free recall
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The modality effect refers to the robust finding that memory performance differs for items presented aurally, as compared with visually. Whereas auditory presentation leads to stronger recency performance in immediate recall, visual presentation often produces better primacy performance (the inverse modality effect). To investigate and model these differences, we conducted two large-scale web-based immediate free recall experiments. In both experiments, participants studied visual and auditory word lists of varying lengths and rates of presentation. We observed typical modality and inverse modality effects, while also discovering that participants were more likely to initiate recall from recent items on auditory trials than on visual trials. However, modality effects persisted regardless of the first item recalled. Meanwhile, an analysis of intrusion errors revealed that participants were more likely on visual trials than on auditory trials to erroneously recall words from one list prior. Furthermore, words presented in the same modality as the present list intruded more often than those presented in a different modality. We next developed a retrieved-context account of the modality effect by fitting the Context Maintenance and Retrieval model to data across multiple list lengths. Through our simulations, we demonstrate that the modality effect can be explained by faster contextual drift and stronger context-to-item association formation during auditory presentation, relative to visual. Our modeling shows that modality effects can arise without hypothesizing distinct memory stores for recent and remote information. Finally, we propose that modality effects may derive primarily from the temporal dynamics of stimuli, rather than their modality.

Assemblies of neurons, called concepts cells, encode acquired concepts in human Medial Temporal Lobe. Those concept cells that are shared between two assemblies have been hypothesized to encode associations between concepts. Here we test this hypothesis in a computational model of attractor neural networks. We find that for concepts encoded in sparse neural assemblies there is a minimal fraction cmin of neurons shared between assemblies below which associations cannot be reliably implemented; and a maximal fraction cmax of shared neurons above which single concepts can no longer be retrieved. In the presence of a periodically modulated background signal, such as hippocampal oscillations, recall takes the form of association chains reminiscent of those postulated by theories of free recall of words. Predictions of an iterative overlap-generating model match experimental data on the number of concepts to which a neuron responds.

Conditional response probability (CRP) analyses applied to free recall data indicate that recall occurs for contiguous items with forward-directionality, thought to reflect the shared encoding context of nearby items. We hypothesized that a context disruption, produced by presenting infrequent oddballs, would modulate CRP curves, increasing the forward-flow of recall due to strong binding of items presented after these oddballs to the new encoding context. Seventy young, healthy male and female participants encoded word lists containing either emotional or perceptual oddballs at varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) followed by free recall. Serial recall transitions from emotional, but not perceptual, oddballs were enhanced in the forward direction except at the shortest SOA (1s). The present results provide empirical evidence of CRP modulation selectively by emotional salience and suggest that recall patterns after presenting emotional and perceptual oddballs are mediated by different mechanisms.

Despite the complexity of human memory, paradigms like free recall have revealed robust qualitative and quantitative characteristics, such as power laws governing recall capacity. Although abstract random matrix models could explain such laws, the possibility of their implementation in large networks of interacting neurons has so far remained underexplored. We study an attractor network model of long-term memory endowed with firing rate adaptation and global inhibition. Under appropriate conditions, the transitioning behavior of the network from memory to memory is constrained by limit cycles that prevent the network from recalling all memories, with scaling similar to what has been found in experiments. When the model is supplemented with a heteroassociative learning rule, complementing the standard autoassociative learning rule, as well as short-term synaptic facilitation, our model reproduces other key findings in the free recall literature, namely, serial position effects, contiguity and forward asymmetry effects, and the semantic effects found to guide memory recall. The model is consistent with a broad series of manipulations aimed at gaining a better understanding of the variables that affect recall, such as the role of rehearsal, presentation rates, and continuous and/or end-of-list distractor conditions. We predict that recall capacity may be increased with the addition of small amounts of noise, for example, in the form of weak random stimuli during recall. Finally, we predict that, although the statistics of the encoded memories has a strong effect on the recall capacity, the power laws governing recall capacity may still be expected to hold.

The Emotional Enhancement of Memory (EEM) has been well-demonstrated in adults, but less is known about EEM in children. The present study tested the impact of emotional valence of pictures on episodic memory using behavioral and neurophysiological measures. Twenty-six 8- to 11-year-old children were tested and compared to 30 young adults. Both groups participated in pictures’ intentional encoding tasks while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded, followed by immediate free recall tasks. Behavioral results revealed a general EEM in free recall performances in both groups, along with a negativity effect in children. ERP responses revealed a particular sensitivity to negative pictures in children with a late emotion effect at anterior clusters, as well as a greater successful encoding effect for emotional pictures compared to neutral ones. For adults, the emotion effect was more pronounced for positive pictures across all time windows from the centro-parietal to the frontal part, and localized in the left hemisphere. Positive pictures also elicited a greater successful encoding effect at anterior clusters in adults. By combining behavioral and neurophysiological measures to assess the EEM in children compared with adults, our study provides new knowledge concerning the interaction between emotional and memory processes during development.

Background: The TNI-93 is a quick memory test designed for all patients regardless of their education level. A significant proportion of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are illiterate or poorly educated, and only a few memory tests are adapted for these patients. Objective: In this study we aimed at assessing the diagnostic value of the TNI-93 for diagnosis of patients with biologically confirmed amyloid status. Methods: We included all patients who had an analysis of AD cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, a neuropsychological assessment including a TNI-93 and an anatomical brain imaging at Avicenne Hospital between January 2009 and November 2019. We compared the TNI-93 scores in patients with amyloid abnormalities (A+) and patients without amyloid abnormalities (A-) according to the AT(N) diagnostic criteria. Results: 108 patients were included (mean age: 66.9±8.5 years old, mean education level: 8.9±5.2 years). Patients from the A + group (N= 80) were significantly more impaired than patients from the A- group (N= 28) on immediate recall (A+: 5.9±2.8; A-: 7.4±2.6; p = 0.001), free recall (A+: 3.5±2.7; A-: 5.9±2.8; p ≤ 0.001), total recall (A+: 5.7±3.5; A-:7.8±2.8; p ≤ 0.001), and on number of intrusions during the recall phase (A+: 1±1.8; A-: 0.1±0.3; p = 0.002). ROC curves revealed that the best scores to discriminate A + from A- patients were immediate recall (Area under curve (AUC): 0.70), number of encoding trials (AUC: 0.73), free recall (AUC: 0.74), and total recall (AUC: 0.74). Conclusion: The TNI-93’s immediate, free, and total recalls are valuable tools for the 39 diagnosis of AD.

Ophthalmoscopy is a core component of a complete ophthalmic examination. Due to its complex technical aspects and patients becoming uncooperative if the procedure is prolonged, it can be a difficult skill for a novice to learn and develop proficiency in. Skills instruction is typically provided by subject matter experts (SMEs) through free recall without an agreed-upon instructional framework. This can lead to unintentional omission of essential steps and knowledge required to perform skills correctly. Cognitive task analysis (CTA) allows for construction of standardized instructional protocols that encompass the knowledge and skills experts apply when performing tasks. The objectives of this study were to (a) develop a CTA-based teaching protocol for canine indirect ophthalmoscopy and (b) compare the steps verbalized or demonstrated by SMEs during free recall instruction versus those ultimately identified by CTA. Four SMEs participated in free recall instructional sessions and interviews used for the development of a CTA-based teaching protocol for novice learners. The CTA-based protocol identified 66 steps and sub-steps considered essential for successfully performing canine indirect ophthalmoscopy. During instructional sessions, SMEs on average failed to verbalize 57.1% of clinical knowledge steps, did not verbalize or demonstrate 68.3% and 9.5% of action steps and did not verbalize or demonstrate 73.2% and 40.4% of decision steps, respectively. This study demonstrates that SMEs teaching indirect ophthalmoscopy by free recall may unintentionally omit important steps, suggesting that compared with free recall, CTA may generate more comprehensive and thus potentially more effective instructional materials for teaching technical skills in veterinary medicine.

For citizen science games (CSGs) to be successful in advancing scientific research, they must effectively train players. Designing tutorials for training can be aided through developing a skill chain of required skills and their dependencies, but skill chain development is an intensive process. In this work, we hypothesized that free recall may be a simpler yet effective method of directly eliciting skill chains. We elicited 23 skill chains from players and developers and augmented our reflexive thematic analysis with 11 semi-structured interviews in order to determine how players and developers conceptualize skill trees and whether free recall can be used as an alternative to more resource-intensive cognitive task analyses. We provide three main contributions: (1) a comparison of skill chain conceptualizations between players and developers and across prior literature; (2) insights to the process of free recall in eliciting CSG skill chains; and (3) a preliminary toolkit of CSG skill-based design recommendations based on our findings. We conclude CSG developers should: give the big picture up front; embrace social learning and paratext use; reinforce the intended structure of knowledge; situate learning within applicable, meaningful contexts; design for discovery and self-reflection; and encourage practice and learning beyond the tutorial. Free recall was ineffective for determining a traditional skill chain but was able to elicit the core gameplay loops, tutorial overviews, and some expert insights.