Lower constraint testing enhances the testing effect for some contextual details but not others.

Introduction: Retrieval practice has been shown to be an effective means of learning new information, a memory phenomenon known as the testing effect or the retrieval practice effect. Some work suggests that the magnitude of the testing effect can be enhanced when the test used for retrieval practice uses fewer cues to retrieve previously studied information. It is unclear, however, whether such testing benefits extend to peripheral contextual details associated with studied materials (e.

Evidence for a memory advantage for prosocial behaviors.

Introduction: Prior work in the memory domain has shown that certain social information is especially well-remembered such as information for social targets who cheat. Less work, however, has investigated the extent people remember information for social targets who engage in prosocial behaviors (e.g.

The reciprocal relationship between episodic memory and future thinking: How the outcome of predictions is subsequently remembered.

Evidence suggests that memory is involved in making simulations and predictions about the future (i.e., future thinking), but less work has examined how the outcome of those predictions (whether events play out as predicted or expected) subsequently affects episodic memory.

Predicting and remembering the behaviors of social targets: how prediction accuracy affects episodic memory.

Background: Decades of research has investigated the relationship between memory and future thinking. Although some of this work has shown that memory forms the basis of making predictions about the future, less work has investigated how the outcome of those predictions (whether consistent or inconsistent with what one predicts) is later remembered. Limited past works suggests that memory for outcomes that are consistent with what one predicts are better remembered that predictions that are inconsistent.

The influence of memory on approach and avoidance decisions: Investigating the role of episodic memory in social decision making.

People are motivated to make social decisions to approach or avoid social targets (i.e., other people).

Examining the influence of brain stimulation to the medial prefrontal cortex on the self-reference effect in memory.

Past work shows that processing information in relation to the self improves memory which is known as the self-reference effect in memory. Other work suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can also improve memory. Given recent research on self-reference context memory effects (improved memory for contextual episodic details associated with self-referential processing), we were interested in examining the extent stimulation might increase the magnitude of the self-reference context memory effect.

Value-directed memory effects on item and context memory.

The ability to prioritize learning some information over others when that information is considered important or valuable is known as value-directed remembering. In these experiments, we investigate how value influences different aspects of memory, including item memory (memory for the to-be-learned materials) and context memory (memory for peripheral details that occurred when studying items) to get a better understanding of how people prioritize learning information. In this investigation, participants encoded words associated with a range of values (binned into higher, medium, and lower value in Experiment 1, and into higher and lower value in Experiment 2) for a subsequent memory test that measured item memory (Is this item old or new?) as well as both objective context memory (memory for an objectively verifiable contextual detail: In which voice was this item spoken?) and subjective context memory (How many visual, auditory, and extraneous thoughts/feelings can you remember associated with this item?).

Examining the relationship between generation constraint and memory.

Self-generated information is often better remembered than read information (the generation effect). Recent research, however, has shown that generating information under fewer experimental constraints (i.e.