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Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes

Two fundamental issues in memory research concern when later experiences strengthen or weaken initial memories and when the two memories become linked or remain independent. A promising candidate for explaining these issues is semantic relatedness. Here, across five paired-associate learning experim...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Antony, James W, Romero, America, Vierra, Anthony H, Luenser, Rebecca S, Hawkins, Robert D, Bennion, Kelly A
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9203053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35704025
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72519
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author Antony, James W
Romero, America
Vierra, Anthony H
Luenser, Rebecca S
Hawkins, Robert D
Bennion, Kelly A
author_facet Antony, James W
Romero, America
Vierra, Anthony H
Luenser, Rebecca S
Hawkins, Robert D
Bennion, Kelly A
author_sort Antony, James W
collection PubMed
description Two fundamental issues in memory research concern when later experiences strengthen or weaken initial memories and when the two memories become linked or remain independent. A promising candidate for explaining these issues is semantic relatedness. Here, across five paired-associate learning experiments (N=1000), we systematically varied the semantic relatedness between initial and later cues, initial and later targets, or both. We found that learning retroactively benefited long-term memory performance for semantically related words (vs. unshown control words), and these benefits increased as a function of relatedness. Critically, memory dependence between initial and later pairs also increased with relatedness, suggesting that pre-existing semantic relationships promote interdependence for memories formed across episodes. We also found that modest retroactive benefits, but not interdependencies, emerged when subjects learned via studying rather than practice testing. These findings demonstrate that semantic relatedness during new learning retroactively strengthens old associations while scaffolding new ones into well-fortified memory traces.
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spelling pubmed-92030532022-06-17 Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes Antony, James W Romero, America Vierra, Anthony H Luenser, Rebecca S Hawkins, Robert D Bennion, Kelly A eLife Neuroscience Two fundamental issues in memory research concern when later experiences strengthen or weaken initial memories and when the two memories become linked or remain independent. A promising candidate for explaining these issues is semantic relatedness. Here, across five paired-associate learning experiments (N=1000), we systematically varied the semantic relatedness between initial and later cues, initial and later targets, or both. We found that learning retroactively benefited long-term memory performance for semantically related words (vs. unshown control words), and these benefits increased as a function of relatedness. Critically, memory dependence between initial and later pairs also increased with relatedness, suggesting that pre-existing semantic relationships promote interdependence for memories formed across episodes. We also found that modest retroactive benefits, but not interdependencies, emerged when subjects learned via studying rather than practice testing. These findings demonstrate that semantic relatedness during new learning retroactively strengthens old associations while scaffolding new ones into well-fortified memory traces. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2022-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9203053/ /pubmed/35704025 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72519 Text en © 2022, Antony et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Antony, James W
Romero, America
Vierra, Anthony H
Luenser, Rebecca S
Hawkins, Robert D
Bennion, Kelly A
Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title_full Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title_fullStr Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title_full_unstemmed Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title_short Semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
title_sort semantic relatedness retroactively boosts memory and promotes memory interdependence across episodes
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9203053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35704025
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72519
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