ABSTRACT

Serial position effects are often observed within the free recall of unassociated words but also when recalling items from a semantic category like U.S. presidents. We investigated the dynamics of recall for U.S. presidents in younger and older adults to examine potential age-related differences in the organisation of retrieval from semantic long-term memory. Older adults recalled more presidents than younger adults and also demonstrated dual serial position effects such that, in addition to overall serial position effects, primacy (e.g., Eisenhower) and recency presidents (e.g., Obama) within older adults’ lifetime were better recalled than presidents from the middle of their lives (e.g., Ford). Additionally, participants initiated recall with the most distinct presidents (highly familiar or memorable presidents like Washington, Obama, Trump), and conditional-response probabilities revealed that presidents from similar eras were recalled in close proximity, indicating that the retrieval of distinct presidents can facilitate memory for presidents from a similar era. Collectively, we demonstrate the potential interplay of the mechanisms that influence the organisation of retrieval such that distinctiveness and temporal contiguity effects may simultaneously impact recall. Specifically, semantic and temporal-contextual associations can drive semantic autobiographical memory and people likely organise retrieval from long-term memory according to familiarity and distinctiveness.

摘要

在自由回忆不相关的单词时经常观察到连续位置效应，但在回忆像美国总统这样的语义类别中的项目时也会观察到连续位置效应。我们调查了美国总统在年轻人和老年人中的回忆动态，以检查从语义长期记忆中检索的组织中与年龄相关的潜在差异。与年轻人相比，老年人回忆起更多的总统，并且还表现出双重序列位置效应，因此，除了整体序列位置效应外，老年人一生中的首要总统（例如，艾森豪威尔）和新近总统（例如，奥巴马）比总统更容易被回忆起从他们的中年开始（例如，福特）。此外，参与者与最独特的总统（华盛顿、奥巴马、特朗普等非常熟悉或令人难忘的总统）发起了回忆，和条件响应概率显示，相似时代的总统被近距离回忆，表明检索不同的总统可以促进对相似时代总统的记忆。总的来说，我们展示了影响检索组织的机制的潜在相互作用，使得独特性和时间连续性效应可能同时影响回忆。具体来说，语义和时间-上下文关联可以驱动语义自传记忆，人们可能会根据熟悉度和独特性从长期记忆中组织检索。表明对不同总统的检索可以促进对相似时代总统的记忆。总的来说，我们展示了影响检索组织的机制的潜在相互作用，使得独特性和时间连续性效应可能同时影响回忆。具体来说，语义和时间-上下文关联可以驱动语义自传记忆，人们可能会根据熟悉度和独特性从长期记忆中组织检索。表明对不同总统的检索可以促进对相似时代总统的记忆。总的来说，我们展示了影响检索组织的机制的潜在相互作用，使得独特性和时间连续性效应可能同时影响回忆。具体来说，语义和时间-上下文关联可以驱动语义自传记忆，人们可能会根据熟悉度和独特性从长期记忆中组织检索。