Recollections of Things Schematic Room Schemas Revisited

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1211 - 1222
• Main Authors: Lampinen, James M, Copeland, Susann M, Neuschatz, Jeffrey S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-09-2001
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Experiments; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Learning; Learning. Memory; Male; Memory; Mental Recall; Orientation; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Recognition (Learning); Repression, Psychology; Retention; Retention (Psychology); Schema; Semantics; Social Environment; Verbal Learning; Visual Perception; Incidental learning; Intentional learning; Human; Recognition memory; Scheme; Subjective experience; Memory; Cognition; False memory; Experimental study
• ISSN: 0278-7393; 1939-1285
• DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.27.5.1211

In 2 experiments, the authors examined the effects of schemas on the subjective experience of remembering. Participants entered a room that was set up to look like a graduate student's office under intentional or incidental learning conditions. They later took a recognition memory test that included making remember-know judgments. In Experiment 1, they were tested during the same session; in Experiment 2 they were tested either during the same session or after a 48-hr delay. Consistent with the authors' predictions, memory for atypical objects was especially likely to be experienced in the remember sense. In addition, false remember judgments rose dramatically after the 48-hr delay, especially for participants in the incidental learning condition. Results are discussed in terms of schema theory, fuzzy-trace theory, and the distinctiveness heuristic.