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ERIC Number: EJ1374098
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jul
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: EISSN-1939-1285
Available Date: N/A
Spatial Gist Extraction during Human Memory Consolidation
Antony, James W.; Stiver, Caroline A.; Graves, Kathryn N.; Osborne, Jarryd; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.; Bennion, Kelly A.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v48 n7 p929-941 Jul 2022
Theories of memory consolidation suggest that initially rich, vivid memories become more gist-like over time. However, it is unclear whether gist-like representations reflect a loss of detail through degradation or the blending of experiences into statistical averages, and whether the strength of these representations increases, decreases, or remains stable over time. We report three behavioral experiments that address these questions by examining distributional learning during spatial navigation. In Experiment 1, human subjects navigated a virtual maze to find hidden objects with locations varying according to spatial distributions. After 15 minutes, 1 day, 7 days, or 28 days, we tested their navigation performance and explicit memory. In Experiment 2, we created spatial distributions with no object at their mean locations, thereby disentangling learned object exemplars from statistical averages. In Experiment 3, we created only a single, bimodal distribution to avoid possible confusion between distributions and administered tests after 15 minutes or 28 days. Across all experiments, and for both navigation and explicit tests, representations of the spatial distributions were present soon after exposure, but then receded over time. These findings suggest gist-like representations do not improve over time, helping to clarify the temporal dynamics of consolidation in human learning and memory.
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/mwfq4/
Author Affiliations: N/A