How much memory is implicit? And evaluate Jacoby’s PDP

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2014, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2) : 311-315.

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PDF(3434 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2014, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2) : 311-315.

How much memory is implicit? And evaluate Jacoby’s PDP

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Abstract

Since Jacoby(1991) proposed a process-dissociation framework(PDP) designed to tease out and measure the effects of conscious and unconscious process. Jacoby’s process dissociation framework has been welcomed as a tool for differentiating controlled and automatic cognitive processes. Although original PDP was successively modified into several extension models, it is always considered as an ingenious methodology to obtain separate estimates of familiarity and intentional recollection with a single paradigm. PDP is based on the difference of mental phenomena in inclusion and exclusion conditions. The model that posits two independent retrieval processes: a familiarity process, and a recollection process, are dissociated in facilitation task and an interference task. Therefore, mental phenomena of PDP is the foundation on which mathematic model is conceived of. But present mathematic model of PDP do not reflect its mental phenomena, and its result is divorcing mathematic model from real mental phenomena. Jacoby made three blunders in describing PDP mental process, construction of mathematic model, applying PDP into practice. The article questioned Jacoby’s blunders in three aspects mentioned above. Firstly, PDP do not fully describe memory-recollection mental phenomena in inclusion and exclusion conditions. For example, Jacoby’ math model can not explain some phenomena in exclusion condition such as reversing between old and new, interference in two kind of memory, decision which sheet the old word belongs to, etc. these mistakes directly led to Jacoby’ equations incorrect. A simple example was employed to verify incorrectness of Jacoby’s mathematic equation in the article. Secondly, Jacoby neglected situationism of memory and complication of recollection, these resulting in Jacoby’s simple train of thought in construction of PDP math model, and improperly explanation of R and F. In PDP model, R represents the unconditional probability of recollection, FR+ and FR- represent the conditional probabilities of familiarity (conditional on recollection and no recollection, respectively.). but Jacoby’s independence model assumed FR+=FR-, so it is difficult to understand what F refers to. Because FR+ and FR- represent different kind of memory. Thirdly, participants had two kinds of tactics in reaction in exclusion condition, one instruction-oriented method, the other sheet2–excluded method. A participant will not be interfered in exclusion condition if he uses the latter method, so the exclusion task will be out of action. We constructed a new PDP application model on the basis of PDP mental phenomena, and tested the new model with experiments, regulated application condition and result interpretation, verified strategic experimental dissociation in exclusion condition, i.e. there existed significant differences in terms of reaction time (t=2.44, p<.05) and error probability (t=2.73, p<.01) between participants who took different tactic in reaction, corrected Jacoby’s three blunders in theory and application. To sum up, these results indicate that mathematical relations between variables can explain the mental phenomena in PDP experiment and coincide with experimental results. There suggest that the new PDP model can be tested by practice.

Key words

explicit memory / implicit memory / conscious recollection / unconscious familiarity / PDP / question

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How much memory is implicit? And evaluate Jacoby’s PDP[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2014, 37(2): 311-315
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