Memory for Sentences

Question 1

Fillenbaum (1996)

Answer 1

Subjects saw sentences (E.g., the window is not closed)
Later took a test - multiple choice - overlapping words
1. The window is closed
2. The window is not open
3. The window is open (if an error was made, errors were closest in the meaning)
4. The window is not closed

Question 2

Sachs (1967)

Answer 2

Subjects listened to sentences
They were tested on sentence wording and meaning –> multiple choice question regarding what sentence was actually in the paragraph
A. Surface change to S
B. Semantic change to S
C. Passive (tense) change
D. Correct Answer
If a mistake was made, likely chose A or C
Delay was 0-160 syllables
-The ability to identify the sentence decreases as delay increases
-For surface and passive and active changes, text memory declines over time while meaning memory stays good (we store the meaning - gist - of sentences, not exact words)

Question 3

enriching the memory of new info by relating it to LTM info

Answer 3

elaboration

Question 4

Elaborating by inference:

Answer 4

We make inferences when understanding events
These inferences are integrated into LTM
Later, it’s hard to tell what was presented or inferred (Episodic Memory)

Question 5

Johnson et al. - Inferences and sentence memory

Answer 5

Subjects heard sentences
Later, subjects were given a memory test
People made memory errors based on what they inferred

Question 6

Inferences can lead to:

Answer 6

false recognition errors - people think that they heard or read something that was never presented

Question 7

False recognition errors

Answer 7

Preposition and memory errors
Conclusions:
1. When we hear/read a sentence - the surface form is stored in WM (fades fast)
2. Only propositions and inferences are stored in LTM - we remember meanings and inferences; related ideas are fused together in memory (this can create memory errors)

Question 8

basic idea units

Answer 8

Prepositions

Question 9

Bransford and Franks (1971) - False recognition errors

Answer 9

Subjects read sentences and answer questions about them
Later - subjects were shown sentences and asked which are ‘old’ (seen before) and ‘new’ (never seen)
Results:
-Discovered that people were usually confident that they previously read sentences with 3-4 prepositions and tended to think that sentences with only one preposition were new
–> it didn’t matter whether the person actually saw them before, just the number of prepositions
–> The more prepositions - the more likely people thought they read the sentence before
-This study supported the idea that when we read sentences or discourse, we extract and store prepositions in long-term memory
-When we encounter sentences with the same theme, we automatically integrate those ideas with previously stored related prepositions (later - those integrate prepositions seem more familiar to us)