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Dynamic search and working memory in social recall
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Hills, Thomas Trenholm and Pachur, Thorsten (2012) Dynamic search and working memory in social recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Volume 38 (Number 1). pp. 218-228. doi:10.1037/a0025161 ISSN 0278-7393.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025161
Abstract
What are the mechanisms underlying search in social memory (e.g., remembering the people one knows)? Do the search mechanisms involve dynamic local-to-global transitions similar to semantic search, and are these transitions governed by the general control of attention, associated with working memory span? To find out, we asked participants to recall individuals from their personal social networks and measured each participant's working memory capacity. Additionally, participants provided social-category and contact-frequency information about the recalled individuals as well as information about the social proximity among the recalled individuals. On the basis of these data, we tested various computational models of memory search regarding their ability to account for the patterns in which participants recalled from social memory. Although recall patterns showed clustering based on social categories, models assuming dynamic transitions between representations cued by social proximity and frequency information predicted participants' recall patterns best—no additional explanatory power was gained from social-category information. Moreover, individual differences in the time between transitions were positively correlated with differences in working memory capacity. These results highlight the role of social proximity in structuring social memory and elucidate the role of working memory for maintaining search criteria during search within that structure.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition | ||||
Publisher: | American Psychological Association | ||||
ISSN: | 0278-7393 | ||||
Official Date: | January 2012 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Volume 38 | ||||
Number: | Number 1 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 218-228 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1037/a0025161 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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