Mechanisms of Analogical Reminding and Priming

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9310614 HOLYOAK This research will investigate the role of analogical similarity in guiding retrieval of previous experiences stored in memory. Analogical similarity depends on overlap in the underlying structure of situations, such as a common theme shared by two stories or a common goal structure underlying two different problems. Such "deep" similarities can be distinguished from more superficial types of overlap, such as similar characters and events in stories or similar objects involved in problems. Previous research has shown that access to memories is strongly influenced by such surface similarities, but has generally failed to find evidence that deeper types of similarity can allow one situation to trigger reminding of another. This project will use a variety of more sensitive measures to determine whether and when human memory is guided by deep as well as superficial similarities between complex situations. The influences of different types of similarity will be investigated by experiments in which college students process a series of stories in a context that does not make it apparent that a memory test will follow. After a delay ranging from a few minutes to a week, the subjects will be cued with other stories that differ in their similarity relations to the target stories in memory. In some cases a cue will be related to multiple target stories in memory. It is expected that the retrieval competition triggered by having multiple related targets in memory (a situation more in keeping with everyday experience that is the paradigm used in previous studies) will greatly improve the sensitivity of reminding to analogical similarity. Other experiments will use more indirect measures to determine which types of similarity influence the way in which information is processed spontaneously. These studies will determine whether reading a story that is similar at a deep level, a surface level, or both, will render a subsequent story more comprehens ible, or decrease the time required to read and understand it. These experiments will provide knowledge important for several related topics. Few current models of memory retrieval can account for an influence of deep similarity on reminding. If the project reveals that analogical similarity indeed influences memory access, this evidence would place important constraints on any adequate theory of the way complex knowledge is represented in and accessed from human memory. The results will also provide guidance for efforts to devise more psychologically realistic computer-based models of memory retrieval. In addition, sensitivity to analogical similarity can provide a basis for flexible learning and transfer in problem solving. The results are therefore likely to have important implications for training and education. ***