Memory for actions in scripted activities as a function of typicality, retention interval, and retrieval task

Abstract

This study examined memory for information that varies in typicality (relevance) to a central organizing schema. Subjects listened to scripted activities and were given recall and recognition tests after different retention intervals. Data supported a schema-pointer-plus-tag model that specifies how memory for scripted actions varies as a function of typicality, retention interval, and retrieval task. Several mathematical formulations of the model were tested in order to simulate the recall and recognition data. The model that best fit the data incorporated four properties. First, memory discrimination is initially better for atypical than for typical actions in both recall and recognition tasks. Second, recall involves conceptually driven retrieval, whereas recognition involves both conceptually driven and data-driven retrieval. Third, conceptually driven retrieval has an exponentially decreasing retention function, whereas there is a linear decrease in data-driven retrieval. Fourth, the retention function for conceptually driven retrieval is steeper for atypical than for typical actions, which supports the notion that the schema plays a more important role in guiding this type of retrieval as the retention interval increases; in contrast, the slopes of the retention functions for data-driven retrieval are the same for typical and atypical actions. A schema-pointer-plus-tag model was compared with some alternative schema-based memory models. © 1981 Psychonomic Society, Inc.