Modulators of memory and subjective experiences

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Many of the decisions we make in daily life are influenced by memory retrieval (Have I seen this before?) and by our evaluation of our subjective experiences (Do I like this?). The proposed research aims to clarify how encoding and retrieval factors shape memory accuracy (Goal 1), and how task and context factors shape subjective memory and aesthetic experiences (Goal 2). Goal 1 is to specify the factors that influence memory accuracy. This issue is central to understanding human memory, and also has practical applications for learners. Within this goal, Project 1 aims to understand why one simple encoding strategy—saying items aloud—benefits memory. Does “production” at study make items distinctive in memory, inducing a distinctiveness-based strategy at test? Or does production merely increase overall memory strength? To test the strength account we will examine whether production (vs. silent reading) yields a stronger unconscious influence on memory. Another study will use brain imaging (fMRI) to examine the brain regions responsible for the production effect which will help distinguish between the distinctiveness and strength accounts. Project 2 will use recall, recognition, and source-judgment tasks to examine why distinctive encoding reduces a potent false memory illusion. Does it reduce the encoding of information about nonstudied items? Or does it lead to use of a distinctiveness strategy at test? Project 3 will resolve why taking an initial memory test sometimes improves and sometimes impairs memory, an issue with important implications in education and eyewitness situations. Goal 2 is to specify the factors that influence subjective experiences (e.g., how beautiful we deem a painting), rather than objective accuracy (cf. Goal 1). We have found that the same stimuli receive different memory judgments, and different aesthetic ratings and choices, depending on the task and context. For example, context influences whether subjects experience their recognition as “recollection” versus “familiarity”. Project 4 will use both judgment and rating tasks to triangulate how task and context shape recognition experiences. In parallel, Project 5 will examine how context affects subjective aesthetic experiences. Prior studies have confirmed that pupil dilation is greater for “recollect” than “familiar” experiences, and greater for “high” than “low” beauty experiences. Each project will therefore measure pupil dilation to examine whether task and context influence “raw” subjective experiences or how we define and report them “offline”. The proposed studies will specify modulators of memory and subjective experiences. A long term plan is to evaluate the possibility that the same underlying process shapes all varieties of subjective experience, resulting in attributions that guide our behaviour and choices.