Download 1 Robert Cole and Lu Xiao School of Information Sciences and

Cole, R., & Xiao, L. (2005). Book review: Human memory. ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 37(2).
Robert Cole and Lu Xiao
School of Information Sciences and Technology
The Pennsylvania State University
{rjc157, lxx112}@psu.edu
Date: April 9, 2004
Human Memory: An Introduction to Research, Data, and Theory (2nd edition)
Authors: Ian Neath and Aimee Surprenant
474 pages
Publication Date: January 2003
Publisher: Wadsworth Pub Co
ISBN: 0534595626
Introduction
The limitations of human memory have been studied extensively at the individual level in the
field of cognitive psychology, and memory phenomena at the group level have recently received
attention in the field of CSCW in the context of groupware applications. There is clearly a need
for CSCW researchers and developers to have an understanding of the limitations of human
memory, but what resources should one use to develop the requisite background in this area?
This review addresses this question by examining a recent textbook in cognitive psychology,
Human Memory: An Introduction to Research, Data, and Theory (2nd Edition) by Ian Neath and
Aimee Surprenant. In addition, CSCW literature pertaining to group memory is reviewed and the
relevance of this book to the study of group memory is discussed. We argue that this book is a
valuable resource for those interested in group memory, but provides insufficient background on
its own.
This review is organized as follows. First, a chapter summary highlights the important topics
covered in Human Memory. Next, a review of group remembering is discussed and compared
1
with the individual-level topics discussed in Human Memory. As the research results show that
there is similarity and difference in group remembering and individual memory recall, we give
suggestions to instructors of memory courses on course content for students and researchers who
are interested in using CSCW systems to help group remembering.
Overview of the Chapters
This book provides a comprehensive review of models and theories of human memory and the
research they have informed. The first chapter frames the subject through discussion of memory
metaphors, methodology, terminology, and a brief historical overview. The overview begins in
antiquity with the spatial theories of Plato and progresses through the beginning of modern
psychology up to the period of scientific psychology in the 19th century. Next, behaviorism,
Gestalt psychology, and cognitive psychology are briefly reviewed.
Chapters Two through Four deal with explicit memory. First, the book reviews three categories
of sensory memory: iconic memory, echoic memory, and odor memory. Research by George
Sperling into information persistence within the visual information store known as iconic
memory is reviewed and research responsible for revising Sperling's original formulation is
discussed. Stimulus and information persistence are now thought to constitute distinct
phenomena, with only the latter being considered a genuine form of memory. Echoic memory,
the auditory analog of iconic memory, has been found to exhibit the same distinct stimulus and
information persistence as iconic memory with this book focusing on the latter.
2
Chapter Three reviews several forms of a dominant model of memory known as the modal
model. This model posits a two store view of memory in which secondary memory, or memory
proper, is distinct from primary memory which is characterized by short duration and limited
capacity. Various forms of the modal model are discussed, and it is noted that most modal
models incorporate three assumptions inherited from the early approach of Donald Broadbent:
the distinct nature of primary and secondary memory systems, the limited capacity of primary
memory, and the need for rehearsal to retain information in primary memory. After discussion of
variations of the modal model, limitations of the modal model are discussed. These include
inability to account for distractor effects and the well-known recency and primacy effects in the
serial recall curve which are better explained by the ratio rule.
Next, the book takes a detailed look at short-term memory beginning with Alan Baddeley's
working memory model. This model was designed to explain four basic findings: the
phonological similarity effect, effects of articulatory suppression, the irrelevant speech effect,
and the word-length effect. Following discussion of the working memory model, a critique is
presented in which the limitations of the working memory model are discussed, for example
recent empirical findings that cast doubt upon the working memory assumption of the
relationship between articulatory rehearsal and information decay. The chapter concludes with a
non decay-based model of working memory capacity, the feature model in which interference is
responsible for performance impairment in short-term memory.
Following the section on explicit memory, the book discusses processing-based approaches to
memory. In these approaches, the type of processing is seen as more important than the
3
underlying memory structure. Memory performance in the processing view is dependent upon
how deeply processing occurs, rather than other factors such as intent to learn. After discussion
of the basic levels of processing model, the transfer appropriate processing model is presented
which extends the basic model by including retrieval. The rest of the chapter reviews
experiments that examine the relationship between context and memory including context and
state-dependent memory effects.
Next, theories of forgetting are reviewed that are divided along three lines: forgetting as failure
of initial storage, forgetting as decay, and forgetting as failures of retrieval. These views are
discussed through review of theories of consolidation, interference, and discrimination,
respectively. Consolidation theory holds that a process of perseveration is responsible for
consolidating, or storing a memory trace. This view has difficulty explaining studies in which a
change in retrieval conditions is sufficient to elicit memory that was supposedly not
consolidated. Interference theory attributes forgetting to three general mechanisms: response
competition, altered stimulus conditions, and set (i.e. subject mindset). Discrimination theory
holds that items will be recalled to the extent that they stand out from competing items during the
time of retrieval.
Chapter Seven reviews theories of implicit memory, or memory without awareness. First, studies
in which subjects are unaware of various aspects of learning and testing are reviewed. These
include subjects being unaware that they are learning under test conditions that vary whether
subjects know they are being tested and whether tests are related to a previous learning episode.
4
Next, four theoretical accounts of implicit memory are reviewed: the activation view, the
multiple memory systems view, the transfer appropriate processing view, and the bias view.
Chapter Eight examines the biological underpinnings of memory. After a brief introduction to
the structure of the brain and nervous system, methods of investigation into the way memories
are stored are presented divided into the two categories of invasive and non-invasive techniques.
The chapter concludes with reviews of studies and theoretical accounts of amnesia and
Alzheimer's disease as cases providing insight into memory structure.
Next the book examines explanations for how information is organized and retrieved from
generic memory. Three models are discussed: the hierarchical model, the feature overlap model,
and the spreading activation model. The hierarchical model assumes concepts are stored as few
times as possible using the principle of cognitive economy. The feature overlap model
distinguishes between essential, or defining features of a concept, and typical features. Spreading
activation assume that when a concept is accessed increases the activation level of related
concepts. After discussion of the spreading activation mode, an alternative class, compound cue
models, is discussed along with theories of the organization of generic memory.
Next, the book reviews research into imagery starting with analog (structural or map-based
representation) and propositional representations. Early research supporting both views is
discussed along with critiques of this research. The relationship between imagery and perception
and real versus imagined events are discussed through review of experiments in patients with
visual deficits and reality monitoring.
5
Chapter Twelve examines the malleability of memory through review of research into
reconstructive processes in generic memory. Studies in eyewitness memory are discussed that
demonstrate both content and attribution errors. Flashbulb memory research is reviewed from the
perspective of whether a special memory mechanism is necessary to explain the vividness of this
special category of memory and it is argued that evidence supporting such a special mechanism
is lacking. A very brief discussion of hypnosis is presented and the authors present the view that
studies in hypnosis do not support the commonly held notion that hypnosis allows for the recall
of information that could not otherwise be recalled. In the cases where hypnosis does produce
enhanced recollection, these authors argue that other principles, such as hyperamnesia, are
responsible for producing the benefit. The chapter concludes with discussion of memory
illusions, recovered memories and implanted memories.
Chapter Thirteen examines theories of memory related to when events occur. The authors start
with a list of well-known findings (such as telescoping and recency/primacy effects) that must be
accounted for by any such theory any briefly review several models that fail in this regard. Next,
two theories that can account for these findings are discussed: perturbation theory and the
inference model. The chapter concludes with review of research integrating this type of memory
within the larger context of autobiographical memory and memory processing in general.
The book continues with chapters on memory development and mnemonics. First, experiments
in memory in infancy are reviewed along with the topic of infantile amnesia, the finding that
adults cannot generally recall events before the age of three. Next, studies in memory in older
6
children are reviewed along the lines of basic capabilities (speed of processing and immediate
memory capacity), memory strategies, domain knowledge, and implicit memory. The
developmental section concludes with studies of memory and aging along with theoretical
explanations of aging and memory. In the chapter on mnemonics, facts and myths related to
memory improvement are discussed as well as studies of subjects with exceptional memories.
Reliable strategies for memory improvement include using distributed rather than massed
studying, avoiding situations causing proactive or retroactive interference, using processing at
study that is appropriate to the retrieval cues used at test, and simply paying attention so that
information is processed in the first place.
The final chapter of the book discusses several memory models to illustrate the advantages and
disadvantages of using simulation models as a tool for analyzing human memory. These include
the search of associative memory (SAM) model, MINERVA2, the second version of a model
named after the Roman goddess of wisdom, and the Theory of Distributed Associative Memory
(TODAM).
Group Remembering –Similarity and Difference to Single Mind Memorizing
Although remembering is usually studied as a process within the individual mind, there has been
increasing research interest on group remembering performance from the psychology literature
(e.g., Hartwick et al., 1982; Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993; Weldon et al., 2000). Past studies show
that the group remembers more than individuals when members collaborate instead of working
alone to recall an event (e.g., Stephenson et al., 1983). Group recognition is also more accurate
7
than individual recognition (Clark et al., 2000; Hinsz, 1990). Weldon and Bellinger investigated
and compared memory as both an individual and a social process in studies of dyads (Weldon &
Bellinger, 1997). Their results demonstrate that individual and collaborative recall revealed
similar principles of memory on picture-superiority effect (the picture-superiority effect under
graphic-encoding conditions was larger in collaborative recall than in individual recall in their
experiments), a level-of-processing effect, and hypermnesia, suggesting that collaborative recall
may be viewed as largely a product of individual recall although it is not the sum of the
individual recalls.
Studies have shown that group processing does not always have a positive impact on memory
recall. Weldon and Bellinger (1997) observed significant impairment in their study of
collaborative recall in dyads, a phenomenon they termed collaborative inhibition. Basden et al.
also observed collaborative inhibition in their study of four-member groups (Basden et al., 2001).
Interacting groups are reported to produce fewer ideas than nominal groups in brainstorming
studies, indicating that collaboration inhibits productivity (e.g., Bouchard & Hare, 1970). It is
believed in the literature that collaboration can produce retrieval interference (e.g., Anderson &
Neely, 1996) and retrieval interference attributes to collaborative inhibition as it can be
disruptive for the individual’s subjective organization and retrieval strategies hearing other group
members recall the material (e.g., Finlay et al., 2000).
As our memory is limited, it is crucial in knowledge work that knowledge can be embedded into
cognitive artifacts so to enhance our abilities to recall and replicate successful practices.
Supporting group remembering with computer technology is important especially when groups
8
collaborate through Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), namely, computer supported
collaboration. Computer Support Collaborative Work (CSCW) is an interdisciplinary domain at
the intersection between computer science, telecommunication, industrial, organizational and
social psychology, and sociology. A key term defined in CSCW, groupware refers to the set of
software tools that support group work in a common task and provide shared interfaces for
groups to work with (Johansen, 1988). Providing archived information of the collaboration
process, group memory technology helps group members to rediscover or learn new things (e.g.,
discovering how the final decision was made or why different decisions were made), and helps
outsiders of the group gain knowledge of what others have gone through in order to generate
knowledge in a real collaboration case. Group memory technology plays the role of knowledge
artifact in knowledge work providing a road map of the process that group members went
through in generating the knowledge. It facilitates these knowledge connections by capturing the
context of the process in addition to the process itself.
How groupware to be implemented to alleviate or eliminate collaboration inhibition
(collaboration inhibition is termed by Weldon & Bellinger, 1997) thus enhancing group
remembering performance is a question that interests not only human-computer interaction
literature but also psychology literature on memory especially remembering as a social process.
Its answer will contribute to not only theoretical understanding of group memory technology as
artifacts that shape cognition and collaboration and of designing meaningful group memory
technology in groupware in human-computer interaction paradigm, but also psychological
understanding of the nature of cognition beyond the limits inherent in considering cognitive
processes as the content or activity of only the individual mind in psychology paradigm.
9
Summary
As we have discussed above, group remembering has similar and different phenomena compared
to individual memory recall. It is not uncommon in collaboration process that members need to
gather to recall the process and recall the content. In computer supported collaborative work
setting, group members collaborate through groupware. It is important for groupware to support
the group remembering process. For groupware designers and CSCW researchers who are not
familiar with memory study, we suggest this textbook as a background reading. However, this
book alone will not be able to provide enough guidance for them. Taking a memory course in
psychology department where the focus is still on single mind is not sufficient either.
Information technologies have been advancing to today’s status where group work can be
supported through technologies. We think instructors of memory course should consider the fact
and start to bring studies related to group remembering to the class.
References
Anderson, M. C., & Neely, J. H. (1996). Interference and inhibition in memory retrieval, In E. L.
Bjork & R. A. Bjork (Eds.), Memory (pp. 237–317), San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Basden, B. H., Henry, S., & Basden, D. R. (2001). Costs and benefits of collaborative
remembering, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, pp.497-507
Bouchard, T. J., & Jr., Hare, M. (1970). Size, performance, and potential in brainstorming
groups, Journal of Applied Psychology, 54, pp.51–55
Clark, S. E., Hori, A., Putnam, A., & Martin, T. P. (2000). Group collaboration in recognition
memory, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26,
pp.1578–1588.
10
Finlay, F., Hitch, G. J., & Meudell, P. R. (2000). Mutual inhibition in collaborative recall:
Evidence for a retrieval-based account, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory, and Cognition, 26, pp.1556–1567.
Hinsz, V. B. (1990). Cognitive and consensus processes in group recognition memory
performance, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(4), pp.705–718.
Johansen, R. (1988). Groupware: Computer Support for Business Teams. The Free Press.
Paulus, P. B., & Dzindolet, M. T. (1993). Social influence processes in group brainstorming.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, pp. 575-586.
Stephenson, G. M., Brandstätter, H., & Wagner, W. (1983). An experimental study of social
performance and delay on the testimonial validity of story recall, European Journal of
Social Psychology, 13, pp.175–191
Weldon, M. S., & Bellinger, K. D. (1997). Collective memory: Collaborative and individual
processes in remembering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and
Cognition, 23, pp.1160–1175
Weldon, M. S., Blair, C., & Huebsch, P. D. (2000). Group Remembering: Does Social Loafing
Underlie Collaborative Inhibition? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory, and Cognition, Vol. 26(6), pp. 1568 – 1577
11