Recognition-induced forgetting does not operate over objects lacking semantic information
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Date
2020-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Recognition-induced forgetting is a forgetting phenomenon in which memory for initially learned stimuli is negatively impacted by the recognition of categorically related stimuli. While this forgetting effect has been found to operate over categories of everyday objects (e.g., vases, chairs), objects of expertise, and episodic memory, the role of semantic information has yet to be fully explored. Here we seek to understand whether semantic information is the critical category-grouping cue behind recognition-induced forgetting in order to establish a model for its underlying mechanism. To this end, letters are utilized in the present study because they feature an automatic category grouping (e.g., A’s of different fonts belong to a group) and little to no semantic information (e.g. there is no semantic information that belongs to all A’s). If semantic information is critical to category groupings in recognition-induced forgetting, then categories comprised of letters will be immune to recognition-induced forgetting. Indeed, we found that recognition-induced forgetting did not operate over letters, suggesting that semantic information plays a critical role in categories that are susceptible to recognition-induced forgetting.
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Keywords
semantic information, memory, cognition, category grouping