Self-generated information is often better remembered than read information (the generation effect). Recent research, however, has shown that generating information under fewer experimental constraints (i.e., fewer limitations on what can be generated) can increase the magnitude of the generation effect. This study systematically varied generation constraint to better understand the effects of constraint on memory. Participants encoded associated cue–target word pairs (above–below) on either the left or right side of a computer monitor. At encoding, generation constraint was manipulated by systematically varying the number of letters given to participants to generate the target word (i.e., above–below; option–choic_; bank–mon__; etc.). At retrieval, participants were given either a recognition, cued recall, or free recall test measuring both item (target word) and context memory (location on the computer monitor). Using mixed-effects logistic regression analyses to control for item-selection effects (e.g., participants producing idiosyncratic targets in some conditions relative to others), results indicated that generation constraint significantly influenced item, but not context (location) memory. The relationship between generation constraint and memory performance, however, differed by the type of memory test administered: Recognition data revealed a curvilinear relationship; cued recall showed a negative, linear relationship; and free recall showed no significant relationship. Overall, these findings provide more evidence that generation constraint has a strong yet complex effect on different aspects of memory, and further delineates some boundary conditions of the influence of generation constraint on memory.

与阅读信息相比，通常更容易记住自己生成的信息（生成效果）。但是，最近的研究表明，在较少的实验约束下（即，对可生成内容的较少限制）生成信息可以增加生成效果的大小。这项研究系统地改变了生成约束，以更好地了解约束对内存的影响。参与者在计算机监视器的左侧或右侧对相关的提示-目标单词对（上方-下方）进行了编码。在编码时，通过系统地改变发给参与者以生成目标词的字母数量（即，上方-下方； option-choic_； bank-mon__等）来操纵生成约束。检索时，参与者会得到认可，提示回忆，或免费的召回测试，可同时测量项目（目标词）和上下文记忆（计算机显示器上的位置）。使用混合效应逻辑回归分析来控制项目选择效应（例如，参与者在某些条件下相对于其他条件产生特质目标），结果表明生成约束显着影响了项目记忆，但对上下文（位置）记忆没有影响。但是，生成限制与记忆性能之间的关系因所进行的记忆测试的类型而异：识别数据显示出曲线关系；提示的回忆显示出负的线性关系；与免费召回没有明显关系。总体而言，这些发现提供了更多证据表明世代限制对记忆的不同方面具有强大而复杂的影响，