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Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía

2008, Number 3

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Arch Neurocien 2008; 13 (3)

Repetition consolidates memory and increases recall levels

Solís MVM

Language: Spanish
References: 15
Page: 170-177
PDF size: 181.95 Kb.


ABSTRACT

This study explores the role of repetition on hypermnesia, a memory phenomenon consisting of incremental retrieval across successive attempts. The experimental stimuli were 80 words presented visually to 30 participants using a within–subjects design. Forty words appeared once (W1) and the other forty appeared twice (W2) for a total of 120 unsystematically arranged test stimuli. A three min. distractor task ensued, followed by two seven min free–recall trials (R1 and R2), separated by a 15 min. unfilled interval. Lastly, a yes–no recognition test made up by the 80 test words plus 20 foils was presented. Results show: 1. Significantly higher recall on R2 than in R1 (hypermnesia). 2. Highly significant reminiscence. 3. Recall of W2 was significantly higher than W1, confirming the importance of repetition for memory consolidation. Our results challenge the cumulative levels of recall hypothesis (e. gr., Roediger y Challis, 1989), whose central tenet predicts divergent rates of approaching significantly different asymptotes. By contrast, the negative exponential equations fitted to our data show essentially parallel rates of approaching asymptote. These results are interpreted in terms of the alternative retrieval pathways hypothesis, ARP (Solís Macías, 1998; Kazén y Solís Macías, 1999).


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