Current Research Program

Below are brief descriptions of some of the current lines of work I am pursuing.

Relatedness Effects in Memory

            The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm is a powerful tool for investigating memory errors and the underlying processes involved in what type of information individuals can remember. The primary finding from this paradigm is that individuals reliably misremember the occurrence of a critical, non-presented item after studying lists of similar items. For example, after studying a list of words such as bed, rest, tired, awake, dream, etc., people often remember that sleep was also on the list, even when it was not. One account is that this occurs because activation spreads along pre-existing semantic and lexical connections, thereby increasing the familiarity or accessibility of the critical item. I am currently examining the limits of a spreading activation mechanism in accounting for memory errors and further clarifying what additional processes are critical for explaining this powerful memory illusion.

Learning of Complex Natural Categories in Adulthood

           Investigations of how individuals learn about categories is often conducted using abstract, artificial stimuli that are impoverished relative to real-world objects. Whereas such stimuli allow for substantial experimental control, and have been essential in understanding category and concept learning, one concern is the potential lack of generalizability. In addition, the majority of research has focused on children and young adults. In a series of studies on natural BIRD categories, I am investigating how adults learn complex natural categories in an experimental setting, and second, whether older adults could learn these categories as well as young adults.

Encoding and Memory

            Recent research (e.g., Nairne & Pandeirada, 2008) suggests that the “survival relevance” of to-be-remembered information is a powerful determinant of later retention. The so-called “survival processing advantage” refers to the fact that when words are rated in terms of their relevance to survival in a grasslands scenario, participants remember these words better than words processed using other scenarios, such as moving to a foreign country. We are currently examining whether this is due to ancestral priorities shaping how memory systems are organized or whether other factors, such as salience or congruity contribute to the phenomenon.

Idioms and Memory

             Idiomatic expressions such as “kick the bucket” generally have two distinct meanings – a literal meaning (i.e., overturning a pail with one’s foot) and a figurative meaning (i.e., dying suddenly). Because of the often opaque nature of these phrases, it is assumed that the figurative meaning is “learned” and stored in semantic memory. We are currently investigating if and how figurative and literal meanings are connected and at what point the figurative meaning is selected for further processing.