TY - JOUR
AU - Whittlesea, Bruce W. A.
AB - Dissociations between tests of memory have prompted both dual-memory accounts, suggesting independent representation of episodic and abstract information, and single-memory accounts, emphasizing variability of encoding and specificity of retrieval. Similarly, prototype theories of concept representation emphasize abstraction of class-level information, whereas episodic accounts assume retention of particular experiences. In eight experiments, the representation of pseudoword categories was inferred from the relative perceptibility of probes. When typicality was unconfounded from similarity to previous instances, performance depended on the latter, even when category structure was made explicit and members of a category were massed. Moreover, alteration of the encoding task reversed the relative perceptibility of probes. Although difficult to explain through abstraction of category structure, these results are predictable if events are encoded as experienced and retrieved in parallel. It was concluded that dual-memory accounts assuming automatic, stable abstraction are less powerful than episodic accounts assuming encoding variability and specificity of retrieval to the conditions of encoding.
TI - Preservation of Specific Experiences in the Representation of General Knowledge
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
DO - 10.1037/0278-7393.13.1.3
DA - 1987-01-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/american-psychological-association/preservation-of-specific-experiences-in-the-representation-of-general-IilWNuFxlU
SP - 3
EP - 17
VL - 13
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -