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Cognitive psychology of human memory (thesaurus)

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Concept information

phenomenon > memory phenomenon > generation effect

Preferred term

generation effect  

Definition(s)

  • Better memory for self-generated items than for read items or items provided by the experimenter. In some circumstances, generation does not affect memory or may have a detrimental effect (negative generation effect).

Broader concept(s)

Related concept(s)

Belongs to group

Bibliographic citation(s)

  • • Bertsch, S., Pesta, B. J., Wiscott, R., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The generation effect : A meta-analytic review. Memory & Cognition, 35(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193441

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: open]
  • • Blaxton, T. A. (1989). Investigating dissociations among memory measures : Support for a transfer-appropriate processing framework. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(4), 657–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.15.4.657

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Jacoby, L. L. (1983). Remembering the data : Analyzing interactive processes in reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22(5), 485–508. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(83)90301-8

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • McCurdy, M. P., & Leshikar, E. D. (2022). Contextual framework of the generation effect. The American Journal of Psychology, 135(3), 251–270. https://doi.org/10.5406/19398298.135.3.01

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • McCurdy, M. P., Viechtbauer, W., Sklenar, A. M., Frankenstein, A. N., & Leshikar, E. D. (2020). Theories of the generation effect and the impact of generation constraint : A meta-analytic review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(6), 1139‑1165. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01762-3

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: open]
  • • Schindler, J., Richter, T., & Mar, R. (2021). Does generation benefit learning for narrative and expository texts? A direct replication attempt. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(2), 559‑564. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3781

    [Study type: empirical study, replication / Access: open]
  • • Schmidt, S. R., & Cherry, K. (1989). The negative generation effect : Delineation of a phenomenon. Memory & Cognition, 17(3), 359–369. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.6.592

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Serra, M., & Nairne, J. S. (1993). Design controversies and the generation effect : Support for an item-order hypothesis. Memory & Cognition, 21(1), 34–40. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211162

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: open]
  • • Slamecka, N. J., & Graf, P. (1978). The generation effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4(6), 592–604. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.6.592

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Srinivas, K., & Roediger, H. L. (1990). Classifying implicit memory tests : Category association and anagram solution. Journal of Memory and Language, 29(4), 389–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-596X(90)90063-6

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

Creator

  • Frank Arnould

Moderator variable(s)

  • • Age: larger effect in older adults compared to younger adults (Betsch et al., 2007).
  • • Experimental design: Larger effect in an intra-subject design than in an inter-subject design (Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Generated information: larger effect when the subject has to generate the complete target compared to the generation of part of the target (Betsch et al., 2007).
  • • Generation constraint (amount of information given to the participant to generate a certain response): low constraints produce a higher generation effect than medium or high constraints, but only in free recall and cued recall tasks. No influence of the constraint level in a recognition task (McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Generation rule: Calculation generation produces the largest effect (Betsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Learning type: larger effect in incidental learning than in intentional learning (Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • List composition: effect eliminated or reduced when lists are composed entirely of items to be read or generated, compared to mixed lists (Serra & Nairne, 1993 ; Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Mode of generation: larger effect when the responses generated are verbal/oral, compared to written or covert responses (McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Number of stimuli: larger effect when the number of information to be generated is smaller (Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Retention interval: Increasingly larger effect as retention interval increases (Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Stimulus relation: larger effect with the generation of a semantic associate (McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Stimulus type: larger effect for numbers and words compared to nonwords (Betsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy et al., 2020).
  • • Test type: larger effect in a cued recall or recognition task compared to a free recall task. (Bertsch et al., 2007 ; McCurdy, 2020).
  • • Test type: the effect is reversed in tests of implicit memory (Braxton, 1989; Jacoby, 1983; Srinivas & Roediger, 1990).

Dataset citation(s)

  • • McCurdy, M. P., Viechtbauer, W., Sklenar, A., Frankenstein, A. N., & Leshikar, E. D. (2020, March 15). Theories of the Generation Effect and the Impact of Generation Constraint: A Meta-Analytic Review. https://osf.io/9pv7a/
  • • Zormpa, E., & Brehm, L. (2020, March 21). The production and the generation effect improve memory in picture naming. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7KQ5S

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-QN9H3MD5-D

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