Our aim in the current study was to examine how different diary methods might impact the results of involuntary memory studies. We compared three different commonly used diary methods, record all memories experienced per day, record up to two memories per day, or record only the first two per day. Results showed that the record-all group had the…

Memory reactivation is a process whereby cueing or recalling a long-term memory makes it enter a new active and labile state. Substantial evidence suggests that during this state the memory can be updated (e.g., adding information) and can become more vulnerable to disruption (e.g., brain insult). Memory reactivations can also prevent memory decay…

Evidence indicates that broad, nonspecific histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition enhances learning and memory, however, the contribution of the various HDACs to specific forms of learning is incompletely understood. Here, we show that the Class I HDAC inhibitor, RGFP963, enhances consolidation of cued fear extinction. However, RGFP966, a strong…

Targeting information in long-term memory is an important cognitive ability, but one that is not well understood. In this study, 4 experiments were conducted to examine the influence of proactive and retroactive interference on memory targeting. Participants were given either 1 or 2 lists and asked to recall List 1, List 2, or in some cases both…

Cognitive psychology has much to contribute to our understanding of the best ways to promote learning and memory in the college classroom. However, cognitive theory has evolved considerably in recent decades, and it is important for instructors to have an up-to-date understanding of these theories, particularly those--such as memory theories--that…

Prior work on organization in free recall has focused on the ways in which semantic and temporal information determine the order in which material is retrieved from memory. Tulving's theory of ecphory suggests that these organizational effects arise from the interaction of a retrieval cue with the contents of memory. Using the…

We examined associative and item recognition using the maintenance rehearsal paradigm. Our intent was to control for mnemonic strategies; to produce a low, graded level of learning; and to provide evidence of the role of attention in long-term memory. An advantage for low-frequency words emerged in both associative and item recognition at very low…

Children, ages 3 and 5, examined a "sick" teddy bear. Interviews with real props, toy props, or verbal prompts were conducted three days and one year later. After three days, real items and toys facilitated memory compared to verbal prompts, but reports with toys were less accurate than both. After one year, real items still helped…

Two studies examined 6- and 9-year-old children's recall about events in which they had participated one to two years earlier. Found that amount of information reported in free recall decreased over the one- or two-year delays. For 6-year olds, there was a small decrease in accuracy of free recall. Reinstating specific cues maintained recall, but…

Two experiments examined factors of recall in one- to two-year olds. Results suggest that the strength of organization of an event representation, rather than retention interval, is a major factor in long-term recall between one and two years old. (ETB)

Three experiments examined the memory-preserving effects of reactivation and reinstatement reminders following 6-month-olds' learning and forgetting of an operant task. Findings indicated that a single reactivation reminder extended infants' memory of an operant mobile task for 2 weeks, a single reinstatement extended it for 4 weeks. A single…

Examined three-year olds' difficulty in recalling a false belief immediately after they discover the true state of affairs. Challenges the argument that children are genuinely amnesic and their false belief is deleted and no longer available for retrieval. Suggests that three-year-olds have been much underestimated in their capacity to undertake…

Assessed preschoolers' recall of past events and emotional reactions to those events and the importance of emotion-related cues in activating event memory. Suggests the children were competent at remembering a past event that precipitated an emotion and displayed this competence by recalling their emotional reactions, goals, plans, and actions, as…

A sorting-recall procedure was used to investigate how long-term memory in elderly subjects is affected by categorical organization. Sixty-four young adults (average age 20 years) and retirees (average age 67) sorted 48 unrelated words into two, four, six, or eight categories prior to recall. High- and low-frequency lists were tested, a…

Three experiments examined characteristics of a stimulus-cueing retrieval from long-term memory for 3-month olds. Used mobiles displaying either Qs (feature-present stimuli) or Os (feature-absent stimuli) and tested 24 hours later. Findings indicated that target-distractor similarity constraints, whether or not a feature-present stimulus, would…