore, automatic (or not attention-demanding) encoding processes may suffice for later conceptual tests of implicit memory. Previous failures to find any effects of color information on implicit performance are attributed to the use of perceptual priming tests.

Color Perception↗
PubMed1995

Input- and output-monitoring in implicit and explicit memory.

Previous experiments have shown that the procedure of questioning subjects retrospectively about the input and output status of information (input and output monitoring) is a useful method for assessing the awareness states of subjects during implicit and explicit memory tasks. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the previous findings could be extended to other implicit and explicit memory tasks. We were especially interested in whether differences in input- and output-monitoring performance can be observed when both the implicit and explicit memory tasks are conceptual ones. In a final tet phase, the target items from the study phase and new distractor items were presented. In a recognition-like situation, subjects had to decide whether an item had been presented in the study phase (input status), as well as whether they had produced the item in the memory-test phase (output status). In all three experiments judgments about the input status-but only for those items that had been produced in the implicit or in the explicit memory test--were more precise after explicit than after implicit memory testings. This finding was not influenced by the distinction between perceptual and conceptual-memory tasks (Exp. 1), and was obtained under conditions in which the implicit and the explicit memory tasks were both conceptual and differed only in test instructions (Exps. 2 and 3). These results suggest that not only subjects performing a perceptual test of implicit memory, but also subjects in a conceptual implicit test were less aware of using information from a previous study episode than subjects who received memory instructions. It is concluded that requiring judgments about the input status of information is a good method for assessing subjects' test awareness and is preferable to the use of a questionnaire (Exp. 3). In contrast, in all three experiments no differences were found with the output-monitoring measure between implicit and explicit test conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Priming effects in picture problems: preliminary solutions].

Two experiments explored whether picture puzzles are an adequate instrument to investigate implicit memory for pictorial information. During the testing phase, the subjects had to identify hidden figures in picture puzzles. In a preceding learning phase, the priming conditions were varied systematically. In the first experiment, some subjects had to solve picture puzzles in the learning phase, whereas others made esthetic judgments (global processing) or estimated the number of triangles in the picture puzzles (local processing). In the second experiment, the subjects inspected copies of figures that were hidden at testing, modified versions of these figures, or their names in the learning phase. In the first experiment, the subjects of the different encoding conditions showed comparable priming effects. Picture puzzles that had already been processed or seen during learning were solved more often than new ones. Interview data revealed that subjects in the local or global processing conditions did not identify hidden figures at encoding. Furthermore, these subjects could not discriminate between old and new picture puzzles in a final explicit test of recognition. Thus, nonconscious storage of perceptual information that is not semantically interpreted may be sufficient to evoke priming effects. In the second experiment, the subjects in the different encoding conditions showed reliable priming effects, too. The presentation of the duplicates at encoding produced the greatest amount of priming. Effects of verbal priming, however, indicate that the solution of picture puzzles is not based solely on perceptual information. Depending on the priming conditions at learning, the solution of picture puzzles may be based primarily on data-driven processing or may be guided more heavily by conceptual information. It is concluded that perceptual, lexical, and/or conceptual information can contribute to the solution of picture puzzles.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Motor and sensory effects of haptic experiences in implicit and explicit memory tests].

The present experiments explore the components (motor and/or sensory) underlying performance in implicit and explicit tests of memory for haptic information. In the first experiment, the encoding tasks and the test conditions were varied. During the encoding phase half of the subjects were blindfolded and explored real objects with their hands in order to answer questions about object properties (like form) as fast as possible (active exploration). The other subjects performed adequate hand movements without any sensory contact with the objects (motor encoding). At testing, for some subjects the active exploration task was repeated with old and with new objects. Other subjects who did not perform any hand movements based their judgments on sensory impressions only (passive touch). The results demonstrate reliable effects of implicit memory for haptic information, as revealed by faster reaction times to old than to new objects. However, priming effects were only obtained in the active touching test condition. This result was observed for both encoding tasks, that is, even for subjects who had only performed symbolic hand movements at encoding. Thus, the repetition of specific motor processes seems to underly the effects of repetition priming in active touch. In the second experiment, a passive touch paradigm was realized both at encoding and at test (sensory encoding). The priming effects observed under these conditions indicate that sensory processes can be relevant, too. Recognition performance was found to be influenced by other variables than measures of implicit memory. The results are discussed with respect to process-oriented and system approaches to implicit memory.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Effects of color on implicit and explicit memory tests].

We report two experiments that explore why recent investigations of implicit memory did not find any effects of color information on test performance. The argument that previous failures to find effects of repetition priming were due to an arbitrary association between objects and colors was found to be wanting. To the contrary, both experiments showed no or small effects of repetition for objects paired with their prototypical colors. A second argument according to which subjects attend to the colors at encoding did not fare much better. More importantly, however, we found strong effects of repetition priming with a conceptual implicit memory measure, whereas previous research had relied exclusively on perceptual tests of implicit memory. In both experiments, the subjects were asked to choose a suitable color for each object at testing. No instructions about remembering the objects were given. The results demonstrated strong preferences for the previously seen colors in the color-choice task. Furthermore, this effect was present to the same extent with picture objects and with object names, corroborating the conceptual nature of the implicit memory measure. Finally, we observed many functional dissociations with explicit measures of memory for color information, demonstrating implicit use of memory in the conceptual choice-test for colors.

Attention↗
PubMed1990

[Context-dependence of implicit and explicit memory characteristics].

The present experiments explore whether repetition priming in a word-stem completion task is context-dependent. In the first experiment, the environmental context was changed or remained constant at the testing stage. Implicit memory performance did not reveal any effects of environmental context. When tested by free recall, however, the same subjects showed an environmental congruency effect. On the other hand, effects of a change in presentation modality were restricted to implicit memory measures. In the second experiment, self-awareness was manipulated to create congruent or incongruent internal contexts at the testing stage. Performance on the word-stem completion task was seen to be influenced by internal contextual information. This pattern of results corroborates a processing account of implicit memory phenomena. Implicit and explicit expressions of memory utilize episodic information, but in a different way.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Implicit memory in spelling from word images.

A series of experiments is reported concerning implicit memory in imaginal processing. In the standard condition, subjects had to encode word images before spelling a word. The spelling task was repeated in the test phase with the same words and with additional control words. Spelling times were registered after the image encoding. Implicit memory has been detected if repeated words can be spelled faster than control words. Experiment 1 showed that levels of processing manipulations (such as the additional generation of meaning images at encoding or variations in word concreteness) favor explicit memory, but do not show up in implicit memory. Experiment 2 demonstrated that implicit memory disappears if spelling at encoding took place on visually present words. Experiment 3 investigated whether the focusing of specific letter positions within the image may contribute to the effect, but this was not found. According to a processing view that underlies our task analysis, implicit memory depends on transfer-appropriate processing and is attributed to processes of image encoding or generation and image reconstruction or regeneration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Implicit and explicit memories of odors].

The present experiments explore whether there may be some forms of implicit memory for odors. In the first experiment, the elaborateness of olfactory encoding was varied at presentation. For (explicit) recognition memory testing we found positive effects of labeling responses to odors at encoding. Implicit memory measures (temporal and preference judgments) did not reveal reliable effects of prior odor presentation, however. The second experiment corroborated effects of levels of processing on r recognition memory. Again, perceptual or affective judgments remained insensitive for prior odor exposures. Implicit memory could only be detected with verbal measures at the testing stage (labeling accuracy or latency). These results are consistent with the proposal that odor information is represented at different levels of processing that are even with implicit memory measures only partly accessible.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Effect of divided attention on explicit and implicit aspects of recall].

If subjects have to form word images before spelling a word from the image, results of a repetition of the spelling test reveal a reliable priming effect: Old words can be spelled faster than comparable control words, reflecting a form of implicit memory. We investigated whether this kind of repetition priming remains stable under conditions of divided attention in the study phase. The subjects had to spell meaningful words, meaningless non-words, and non-words that were meaningful with a backward spelling direction (troper, for example). In the testing stage, recognition judgments as a form of explicit memory were required, too. Divided attention in the study phase had a negative effect on explicit memory, as revealed by performance on the recognition task, but had little effect on implicit memory, as revealed by performance on the repetition of the spelling test. A further dissociation between implicit and explicit memory showed up as meaningful words were recognized much better than non-words, whereas implicit memory was uninfluenced by the meaningfulness variable. The disadvantage of backward spellings was not reduced with non-words (like troper) spelled backwards. Finally, we analyzed the relations between spelling times and recognition judgments and found a pattern of dependency for non-words only. Generally, the results are discussed within processing-oriented approaches to implicit memory with a special emphasis on controversial findings concerning the role of attention in different expressions of memory.

Adult↗