The Impact Of Semantic Representation On Associative Memory:Developmental Characteristics And Mechanism

Associative memory is the memory of items in specific situations and their own characteristics,items and items,and the relationship between items and situations(Konkel&Cohen,2009;梁九清&郭春彦,2012).Linking different aspects of an experienced event into a coherent event is an important feature of associative memory(Ergorul&Eichenbaum,2004;Tulving&Thomson,1973).Dual-processing theory argues that associative memory involves two separate and distinct processes:familiarity and recollection,item recognition can depend on both familiarity and recollection processing,while associative re-recognition only depends on recollection(Old&Naveh-Benjamin,2008).The dual-processing theory is supported by a large amount of experimental evidence in the field of associative memory,but it also encounters challenges such as the Unitization hypothesis.The Unitization hypothesis states that learning agents represent new connections by integrating two or more items,features,or item-situations into a single entity"unit".Through this single entity"unit",familiarity-based association recognition can be achieved.The dualprocessing theory and the Unitization hypothesis are the most important theoretical explanations for current associative memory research.Most of the current research on associative memory has focused on adults,and less attention has been paid to children and adolescents.It is necessary for the study of associative memory to firstly describe the developmental outline of associative memory from children to adults from the perspective of development,which has important theoretical significance and practical necessity for our comprehensive understanding of associative memory.Compared with adults,children’s cognitive systems and semantic networks are still imperfect,and semantic knowledge is an important basis for us to understand the world(Brod et al.,2013),This study first examined the developmental characteristics of the impact of semantic representation on associative memory(Study1).The impact of semantic representation on learning and memory is usually through meaning(Schacter & Tulving,1994).This study examines the impact of semantic representation on associative memory from the perspective of meaningfulness,and through recollection and familiarity-based associative replay.The analysis of cognitive performance examined the theoretical applicability of the dual-processing theory and the integration hypothesis to the effect of semantic representation on associative memory(Study 2).In addition,the impact of semantic representation on associative memory is also mediated by other variables.This study examined the role of levels-ofprocessing,spatiotemporal context,and narrative style in the impact of semantic representation on associative memory(Study 3).The developmental characteristics and mechanisms of the impact of semantic representation on associative memory was examined in present study.Three studies including six experiments were carried out.Study 1 examined the developmental characteristics of the impact of semantic representation on associative memory,through the Material Presentation Form(picture pair,word pair),Semantic Relationships(semantic related,semantically irrelevant)and Semantic Familiarity(semantic familiarity,semantically unfamiliar),etc.Manipulation of Semantic Representations,using the associative cued-recognition paradigm to explore the developmental characteristics of the impact of semantic representations on associative memory and the effects of different semantic representations on the development of associative memory.Study 1 consisted of 2 experiments in total.and experiment 1 is 2(semantic relevance: semantically relevant VS.semantically irrelevant)× 2(material presentation form: picture pair VS.vocabulary pair)× 4(age group: 7-8 years old,9-10 years old,11-13 years old,18-21 years old)mixed experimental design,the material presentation form and semantic correlation were within-subject variables,age group was a between-subject variable,and the dependent variable was the subject’s re-recognition rate.Experiment 2 is 2(name type: familiar VS.unfamiliar)× 2(test type: source memory VS.association memory)× 4(age: 7-8years old,9-10 years old,11-13 years old,18-21 years old)mixed experimental design,name type and test type are within-subject variables,age is a between-subject variable,and the dependent variable is the recognition rate of the subject’s source memory and associative memory.Study 2 investigated the mechanism of the impact of semantic representation on associative memory.The manipulation of meaning(meaningful and meaningless)was achieved through semantic representation types(true word pair,false word pair),and the connection recognition paradigm was used to explore the perspective of meaning.The effect of semantic representation on item memory and associative memory was examined,and the applicability of dual-processing theory and integration hypothesis in the effect of semantic representation on associative memory was verified.Study 2included 2 experiments.Experiment 3 was a within-subject design of 2(representation type: true word pair VS.fake word pair)× 2(test type: item memory VS.associative memory).is a within-subject variable,and the dependent variable is the recognition rate and reaction time of the subject’s item memory and associative memory.Experiment 4was a within-subject design of 2(material type: true word pair VS.fake word pair)× 2(integration level: high LOU VS.low LOU)× 2(test type: item memory VS.associative memory),Material type,integration level,and test type are all within-subject variables.The conceptual definition used for high-LOU operations in the integration level and the sentence frame used for low-LOU operations.The dependent variable is the subject’s percentage correct and response time for item memory and associative memory.Study 3 examined the moderating factors of the impact of semantic representation on associative memory,including 6 experiments,which examined the moderating effects of processing level,spatiotemporal context,and narrative style.Experiment 5 is an investigation of the processing level,using a mixed experimental design of 2(processing level: shallow processing VS.deep processing)× 2(material presentation form: picture pair VS.vocabulary pair)× 2(semantic correlation: relevant VS.irrelevant),the processing level and material presentation form are between-subject variables,semantic correlation is a within-subject variable,and the dependent variables are the recognition rate and reaction time of the subject’s associative memory.Experiment 6 is an investigation of the spatiotemporal situation,including three experiments 6a,6b,and 6c.All three experiments adopt a single-factor 3-level(positional relationship: left-right symmetrical,left-upper-right,left-upper-right)within-subject experimental design,location relationship as independent variables,the dependent variables were the recognition rate and reaction time of the subject’s associative memory.In order to avoid the continuous occurrence of more than two blocks with the same positional relationship,the experiment adopts a Latin square experimental design.The difference between the three experiments lies in the manipulation of coding time,namely simultaneous presentation,consecutive presentation,and consecutive presentation with overlapping time,so as to investigate the moderating effect of the combination of temporal and spatial factors on the impact of semantic representation on associative memory.The investigation of the narrative mode of Experiment 7 includes two experiments,7a and 7b.Experiment 7a is a face pair without event representation,and Experiment 7b is a face pair with event representation.Through the connection inference paradigm,both use 2(narrative mode:sequence VS.Reverse order)× 4(test type: AB connection recognition,C item recognition,BC connection judgment,ABC connection judgment)within-subject experimental design,life stage,narrative style and test type are all within-subject variables,dependent variables For the correct rate of AB connection recognition,C item recognition,BC connection judgment,and ABC connection judgment(Robin & Olsen,2019).The following conclusions are drawn under the conditions of the current research.(1)In the development of associative memory,there are stable picture superiority effect(PSE)and semantic-related processing dominances,and their effects are significantly higher in children than in young adults.The development of associative memory of word pairs significantly lags behind that of picture pairs,and the development of associative memory in the semantically irrelevant condition significantly lags behind that in the semantically related condition.Semantic representations continue to play a role in the development of associative memory,with9-10-years-old being a critical turning point.(2)The performance of children’s source memory was significantly lower than that of associative memory.From 7-8 years old to 9-10 years old,both experienced a decline and then developed with age,and the development trend was basically the same.In the memory of face-name pairs,the source memory and associative memory under the semantically familiar name condition were significantly better than those under the semantically unfamiliar name condition,and the effect of semantic familiarity on the source memory and associative memory of children was stronger than that of older children(11-13 years old)and young people.(3)Research on the effect of semantic representation(meaningfulness)on associative memory found that item memory relies on both recollection and familiarity,while associative memory only depends on recollection,which is consistent with the dual-processing theory’s account of associative memory.(4)The study found that levels-of-processing,spatiotemporal context and narrative style can all moderate the impact of semantic representation on associative memory.Research on levels-of-processing and spatiotemporal context found that insufficient-encoding(encoding time reduction,insufficient elaborative encoding)affected the effect of recollection on associative recognition,but at the same time,familiarity compensated for impaired recall to maintain overall associative recognition.Confirm the accuracy.