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Effects of context encoding and cuing: tests of the outshining and overshadowing hypotheses

The following experiments looked at how encoding information and available
cues at test can influence context effects. More specifically, the present experiments
investigated the overshadowing and outshining hypotheses. Experiment 1 established a
new method for attaining robust reinstatement effects by using movie scenes.
Experiment 2 found support for the outshining hypothesis. So, if verbal and contextual
cues were encoded and verbal cues were present at test, then context reinstatement
through the reinstatement of the movie scenes would have little effect on memory.
However, in the absence of verbal cues at test, significant context effects were found
showing that the verbal cues were able to outshine the context (i.e., the movie scenes).
Experiment 3 extended the outshining hypothesis by showing that strengthening the
association between the verbal cues and the target items led to greater outshining of the
movie scenes by the verbal cues. Experiment 4 looked at the overshadowing hypothesis
and showed that if the context (i.e., the movie scenes) was not encoded well, but the
verbal cues were then the context was overshadowed by the verbal cues. Further, if the
association between the verbal cue and target items was encoded, then the overshadowing effect was greater as compared to cases where the association between
the two items was not encoded. Finally, Experiment 5 found that if context was well
encoded but verbal cues were not well encoded then the verbal cues were overshadowed
by the context. It was also found that encoding the association between the context and
target led to a more robust overshadowing effect as compared to cases where the
association was not encoded.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/85965
Date10 October 2008
CreatorsManzano, Isabel
ContributorsSmith, Steven M.
PublisherTexas A&M University
Source SetsTexas A and M University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeBook, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text
Formatelectronic, born digital

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