Recollections of things schematic: room schemas revisited

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition Vol. 27; no. 5; p. 1211
• Main Authors: Lampinen, J M, Copeland, S M, Neuschatz, J S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.2001
• Subjects: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Recall; Orientation; Repression, Psychology; Retention (Psychology); Semantics; Social Environment; Verbal Learning; Visual Perception
• DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.27.5.1211
• ISSN: 0278-7393

In 2 experiments, the authors examined the effects of schemas on the subjective experience of remembering. Participants entered a room that was set up to look like a graduate student's office under intentional or incidental learning conditions. They later took a recognition memory test that included making remember-know judgments. In Experiment 1, they were tested during the same session; in Experiment 2 they were tested either during the same session or after a 48-hr delay. Consistent with the authors' predictions, memory for atypical objects was especially likely to be experienced in the remember sense. In addition, false remember judgments rose dramatically after the 48-hr delay, especially for participants in the incidental learning condition. Results are discussed in terms of schema theory, fuzzy-trace theory, and the distinctiveness heuristic.