Abstract
In the test-pair similarity effect, forced-choice recognition is more accurate for similar test pairs, such asleopard-cheetah, than it is for unrelated test pairs, such asleopard-turnip. According to global matching models, this occurs because the retrieved familiarities of similar items are correlated. In the Minerva 2 model, global matching underlies frequency judgments as well as recognition memory. One implication of this model is that judged frequencies of similar items should be correlated. Another implication is that judgments of summed frequency for pairs of words (how many presentations were there of word1 and word2 combined?) should have higher variance when word1 and word2 are similar than when they are unrelated. These predictions were tested and confirmed in two experiments. A review of these and other results suggests that theories of recognition memory should also be applicable to frequency-judgment tasks.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Clark, S. E., &Gronlund, S. D. (1996). Global matching models of recognition memory: How the models match the data.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,3, 37–60.
Clark, S. E., Hori, A., &Callan, D. E. (1993). Forced-choice associative recognition: Implications for global-memory models.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,19, 871–881.
Eich, J. M. (1982). A composite holographic associative recall model.Psychological Review,89, 627–661.
Fisk, A. D., &Schneider, W. (1984). Memory as a function of attention, level of processing, and automatization.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,10, 181–197.
Gillund, G., &Shiffrin, R. M. (1984). A retrieval model for both recognition and recall.Psychological Review,91, 1–67.
Greene, R. L. (1988). Generation effects in frequency judgment.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,14, 298–304.
Greene, R. L., &Thapar, A. (1994). Mirror effect in frequency discrimination.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,20, 946–952.
Gronlund, S. D., Edwards, M. B., &Ohrt, D. D. (1997). Comparison of the retrieval of item versus spatial position information.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,23, 1261–1274.
Hall, J. F. (1979). Recognition as a function of word frequency.American Journal of Psychology,92, 497–505.
Hasher, L., &Chromiak, W. (1977). The processing of frequency information: An automatic mechanism?Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,16, 173–184.
Hintzman, D. L. (1969). Apparent frequency as a function of frequency and the spacing of repetitions.Journal of Experimental Psychology,80, 139–145.
Hintzman, D. L. (1982). Are presentation frequency and spatial numerosity distinct attributes of memory?Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,20, 196–198.
Hintzman, D. L. (1988). Judgments of frequency and recognition memory in a multiple-trace memory model.Psychological Review,95, 528–551.
Hintzman, D. L. (2000). Memory judgments. In E. Tulving & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.),The Oxford handbook of memory (pp. 165–195). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hintzman, D. L., &Block, R. A.(1970). Memory judgments and the effects of spacing.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,9, 561–566.
Hintzman, D. L., &Caulton, D. A. (1997). Recognition memory and modality judgments: A comparison of retrieval dynamics.Journal of Memory & Language,37, 1–23.
Hintzman, D. L., &Curran, T. (1994). Retrieval dynamics of recognition and frequency judgments: Evidence for separate processes of familiarity and recall.Journal of Memory & Language,33, 1–18.
Hintzman, D. L., Curran, T., &Caulton, D. A. (1995). Scaling the episodic familiarities of pictures and words.Psychological Science,6, 308–313.
Hintzman, D. L., Nozawa, G., &Irmscher, M. (1982). Frequency as a nonpropositional attribute of memory.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,21, 127–141.
Hintzman, D. L., &Rogers, M. K. (1973). Spacing effects in picture memory.Memory & Cognition,1, 430–434.
Hintzman, D. L., &Stern, L. D. (1984). A comparison of forgetting rates in frequency discrimination and recognition.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,22, 409–412.
Howell, W. C. (1973). Representation of frequency in memory.Psychological Bulletin,80, 44–53.
Humphreys, M. S., Bain, J. D., &Pike, R. (1989). Different ways to cue a coherent memory system: A theory for episodic, semantic, and procedural tasks.Psychological Review,96, 208–233.
Jonides, J., &Jones, C. M. (1992). Direct coding for frequency of occurrence.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,18, 368–378.
Leicht, K. L. (1968). Recall and judged frequency of implicitly occurring words.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,7, 918–923.
McClelland, J. L., &Chappell, M. (1998). Familiarity breeds differentiation: A subjective likelihood approach to the effects of experience in recognition memory.Psychological Review,105, 724–760.
Murdock, B. B., Jr. (1982). A theory for the storage and retrieval of item and associative information.Psychological Review,89, 609–626.
Murdock, B. B., Jr. (1999). Item and associative interactions in shortterm memory: Multiple memory systems?International Journal of Psychology,34, 427–433.
Naveh-Benjamin, M., &Jonides, J. (1985). The effects of rehearsal on frequency coding.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,23, 387–390.
Proctor, R. W. (1977). The relationship of frequency judgments to recognition: Facilitation of recognition and comparison to recognition-confidence judgments.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,3, 679–689.
Ratcliff, R., &McKoon, G. (1988). A retrieval theory of priming in memory.Psychological Review,95, 385–408.
Rose, R. J., &Rowe, E. J. (1976). Effects of orienting task and spacing of repetitions on frequency judgments.Journal of Experimental Psychology,2, 142–152.
Rosenthal, R., &Rosnow, R. L. (1985).Contrast analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rowe, E. J. (1974). Depth of processing in a frequency judgment task.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,13, 638–643.
Shiffrin, R. M., Ratcliff, R., &Clark, S. (1990). The list-strength effect. II. Theoretical mechanisms.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,16, 179–195.
Shiffrin, R. M., &Steyvers, M. (1997). A model for recognition memory: REM—retrieving effectively from memory.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,4, 145–166.
Thurstone, L. L. (1927). A law of comparative judgment.Psychological Review,34, 273–286.
Tulving, E. (1981). Similarity relations in recognition.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,20, 479–496.
Underwood, B. J. (1969). Some correlates of item repetition in free-recall learning.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,8, 83–94.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hintzman, D.L. Similarity, global matching, and judgments of frequency. Memory & Cognition 29, 547–556 (2001). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200456
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200456