PSYC 3580 Lecture 1: Production effect and levels of processing
Document Summary
Memory tends to be better if a person has to produce a response during encoding, compared to encoding with no production. May use between subject designs or within subject designs. Distinctiveness effect: people are better able to distinguish target items from distractor items. Series of words shown in red or yellow. Series of words shown: half from phase 1, half new. On each trail, we saw red or yellow word and asked to read yellow words out loud and red words silently. Recognition test: asked to decide if word had been seen before. Independent variable: whether word was read silently or aloud. For all items, measure is proportion of yes responses. Hit rate for read aloud and read silently items. You should find you were more accurate for words read aloud compared to words read silently. Basic production effect is quite robust (around 10-20% better when reading aloud). However, effect works only when you experience both conditions.