@article{JohnAslan2020, author = {John, Thomas and Aslan, Alp}, title = {Age differences in the persistence of part-list cuing impairment: The role of retrieval inhibition and strategy disruption}, series = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, volume = {191}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, pages = {104746}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Providing a subset of previously studied information as a retrieval cue can impair memory for the remaining information. Previous work with adults has shown that such part-list cuing impairment (PLCI) can be transient or lasting, depending on study condition. Here, we investigated the persistence of PLCI in children. Three age groups (7- and 8-year-olds, 9- and 10-year-olds, and 12- to 14-year-olds) learned a list of items, either through a single study trial (1-study condition) or through two study-test cycles (2-study-test condition). Subsequently, two recall tests were administered, with part-list cues being provided in the first (critical) test but not in the second (final) test. Of primary interest was whether the detrimental effect of part-list cuing induced in the critical test would persist to the uncued final test. In 12- to 14-year-olds, we found an adult-like pattern of results, with lasting impairment in the 1-study condition but transient impairment in the 2-study-test condition. In contrast, in the two younger age groups, we found PLCI to be lasting in both study conditions, suggesting age differences in the persistence of PLCI. The results are discussed in light of a recently proposed two-mechanism account of PLCI that attributes lasting impairment to retrieval inhibition and transient impairment to strategy disruption. Following this account, the results suggest that whereas 12- to 14-year-olds' PLCI was caused by (lasting) retrieval inhibition in the 1-study condition and by (transient) strategy disruption in the 2-study-test condition, 7- and 8-year-olds' and 9- and 10-year-olds' PLCI was caused by (lasting) retrieval inhibition in both study conditions.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanJohn2019, author = {Aslan, Alp and John, Thomas}, title = {Part-list cuing effects in younger and older adults' episodic recall}, series = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {34}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, number = {2}, pages = {262 -- 267}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Providing a subset of previously studied items as retrieval cues can both impair and improve memory for the remaining items. Here, we investigated such part-list cuing effects in younger and older adults' episodic recall, using listwise directed forgetting to manipulate study context access at test. When context access was maintained, part-list cuing impaired recall regardless of age. In contrast, when context access was impaired, part-list cuing improved recall in younger but not in older adults. The results are consistent with the proposal that older adults show intact inhibition and blocking of competing information, but reduced capability for episodic context reactivation.}, language = {en} } @article{BufeAslan2018, author = {Bufe, Jonathan and Aslan, Alp}, title = {Desirable Difficulties in Spatial Learning: Testing Enhances Subsequent Learning of Spatial Information}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, pages = {1701}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Previous work has shown that testing can enhance learning and retention of subsequently studied new information. The present study investigated this forward testing effect in spatial memory. In two experiments, participants studied four successively presented 3 × 3 arrays, each composed of the same nine objects. They were asked to memorize the locations of the objects which differed across the four arrays. Following presentation of Arrays 1-3, memory for the object locations of the respective array was tested (testing condition), or the array was re-presented for additional study (restudy condition). Thereafter, Array 4 was presented and tested in both the testing and the restudy condition. In Experiment 1, testing was self-paced, whereas in Experiment 2, testing time was controlled by the experimenter. Consistent across the two experiments, testing was found to enhance location memory for Array 4, relative to restudying. Furthermore, testing also reduced the number of confusion errors (i.e., the tendency to misplace objects to locations on which they had appeared previously) made during recall of Array 4, suggesting that testing reduced the interference potential of prior information. The results indicate that testing can enhance subsequent learning of spatial information by reducing the build-up of proactive interference from previously studied information.}, language = {en} } @article{JohnAslan2018, author = {John, Thomas and Aslan, Alp}, title = {Part-list cuing effects in children: A developmental dissociation between the detrimental and beneficial effect}, series = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, volume = {166}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, pages = {705 -- 712}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Providing a subset of previously studied items as a retrieval cue can both impair and improve recall of the remaining items. Here, we investigated the development of these two opposing effects of such part-list cuing in children. Using listwise directed forgetting to manipulate study context access, three child age groups (7-8, 9-11, and 13-14 years) and young adults studied a list of items and, after study, were asked to either forget or continue remembering the list. After presentation of a second list, participants were tested on predefined target items from the original list in either the presence or absence of the list's remaining (nontarget) items serving as retrieval cues. Results revealed that part-list cuing impaired recall of to-be-remembered target items regardless of age. In contrast, part-list cuing improved recall of to-be-forgotten target items in the adult and the oldest child groups but not in the two younger child groups. This finding suggests a developmental dissociation between the two opposing effects of part-list cuing, indicating that the beneficial effect develops later than the detrimental effect. In particular, following the view that the beneficial effect of part-list cuing arises from reactivation of the study context, the results suggest that elementary school children have difficulty in capitalizing on context reactivation.}, language = {en} } @incollection{BaeumlAslanAbel2017, author = {B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T. and Aslan, Alp and Abel, Magdalena}, title = {Chapter Five - The Two Faces of Selective Memory Retrieval—Cognitive, Developmental, and Social Processes}, series = {Psychology of Learning and Motivation}, booktitle = {Psychology of Learning and Motivation}, editor = {Ross, Brian H.}, publisher = {Academic Press}, address = {London, Oxford, Boston, New York, San Diego}, publisher = {Technische Hochschule Rosenheim}, pages = {167 -- 209}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Numerous studies from the past five decades have shown that selective retrieval of some studied items can impair recall of other items. This chapter reviews more recent work, in which it is demonstrated that selective memory retrieval has two faces and that it can both impair and improve recall of other items. In this recent work, participants' access to study context during selective retrieval was experimentally manipulated and it was examined whether such manipulation influences the effects of selective retrieval. Access to study context was manipulated using listwise directed forgetting, context-dependent forgetting and time-dependent forgetting. The results consistently showed that selective retrieval impairs recall of other memories if access to study context during retrieval is largely maintained, but that selective retrieval can improve recall if study context access is impaired. The findings are explained by a two-factor account, which claims that, in general, selective retrieval does not only trigger inhibition and blocking but also triggers context reactivation processes. The proposal is that primarily inhibition and blocking operate when study context access during selective retrieval is largely maintained, whereas primarily context reactivation processes operate when study context access is impaired. Current findings on the two faces of selective retrieval are well consistent with this theoretical view.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanJohn2016, author = {Aslan, Alp and John, Thomas}, title = {The development of adaptive memory: Young children show enhanced retention of animacy-related information}, series = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, volume = {152}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Child Psychology}, pages = {343 -- 350}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Previous developmental work has indicated that animacy is a foundational ontogenetic category that is given priority already early in life. Here, we investigated whether such priority is also present in children's episodic memory, examining whether young children show enhanced retention of animacy-related information. Kindergartners and younger and older elementary school children were presented with fictitious (non)words (e.g., BULA, LAFE) paired with properties characteristic of humans (e.g., "likes music"), (nonhuman) animals (e.g., "builds nests"), and inanimate things (e.g., "has four edges") and were asked to rate the animacy status of each nonword. After a retention interval, a surprise recognition test for the nonwords was administered. We found enhanced recognition of nonwords paired with human and animal properties compared with (the same) nonwords paired with inanimate properties. The size of this animacy advantage was comparable across age groups, suggesting developmental invariance of the advantage over the age range examined (i.e., 4-11 years). The results support a functional-evolutionary view on memory, suggesting that already young children's memory is "tuned" to process and retain animacy.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2016, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Testing enhances subsequent learning in older but not in younger elementary school children}, series = {Developmental Science}, volume = {19}, journal = {Developmental Science}, number = {6}, pages = {992 -- 998}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In adults, testing can enhance subsequent learning by reducing interference from the tested information. Here, we examined this forward effect of testing in children. Younger and older elementary school children and adult controls studied four lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test. Following presentation of each of the first three lists, participants were immediately tested on the respective list, or the list was re-presented for additional study. Results revealed that, compared to additional study, immediate testing of Lists 1-3 enhanced memory for the subsequently studied List 4 in adults and older elementary school children, but not in younger elementary school children. The findings indicate that the forward effect of testing is a relatively late-maturing phenomenon that develops over middle childhood and is still inefficient in the early elementary school years. Together with the results of other recent studies, these findings point to a more general problem in young children in combating interference.}, language = {en} } @article{TempelAslanFrings2016, author = {Tempel, Tobias and Aslan, Alp and Frings, Christian}, title = {Competition dependence of retrieval-induced forgetting in motor memory}, series = {Memory \& Cognition volume}, volume = {44}, journal = {Memory \& Cognition volume}, number = {4}, pages = {671 -- 680}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In two experiments, we examined the competition dependence of retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) in motor memory. Participants learned sequential finger movements as responses to letter stimuli. The learning phase comprised two parts. In both parts, half of the motor sequences were to be executed at one of two locations (the left or right side of a keyboard) by pressing the corresponding response keys. Retrieval practice of half of the motor sequences at one location induced forgetting of the nonpracticed motor sequences at that location. However, RIF was prevented in Experiment 1 when retrieval practice took place before the nonpracticed items had even been encoded. In Experiment 2, RIF was prevented by intentionally forgetting the nonpracticed motor sequences prior to retrieval practice. These results suggest that precluding competition by related items during retrieval practice precluded them from being affected by RIF. The present findings support an inhibitory account and speak against the alternative assumptions that associative blocking or a mental context change causes RIF.}, language = {en} } @article{KuhbandnerAslanEmmerdingeretal.2016, author = {Kuhbandner, Christof and Aslan, Alp and Emmerdinger, Kathrin and Murayama, Kou}, title = {Providing Extrinsic Reward for Test Performance Undermines Long-Term Memory Acquisition}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {7}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, pages = {79}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Based on numerous studies showing that testing studied material can improve long-term retention more than restudying the same material, it is often suggested that the number of tests in education should be increased to enhance knowledge acquisition. However, testing in real-life educational settings often entails a high degree of extrinsic motivation of learners due to the common practice of placing important consequences on the outcome of a test. Such an effect on the motivation of learners may undermine the beneficial effects of testing on long-term memory because it has been shown that extrinsic motivation can reduce the quality of learning. To examine this issue, participants learned foreign language vocabulary words, followed by an immediate test in which one-third of the words were tested and one-third restudied. To manipulate extrinsic motivation during immediate testing, participants received either monetary reward contingent on test performance or no reward. After 1 week, memory for all words was tested. In the immediate test, reward reduced correct recall and increased commission errors, indicating that reward reduced the number of items that can benefit from successful retrieval. The results in the delayed test revealed that reward additionally reduced the gain received from successful retrieval because memory for initially successfully retrieved words was lower in the reward condition. However, testing was still more effective than restudying under reward conditions because reward undermined long-term memory for concurrently restudied material as well. These findings indicate that providing performance-contingent reward in a test can undermine long-term knowledge acquisition.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanSchlichtingJohnetal.2015, author = {Aslan, Alp and Schlichting, Andreas and John, Thomas and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {The Two Faces of Selective Memory Retrieval: Earlier Decline of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect With Older Age}, series = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {30}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, number = {4}, pages = {824 -- 834}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Recent work with young adults has shown that, depending on study context access, selective memory retrieval can both impair and improve recall of other memories (B{\"a}uml \& Samenieh, 2010). Here, we investigated the 2 opposing effects of selective retrieval in older age. In Experiment 1, we examined 64 younger (20-35 years) and 64 older participants (above 60 years), and manipulated study context access using list-method directed forgetting. Whereas both age groups showed a detrimental effect of selective retrieval on to-be-remembered items, only younger but not older adults showed a beneficial effect on to-be-forgotten items. In Experiment 2, we examined 112 participants from a relatively wide age range (40-85 years), and manipulated study context access by varying the retention interval between study and test. Overall, a detrimental effect of selective retrieval arose when the retention interval was relatively short, but a beneficial effect when the retention interval was prolonged. Critically, the size of the beneficial but not the detrimental effect of retrieval decreased with age and this age-related decline was mediated by individuals' working memory capacity, as measured by the complex operation span task. Together, the results suggest an age-related dissociation in retrieval dynamics, indicating an earlier decline of the beneficial than the detrimental effect of selective retrieval with older age. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)}, language = {en} }