Cognitive Effort Requirements in Recall, Recognition, and Lexical Decision

摘要

Cognitive effort requirements during study for free recall (e.g., essay-type test), recognition (e.g., multiple choice-type test), and an incidental learning task (e.g., word/nonword decisions) were assessed using a secondary reaction time task. Auditory probes were presented while individuals studied familiar or unfamiliar words and the time to respond to these probes was measured. Differences in latency scores provided information about the amount of cognitive effort expended during study for these memory tasks. Recall and recognition were tested to determine the relationship between cognitive effort requirements during study and later ability to remember studied items. Overall, the results of this research indicate that when individuals expect a recall test they use extensive or difficult processing operations which may involve elaborating the meaning of studied items. In contrast, when they expect a recognition test they use more superficial processing operations with less emphasis on meaning. (Author)