Multidimensional scaling in a concrete stimulus domain: An approach to the measurement of conceptual complexity.

Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1976 .W456. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1976

Remembering Words and Brands After a Perception of Discrepancy

We investigated the effects on consumer memory of experiencing a perception of discrepancy during an initial encounter with a target word or target brand in an ad. Targets were presented in an exposure phase, half in a context inducing the perception of discrepancy. That experience increased the accuracy of recognition of the targets, even though the total exposure time of the target was shorter relative to equally elaborative conditions not inducing a perception of discrepancy. We concluded that a perception of discrepancy in an initial encounter with a keyword or brand in an ad is a valuable aid to memory, especially for brands

Published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (2000). This is a pre-publication version. When Lust is Lost: Orthographic Similarity Effects in the Encoding and Reconstruction of Rapidly Presented Word Lists

A reconstructive account of memory is presented to explain the finding that report of a word (C2) appearing in a rapidly presented list is reduced when it is orthographically similar to an earlier word (C1) in the list. On this account, the effect arises when reconstructing the list from memory, not at the time of list presentation as proposed by accounts based on failure of encoding or tokenization. The reconstructive account is supported by a series of experiments that show: a retroactive effect in which report of C1 is enhanced by similarity to C2; a nonword C1 can either interfere with or enhance report of C2, depending on how accurately C1 is encoded; manipulation of reconstructive processes can eliminate or enhance the effect of orthographic similarity; and a bi-directional trade-off in the report of an orthographically similar C1-C2 pair, whereby report of one member compromises report of the other. In a radical departure from established thinking, Bartlett (1932) argued that remembering is a creative, reconstructive process rather than reduplicative of past experiences. He illustrated this claim with demonstrations that the act of remembering a stor