Three experiments explored the nature of processing meaningful materials. In the context of the short-term memory paradigm, an interpolated judgement task was employed by manipulating the criteria by which personality-trait adjectives were judged. The to-be-recalled items were 5-digit numbers. Three criteria - desireability in an ideal date (0), descrlptiveness of self (S); and an ostensibly non-semantic, non-affective criterion (Ob) - were employed over variations in adjective presentation rate and independent versus cumulative judgements. Experiments I and II established differences between male and female Ss on the interpolated task. In Experiment III, judgement latency, judgement extremity, and subsequent recall of the digits were all measured. The results support the view of verbal recall as a function of the time available for rehearsal. The difficulty of interpolated Ob judgements is shown to be readily effected by presentation rate and judgement type. Moreover, recall under the 0b criterion is consistently a function of the semantic content of the interpolated material. A process of semantic monitoring is discussed in terms of the attention utilized by shifts of encoding class. Interpolated judgements of 0 are in close agreement with the likeableness ratings of the adjectives: categorization latencies are fastest for extreme likeableness adjectives and longer for moderate likeableness adjectives, interpolated :S judgements take longer, are less extreme, and result in poorer subsequent recall than 0 judgements under all conditions. Judgement latency and extremity indicate different principles for gratings of high and low likeableness adjectives. These findings are discussed in terms of differential retrieval and differential decision difficulty. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation explored memory conformity effects on people who interacted with a confederate and of bystanders to that interaction. Two studies were carried out. Study 1 was conducted in the field. A male confederate approached a group of people at the beach and had a brief interaction. About a minute later a research assistant approached the group and administered a target-absent lineup to each person in the group. Analyses revealed that memory conformity occurred during the lineup task. Bystanders were twice as likely to conform as those who interacted with the confederate. Study 2 was carried out in a laboratory under controlled conditions. Participants were exposed to two events during their time in the laboratory. In one event, participants were shown a brief video with no determinate roles assigned. In the other event participants were randomly assigned to interact with a confederate (actor condition) or to witness that interaction (bystander condition). Participants were given memory tests on both events to understand the effects of participant role (actor vs. bystander) on memory conformity. Participants answered second to all questions, following a confederate acting as a participant, who disseminated misinformation on critical questions. Analyses revealed no significant differences in memory conformity between actors and bystanders during the movie memory task. However, differences were found for the interaction memory task such that bystanders conformed more than actors on two of four critical questions. Bystanders also conformed more than actors during a lineup identification task. The results of these studies suggest that the role a person plays in an interaction affects how susceptible they are to information from a co-witness. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed. First, the results are explained through the use of two models of memory. Second, recommendations are made for forensic investigators.

Includes bibliographical references / M.S. Florida State College for Women 1933

Individuals are constantly being exposed to new information and new situations, but memory for these events is not always equal; understanding the factors that affect an individual’s ability to remember the details surrounding these events is extremely important. The purpose of the current study was to examine the potential effects of emotion and source characteristics, such as age and gender, on memory for factual information (i.e., trivia facts) and source identity (i.e., the sources of the information). One hundred and twenty-eight undergraduate students viewed a total of 120 videos depicting eight different sources (two young adult males, two young adult females, two older adult males, and two older adult females) presenting neutral and emotional (positive, negative) trivia facts; participants were then asked to complete a fill-in-thevi blank test on memory for trivia facts and a multiple-choice test on memory for the source of each fact. Results indicated that positively valenced trivia facts were remembered more often than both neutral and negatively valenced facts; emotion was not found to affect memory for the sources of trivia facts or memory for the relationship between trivia fact and source. Results indicated that trivia facts presented by female sources were remembered better than facts presented by male sources; source gender also affected memory for the sources of each fact, such that sources of facts presented by females were remembered better than the source identity for a fact presented by a male source. When the identity of the source was forgotten, participants were more likely to falsely attribute the fact to someone of the same age as the original source. If the original source was female, participants were also more likely to falsely attribute that fact to another female source compared to a male source, but if the original source was male, participants were equally likely to misattribute the source of either gender. The findings from the current study add to the current understanding of the complex effects of emotion on memory and suggest the importance / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (PhD)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research is a first step towards investigating the impact verbal descriptions can have on an individual’s memory for actors performing actions. Previous research has found that verbal descriptions of mugshot-esque, face stimuli can have either a facilitative or inhibitory effect on later recognition. The current study implemented the Person Action Conjunction (PAC) test, along with three separate groups where participants provided descriptions of actions, features of the actors, and holistic attributes of the actors. The results demonstrated that the description group impacted the attention placed on either the action or actor, causing participants to remember those described elements more. Furthermore, it was found that accurately recalling descriptions provided at encoding was significantly and positively correlated with recognition performance. Further research is necessary with different control conditions before an impact of verbal description on the memory for actors and actions can be known. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Reconsolidation is the process where consolidated memories return to a malleable state and can be modified. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine factors that influence the reconsolidation of conditioned fear memories using a behavioural method, known as the post-retrieval extinction paradigm, across two separate studies. Fear potentiated startle (FPS) and skin conductance response (SCR) were used as measures of fear for both studies. In Study 1, I investigated how the expectation for learning impacts the reconsolidation of conditioned fear memories. Testing took place over three consecutive days and expectation for learning was manipulated via verbal instructions prior to memory reactivation. On Day 1, participants underwent fear acquisition to two distinct spider images. On Day 2, participants were assigned to one of the following conditions: reactivation with expectation for learning condition (n = 16); a reactivation with no expectation for learning condition (n = 16); or a no reactivation condition (n = 16). All participants underwent extinction, and participants in the reactivation conditions had their memory for the conditioned stimulus (CS+) reactivated either with or without the verbal manipulation for the expectation for learning. On Day 3, fear was reinstated, and participants underwent re-extinction to examine if the manipulation on Day 2 affected the memory. Partially consistent with my predictions, I found limited evidence that the expectation for learning enhanced reconsolidation for FPS but not SCR. In Study 2, I examined how the level of spider fear impacted the reconsolidation of conditioned fear memories. I also examined if the effects of reconsolidation generalized to similar stimuli (i.e., stimulus generalization). On Day 1, participants who were either high (n = 17) or low (n = 17) on spider fear underwent fear acquisition to a spider and a snake image, while a neutral image served as the CS-. On Day 2, participants viewed a single presentation of the spider and the neutral images to reactivate their memories. Participants then underwent extinction. On Day 3, fear was reinstated, and participants underwent re-extinction to examine if the effect of reactivation on memory. Fear generalization was measured via presentation of similar but distinct spider and snake images. These images were presented prior to and post-acquisition (Day 1) and on Day 3 following reinstatement. On the same days (1 and 3), a behavioural approach test (BAT) was used as a second measure of fear generalization to assess approach behaviour to novel spider stimuli. Inconsistent with my predictions, for FPS, participants with high levels of spider fear displayed a return of fear to the non-reactivated snake image, but not to the reactivated spider image. Conversely, I found the opposite effect for the low spider fear group as they displayed a return of fear to the reactivated spider image but not the snake image. For SCR, participants in both groups displayed a return of fear to the reactivated spider image but not the snake image. I did not find any evidence that reconsolidation increased approach behaviour for either group during the BAT. These findings suggest that memories with high levels of distress may undergo reconsolidation when fear is measured with FPS but not SCR. The inconsistent findings between the groups suggest that conditioned and natural memories may undergo reconsolidation differently. The findings from both studies have potential theoretical implications for the understanding of the boundary conditions of reconsolidation and have potential implications for the application of reconsolidation in clinical contexts. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

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