Categorization effects during expository text processing: A multiple memory approach

• Main Author: Larkey, Frank Reed
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1997
• Subjects: Cognitive psychology; Cognitive therapy
• ISBN: 0591892332; 9780591892338

Multiple memory models postulate that categorization processes occur in both explicit and implicit memory. Three experiments were conducted to investigate implicit categorization of phrases contained in expository texts (Larkey, 1994). In Experiment 1, phrase classification measures (main ideas and details) for a medical journal article were created by three subject groups (undergraduate, medical, and psychology graduate students). The analysis showed: (a) only the undergraduate measure differed from Larkey's (1994) Benchmark 1 measure; (b) undergraduates classified a fewer number of phrases as main ideas than did medical and graduates students; (c) individual phrase classification for undergraduates differed from medical and graduate students. Experiment 2's results: (a) partially replicated Experiment 1a; (b) partially replicated implicit categorization effects found by Larkey (1994) for the main ideas and details using a second medical text. Experiment 3 was conducted to investigate whether separate explicit and implicit predictors existed for recalled main ideas and details reported by Larkey (1994). Only data for "general" instructions were reanalyzed. Regression analysis revealed separate equations for main ideas and details. Results were discussed in the context of multiple memory modeling.