Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:04:34.564Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Incidental verbatim memory for language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2014

Olga Gurevich
Affiliation:
Princeton University
Matthew A. Johnson
Affiliation:
Princeton University

Abstract

It is widely believed that explicit verbatim memory for language is virtually nonexistent except in certain circumstances, for example if participants are warned they are to receive a memory test, if the language is ‘interactive’ (emotion-laden), or if the texts are exceedingly short and memory is tested immediately. The present experiments revisit the question of verbatim memory for language and demonstrate that participants do reliably recognize and recall full sentences that they are exposed to only once at above chance rates (Experiments 1 and 3). The texts are 300 words long, non-interactive, and no advanced warning of a memory test is given. Verbatim memory is demonstrated even when lexical content and memory for gist are controlled for (Experiments 2 and 4). The most striking finding is one of incidental recall: even after a six-day delay, participants reliably reproduce sentences they have heard before when asked to describe scenes, even though they are not asked to recall what they had heard (Experiment 5).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J. R. 1974. Verbatim and prepositional representation of sentences in immediate and long-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 13. 149162.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. R. & Bower, G.. 1973. A propositional theory of recognition memory. Memory and Cognition 2(3). 406412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, F. C. 1932. Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Binet, A. & Henri, V.. 1894. La mémoire des phrases (mémoire des idées). L'Année Psychologique 1. 2459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bock, K. & Brewer, W. F.. 1974. Reconstructive recall in sentences with alternative surface structures. Journal of Experimental Psychology 103(5). 837843.Google Scholar
Bolinger, D. 1977. Meaning and form. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Bransford, J. D. & Franks, J. J.. 1971. The abstraction of linguistic ideas. Cognitive Psychology 2. 331350.Google Scholar
Bybee, J. L. 1985. Morphology: A study of the relation between meaning and form. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
de Villiers, P. D. 1974. Imagery and theme in recall of connected discourse. Journal of Experimental Psychology 103. 263268.Google Scholar
Gernsbacher, M. A. 1985. Surface information loss in comprehension. Cognitive Psychology 17. 324363.Google Scholar
Gibbs, R. W. 1981. Memory for requests in conversation. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 20. 630640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, A. E. 2006. Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grice, P. H. 1975. Logic and Conversation. In Cole, P. & Morgan, J. (eds.), Syntax and semantics, volume III: Speech acts, 4158. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Holtgraves, T. 2008. Conversation, speech acts, and memory. Memory and Cognition 36(2). 361374.Google Scholar
Jarvella, R. J. 1973. Co-reference and short-term memory for discourse. Journal of Experimental Psychology 98. 426428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson-Laird, P., Robins, C. & Velicogna, L.. 1974. Memory for words. Nature 251. 704705.Google Scholar
Johnson-Laird, P. & Stevenson, R.. 1970. Memory for syntax. Nature 227. 412.Google Scholar
Karmiloff-Smith, A. 1986. From meta-processes to conscious access: Evidence from children's metalinguistic and repair data. Cognition 23. 95147.Google Scholar
Keenan, J. M., MacWhinney, B. & Mayhew, D.. 1977. Pragmatics in memory: A study of natural conversation. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 16. 549560.Google Scholar
Kintsch, W. & Bates, E.. 1977. Recognition memory for statements from a classroom lecture. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 3. 150159.Google Scholar
Kintsch, W., Welsch, D., Schmalhofer, F. & Zimny, S.. 1990. Sentence memory: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Memory and Language 29. 133159.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. 1987. Foundations of cognitive grammar Volume I. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. 1988. A usage-based model. In Rudzka-Ostyn, B. (ed.), Topics in cognitive linguistics. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Loebell, H. & Bock, K.. 2003. Structural priming across languages. Linguistics 41(5). 791824.Google Scholar
Lombardi, L. & Potter, M. C.. 1992. The regeneration of syntax in short term memory. Journal of Memory and Language 31. 713733.Google Scholar
Murphy, G. L. 1992. Comprehension and memory of personal reference: The use of social information in language processing. Discourse Processes 15. 337356.Google Scholar
Murphy, G. & Shapiro, A. M.. 1994. Forgetting of verbatim information in discourse. Memory and Cognition 22. 8594.Google Scholar
Peterson, R. & McIntyre, C.. 1973. The influence of semantic ‘relatedness’ on linguistic integration and retention. American Journal of Psychology 86(4). 697706.Google Scholar
Potter, M. C. & Lombardi, L.. 1990. Regeneration in the short-term recall of sentences. Journal of Memory and Language 29. 633654.Google Scholar
Potter, M. C. & Lombardi, L.. 1998. Syntactic priming in immediate recall of sentences. Journal of Memory and Language 38(3). 265282.Google Scholar
Reyna, V. F. & Kiernan, B.. 1994. The development of gist versus verbatim memory in sentence recognition: Efects of lexical familiarity, semantic content, encoding instruction, and retention interval. Developmental Psychology 30. 178191.Google Scholar
Sachs, J. S. 1967. Recognition memory for syntactic and semantic aspects of connected discourse. Perception and Psychophysics 2(9). 437443.Google Scholar
Tomasello, M. 2003. Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Boston: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Turk-Browne, N. B., Yi, D.-J. & Chun, M. M.. 2006. Linking implicit and explicit memory: Common encoding factors and shared representation. Neuron 49(6). 917928.Google Scholar
Zimny, S. 1987. Recognition memory for sentences form discourse. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado PhD dissertation.Google Scholar