Influences of noise and time of day on memory strategies in recall and recognition

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with influences of noise and time of day on test expectations in recall and recognition.

In Chapter 1 the similarities and differences between recall and recognition memory are discussed, while the literature on noise and time of day is reviewed in Chapter 2. In the following chapters relevant information from the memory and arousal area are combined to form a theoretical and experimental framework.

The first four studies examine recall and recognition performance following recall and recognition instructions. It was found that recall-instructed subjects produced a significantly larger primacy effect than recognition-instructed subjects on tests of ordered and free recall (Experiment 1 and 2).

The results of the two subsequent experiments suggest this is mediated by differences occurring at input, and is due to increased rehearsal by subjects expecting a recall test.

In Experiments 5 and 6 time of day was manipulated and an interaction was obtained between time of day and instruction suggesting that the differences in strategies between recall and recognition test expectations are enhanced in the afternoon. At this time recall-instructed subjects performed better and recognition-instructed subjects performed worse on a test of free recall.

A similar interaction, but between noise and instruction was obtained in Experiment 7. The results of Experiment 8 further support the notion that noise may reduce the amount of rehearsal engaged in by subjects expecting a recognition test.

In the final study subjects performed a semantic orienting task and noise improved the recall of highly associated items while impairing the recall of nonassociated words. This suggests noise may enhance semantic processing when this is required by the task.

It is concluded that the effect of noise and time of day are, at least in part, determined by the nature of the task requirements.