Date of Award
Summer 8-1-2021
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Psychology
Committee Chair
Mark Huff
Committee Chair School
Psychology
Committee Member 2
Alen Hajnal
Committee Member 2 School
Psychology
Committee Member 3
Hans Stadthagen
Committee Member 3 School
Psychology
Committee Member 4
Lin Agler
Committee Member 4 School
Psychology
Abstract
Completing an interpolated memory test or trying to guess non-studied information following study has yielded powerful memory benefits relative to restudy on a final memory test. Across repetitions of testing and guessing, participants may form an expectancy of an upcoming test type, and consequently, adjust their encoding of information in anticipation of the upcoming test. Research has shown that after several task repetitions, participants form an expectancy of the upcoming task type and will encode materials to match task constraints (Huff, Yates, and Balota, 2018). It is uncertain to what extent these expectancy processes aid in facilitating recollection of specific details of studied items or improves familiarity. My dissertation evaluated the contribution of expectancy processes involved in testing and guessing effects on memory by estimating recollection and familiarity processes using the remember/know procedure. Recollection and familiarity processes were estimated under conditions in which expectancy processes were eliminated due to random presentation of restudy, testing and guessing tasks (Experiment 1), or encouraged by having participants repeat restudy, testing, or guessing tasks either 6 (Experiment 2), or 18 (Experiment 3) times consecutively. Testing and guessing benefits were greatest following consecutive task repetitions indicating the presence of task expectancies. Additionally, task expectancies affected recollection of list items similarly to overall correct recognition, whereas expectancy effects on familiarity with critical items was consistent with overall false recognition. Thus, expectancy processes in memory reflect a combination of familiarity- and recollection-based processes. Discussion focuses on repeated testing and guessing as potential strategies to facilitate student performance in educational settings.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Kendal, "Evaluating the Contributions of Recollection and Familiarity on Testing and Guessing Benefits in Recognition Memory" (2021). Dissertations. 1913.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1913