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Similarity and attraction effects in episodic memory judgments

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Maylor, Elizabeth A. and Roberts, Matthew A. J.. (2007) Similarity and attraction effects in episodic memory judgments. Cognition, Vol.105 (No.3). pp. 715-723. ISSN 0010-0277

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.12.002 ...

Abstract

In the decision-making literature, it is known that preferences between two options can be influenced in different ways by the introduction of a third option. We investigated whether such influences could be demonstrated when making decisions about qualitative aspects of episodic memories. In a baseline condition, participants were asked which of two dissimilar events they remembered more vividly: (A) a well-known Olympic victory, or (B) the death of a well-known public figure. In two further conditions, a third event was added: (C) an Olympic victory similar and competitive to A, or (D) an Olympic victory similar but inferior to A. With the addition of C, participants were less likely to choose A than B (similarity effect), whereas with the addition of D, they were more likely to choose A than B (attraction effect), suggesting that effects known in decision-making can be generalised to relative judgments about episodic memories.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Decision making -- Research, Memory, Similarity judgement, Recollection (Psychology), Perception -- Research
Journal or Publication Title:	Cognition
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
ISSN:	0010-0277
Date:	16 January 2007
Volume:	Vol.105
Number:	No.3
Page Range:	pp. 715-723
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.cognition.2006.12.002
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/376