title: Video context-dependent recall.
abstract: In two experiments, we used an effective new method for experimentally manipulating local and global contexts to examine context-dependent recall. The method included video-recorded scenes of real environments, with target words superimposed over the scenes. In Experiment 1, we used a within-subjects manipulation of video contexts and compared the effects of reinstatement of a global context (15 words per context) with effects of less overloaded context cues (1 and 3 words per context) on recall. The size of the reinstatement effects in Experiment 1 show how potently video contexts can cue recall. A strong effect of cue overload was also found; reinstatement effects were smaller, but still quite robust, in the 15 words per context condition. The powerful reinstatement effect was replicated for local contexts in Experiment 2, which included a no-contexts-reinstated group, a control condition used to determine whether reinstatement of half of the cues caused biased output interference for uncued targets. The video context method is a potent way to investigate context-dependent memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station,TX 77843, USA. stevesmith@tamu.edu
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Manzano
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D012660:Semantics; D014743:Videotape Recording