Individual differences in shifting decision criterion: A recognition memory study

An ability to flexibly shift a decision criterion can be advantageous. For example, a known change in the base rate of targets and distractors on a recognition memory test will lead optimal decision makers to shift their criterion accordingly. In the present study, 95 individuals participated in two recognition memory tests that included periodic changes in the base rate probability that the test stimulus had been presented during the study session. The results reveal a wide variability in the tendency to shift decision criterion in response to this probability information, with some appropriately shifting and others not shifting at all. However, participants were highly reliable in their tendency to shift criterion across tests. The goal of the present study was to explain what factors account for these individual differences. To accomplish this, over 50 variables were assessed for each individual (e.g., personality, cognitive style, state of mind). Using a regression model that incorporated different sets of factors, over 50 % of the variance was accounted for. The results of the analysis describe the total, direct, and mediating effects on criterion shifting from factors that include memory strength, strategy, and inherent characteristics such as a fun-seeking personality, a negative affect, and military rank. The results are discussed with respect to understanding why participants rarely chose an optimal decision-making strategy and provide greater insight into the underlying mechanisms of recognition memory.

[1]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  List-strength effect: I. Data and discussion. , 1990 .

[2]  M. McCloskey,et al.  Misleading postevent information and memory for events: arguments and evidence against memory impairment hypotheses. , 1985, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[3]  Neal E A Kroll,et al.  Distinctiveness and the recognition mirror effect: evidence for an item-based criterion placement heuristic. , 2005, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[4]  Neil A. Macmillan,et al.  Detection theory: A user's guide, 2nd ed. , 2005 .

[5]  Colin Camerer,et al.  A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision making , 2008, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[6]  H. Roediger,et al.  Robert G. Crowder and his intellectual heritage. , 2001 .

[7]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Tricks of Memory , 2000 .

[8]  Michael Diaz,et al.  Signal detection with criterion noise: applications to recognition memory. , 2009, Psychological review.

[9]  Denise C. Park,et al.  A lifespan database of adult facial stimuli , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[10]  C. Carver,et al.  Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales , 1994 .

[11]  Volker Blanz,et al.  Component-Based Face Recognition with 3D Morphable Models , 2003, 2004 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshop.

[12]  O. John,et al.  Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 2nd ed. , 1999 .

[13]  E. Hirshman,et al.  Decision processes in recognition memory: criterion shifts and the list-strength paradigm. , 1995, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[14]  Ruth B. Ekstrom,et al.  Manual for kit of factor-referenced cognitive tests , 1976 .

[15]  Murray Singer,et al.  Strategies of text retrieval: a criterion shift account. , 2002, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[16]  Scott A. Guerin,et al.  The strategic nature of false recognition in the DRM paradigm. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[17]  Lippincott Williams Wilkins,et al.  Practice Parameter , 1997, Neurology.

[18]  Nir Vulkan.  An Economist's Perspective on Probability Matching , 2000 .

[19]  H. Roediger,et al.  Associative Processes in False Recall and False Recognition , 1997 .

[20]  Matthew G. Rhodes,et al.  On the dynamic nature of response criterion in recognition memory: effects of base rate, awareness, and feedback. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[21]  Ewart A. C. Thomas.  Criterion adjustment and probability matching , 1975 .

[22]  Kathryn L. Taylor,et al.  Clinical evaluation of a measure to assess combat exposure. , 1989 .

[23]  Andy Harter,et al.  Parameterisation of a stochastic model for human face identification , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision.

[24]  M Glanzer,et al.  The mirror effect in recognition memory , 1984, Memory & cognition.

[25]  D. Koehler,et al.  Probability matching in choice under uncertainty: Intuition versus deliberation , 2009, Cognition.

[26]  Edward K. Vogel,et al.  The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions , 1997, Nature.

[27]  Michael B. Miller,et al.  The role of criterion shift in false memory , 1999 .

[28]  Maro G. Machizawa,et al.  Neural activity predicts individual differences in visual working memory capacity , 2004, Nature.

[29]  Michael D. Robinson,et al.  Stuck in a rut: perseverative response tendencies and the neuroticism-distress relationship. , 2006, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[30]  S. Lewandowsky,et al.  Verbalizing facial memory: criterion effects in verbal overshadowing. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[31]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Spreading activation and arousal of false memories. , 2001 .

[32]  Michael A. Motes,et al.  Object-Spatial Imagery: A New Self-Report Imagery Questionnaire , 2006 .

[33]  M. Singer,et al.  Strength-based criterion shifts in recognition memory , 2009, Memory & cognition.

[34]  Hans J. Eysenck,et al.  Manual of the Eysenck personality questionnaire , 1975 .

[35]  J. S. Nairne,et al.  The nature of remembering : essays in honor of Robert G. Crowder , 2001 .

[36]  T. Parks.  Signal-detectability theory of recognition-memory performance. , 1966, Psychological review.

[37]  Alan Richardson,et al.  Verbalizer-visualizer: A cognitive style dimension. , 1977 .

[38]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[39]  Aleix M. Martinez,et al.  The AR face database , 1998 .

[40]  W. Hockley.  Criterion Changes: How Flexible Are Recognition Decision Processes? , 2011 .

[41]  Neil A. Macmillan,et al.  Detection Theory: A User's Guide , 1991 .

[42]  T. Van Zandt,et al.  ROC curves and confidence judgements in recognition memory. , 2000, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[43]  John T Wixted,et al.  On the nature of the decision axis in signal-detection-based models of recognition memory. , 2002, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[44]  Daniel L. Schacter,et al.  Reducing false recognition with criterial recollection tests: Distinctiveness heuristic versus criterion shifts , 2004 .

[45]  Michael B. Miller,et al.  Theoretical commentary: The role of criterion shift in false memory. , 1999 .

[46]  J T Wixted,et al.  The case against a criterion-shift account of false memory. , 2000, Psychological review.

[47]  False memories and statistical decision theory: comment on Miller and Wolford (1999) and Roediger and McDermott (1999) , 2000, Psychological review.

[48]  P. Glimcher,et al.  The Neurobiology of Decision: Consensus and Controversy , 2009, Neuron.

[49]  R. Mayer,et al.  Three Facets of Visual and Verbal Learners: Cognitive Ability, Cognitive Style, and Learning Preference. , 2003 .

[50]  John T Wixted,et al.  Effect of delay on recognition decisions: Evidence for a criterion shift , 2006, Memory & cognition.

[51]  D. M. Green,et al.  Signal detection theory and psychophysics , 1966 .

[52]  T. Wickens,et al.  False memories and statistical decision theory: comment on Miller and Wolford (1999) and Roediger and McDermott (1999) , 2000, Psychological review.

[53]  Emma L. Pelling,et al.  Individual differences in cognitive control: the role of psychoticism and working memory in set-shifting. , 2009, British journal of psychology.

[54]  L. A. Pervin.  Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research , 1992 .

[55]  R. Feldman,et al.  AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY , 1949 .

[56]  A Postma,et al.  The influence of decision criteria upon remembering and knowing in recognition memory. , 1999, Acta psychologica.

[57]  J. Wixted,et al.  On the difference between strength-based and frequency-based mirror effects in recognition memory. , 1998, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[58]  Ewart A. C. Thomas,et al.  Probability matching as a basis for detection and recognition decisions. , 1970 .

[59]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[60]  E. Foa,et al.  Brief screening instrument for post-traumatic stress disorder , 2002, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[61]  Caren M. Rotello,et al.  Memory strength and the decision process in recognition memory , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[62]  Hisashi Q. Higuchi.  On the nature of , 1999 .

[63]  Tim Curran,et al.  Conflict and criterion setting in recognition memory. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[64]  T. Perfect,et al.  Global subjective memorability and the strength-based mirror effect in recognition memory , 2009, Memory & cognition.

[65]  David Watson,et al.  The PANAS-X manual for the positive and negative affect schedule , 1994 .

[66]  A. Martínez,et al.  The AR face databasae , 1998 .

[67]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  The need for cognition. , 1982 .

[68]  W. Hockley,et al.  Strength-based mirror effects in item and associative recognition: Evidence for within-list criterion changes , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[69]  S. Srivastava,et al.  The Big Five Trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. , 1999 .

[70]  Wayne A. Wickelgren,et al.  Strength theories of disjunctive visual detection , 1967 .

[71]  T. Zandt.  ROC curves and confidence judgments in recognition memory. , 2000 .

[72]  Angus Craig,et al.  Signal recognition and the probability-matching decision rule , 1976 .

[73]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[74]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Variability among word lists in eliciting memory illusions: evidence for associative activation and monitoring , 2002 .