Control and organization in primary memory: Evidence from suffix effects

dc.contributor.advisorWatkins, Michael J.en_US
dc.creatorBloom, Lance C.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T08:24:55Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-04T08:24:55Zen_US
dc.date.issued1999en_US
dc.description.abstractThis investigation is concerned with the control and organization of the "psychological present," or primary memory, and specifically with the implications of such control and organization for the suffix effect. The suffix effect arises when a nominally irrelevant speech item, or "suffix," is appended to a spoken sequence of items, and it consists of an impairment in the recall of the most recent items in the sequence, especially the last item (e.g., Crowder, 1967; Dallett, 1965). The dominant explanation of the suffix effect has been in terms of "bottom-up" masking in general (e.g., Nairne, 1990) and precategorical acoustic masking in particular (e.g., Crowder & Morton, 1969; Crowder, 1978, 1983; Greene & Crowder, 1984). The current version of this explanation is "two-component" theory, wherein the precategorical masking explanation is confined to the terminal component of the suffix effect (i.e., at the last position of the sequence), with the preterminal component being open to influences of top-down or conceptually-based interpretation and strategy (see Greene, 1992 for a review). Reported here are 12 experiments, each of which provides evidence inconsistent with two-component theory. Experiments 1--4 failed to replicate the principal findings proffered in support of the theory; Experiments 5--11 extended some of the findings of the first four experiments by showing additional evidence of postcategorical influences on the terminal suffix effect; and Experiment 12 demonstrated a suffix effect with static visual presentation. These findings, and indeed those in the suffix effect literature in general, are interpreted along the lines of the now largely ignored perceptual grouping account proposed by Kahneman (1973; Kahneman & Henik, 1981).en_US
dc.format.extent126 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS PSYCH. 1999 BLOOMen_US
dc.identifier.citationBloom, Lance C.. "Control and organization in primary memory: Evidence from suffix effects." (1999) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19355">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19355</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19355en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectCognitive psychologyen_US
dc.titleControl and organization in primary memory: Evidence from suffix effectsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentPsychologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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