Distinctiveness models of memory and absolute identification: Evidence for local, not global, effects

Many models of memory assume that the probability of remembering an item is related to how distinctive that item is relative to all the other items in the set, with no distinction made between the contributions of near or far items. These “global” distinctiveness models do well in accounting for the ubiquitous serial position effects observed in numerous memory paradigms, including absolute identification. Here, we provide experimental confirmation of Bower's (1971) suggestion that, contrary to a fundamental prediction of global distinctiveness models, midseries items can be more discriminable than their immediate neighbours. We show that such data are consistent with a revised distinctiveness account in which the factor affecting discrimination performance is primarily the distinctiveness of an item relative to its close neighbours.

[1]  H. V. Restorff.  Über die Wirkung von Bereichsbildungen im Spurenfeld , 1933 .

[2]  O. Reiser,et al.  Principles Of Gestalt Psychology , 1936 .

[3]  W. R. Garner.  An informational analysis of absolute judgments of loudness. , 1953, Journal of experimental psychology.

[4]  Garner Wr.  An informational analysis of absolute judgments of loudness. , 1953 .

[5]  H W HAKE,et al.  Anchor effects in absolute judgments. , 1957, Journal of experimental psychology.

[6]  B. Murdock,et al.  The distinctiveness of stimuli. , 1960, Psychological review.

[7]  W. Siegel,et al.  Absolute Judgment and Paired-Associate Learning: Kissing Cousins or Identical Twins?. , 1972 .

[8]  R M Nosofsky,et al.  Luce’s choice model and Thurstone’s categorical judgment model compared: Kornbrot’s data revisited , 1985, Perception & psychophysics.

[9]  A. Glenberg,et al.  A temporal distinctiveness theory of recency and modality effects. , 1986, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[10]  R. Shepard,et al.  Toward a universal law of generalization for psychological science. , 1987, Science.

[11]  R. G. Crowder,et al.  Schedules of presentation and temporal distinctiveness in human memory. , 1990 .

[12]  G. J. Johnson.  A distinctiveness model of serial learning , 1991 .

[13]  Robert M. Nosofsky,et al.  Exemplar-based approach to relating categorization, identification, and recognition , 1992 .

[14]  I. Neath.  Contextual and distinctive processes and the serial position function. , 1993 .

[15]  I. Neath.  Distinctiveness and serial position effects in recognition , 1993, Memory & cognition.

[16]  Alicia J. Knoedler,et al.  Distinctiveness and Serial Position Effects in Recognition and Sentence Processing , 1994 .

[17]  R. Nosofsky,et al.  Seven plus or minus two: a commentary on capacity limitations. , 1994, Psychological review.

[18]  David J. Murray.  Gestalt Psychology and the Cognitive Revolution , 1995 .

[19]  R. G. Crowder,et al.  Distinctiveness and very short-term serial position effects. , 1996, Memory.

[20]  Alicia J. Knoedler,et al.  The shift from recency to primacy with increasing delay. , 1999 .

[21]  G D Brown,et al.  Oscillator-based memory for serial order. , 2000, Psychological review.

[22]  A. Collins.  The Psychology of Memory. , 2001 .

[23]  Gordon D. A. Brown,et al.  Absolute identification by relative judgment. , 2005, Psychological review.

[24]  Gordon D. A. Brown,et al.  A temporal ratio model of memory. , 2007, Psychological review.