Memory for sentences

Question 1

Fillenbaum (1966)

Answer 1

Subjects saw sentences
Later took a test - multiple choice - overlapping words:
The window is closed
The window is not open
The window is open
the window is not closed
If an error was made, errors were close in meaning

Question 2

Sachs

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
B. Semantic change
C. Passive change (tense)
D. Correct Answer
If a mistake was made, likely chose A or C

Question 3

Elaboration

Answer 3

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

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

Question 5

Inferences can lead to ____________

Answer 5

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

Question 6

False recognition errors

Answer 6

When we hear/read a sentence - the surface form is stored in WM - fades fast
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 7

Bransford and Franks (1971) Experiment

Answer 7

Subjects read sentences and answer questions about them
Later - subjects were shown sentences and asked which are ‘old’ and ‘new’
Discovered that people were usually confident that they previously read sentences with 3-4 propositions and tended to think that sentences with only one proposition were new (the more propositions - the more likely people thought they read the sentence before)