Perceptual interference at encoding enhances item-specific encoding and disrupts relational encoding: evidence from multiple recall tests.
Interfering with perception during encoding can enhance later memory, a phenomenon known as the perceptual interference effect. This effect is investigated in the context of the item-specific-relational framework (e.g., Hunt & McDaniel, 1993), which suggests that the perceptual interference enhances item-specific encoding and impedes relational encoding. Two experiments performed with multiple recall tests support this view. Prior research indicates that item-specific processing increases item gains across tests, whereas relational processing protects against item losses (e.g., Burns, 1993; Klein, Loftus, Kihlstrom, & Aseron, 1989). Consistent with the item-specific-relational framework, perceptual interference produced significant increases in both item gains and losses relative to a control condition.
Mulligan
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Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0442, USA. mulligan@mail.smu.edu
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011932:Reading; D014706:Verbal Learning