Genealogy and memory

Lance J. Rips; Margaret E. Stubbs

doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90391-6

Genealogy and memory

Lance J. Rips^*, Margaret E. Stubbs

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Determining how two members of a family are related ordinarily requires a deductive process that operates on information drawn from memory. We investigate this process in two experiments in which subjects must decide on the truth of sentences involving familial relations. In Experiment 1 the sentences referred to families known to the subjects through their own experience, while in Experiment 2 the sentences were about hypothetical families that were learned in the laboratory. In both cases, the time required for subjects' decisions suggests that memory for families is organized in terms of parent-child relations, together with knowledge of which members belong to the same generation. In addition, we obtained "fanning" effects, similar to those obtained in experiments on sentence memory.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	705-721
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior
Volume	19
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90391-6
State	Published - Dec 1980

Funding

We would like to thank Joel Angiolillo-Bent, Gordon Bower, Norman Brown, James Greeno, Douglas Hintzman, Jintae Lee, and Stephen Monsell for their advice and assistance• We also acknowledge the support of U.S. Public Health Service Grants K02MH00236 and 5S07RR0702914 and of NSF Grant BNS-8014131. Correspondence should be addressed to Lance Rips, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Chicago, 5848 S. University Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Medicine

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10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90391-6

Cite this

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title = "Genealogy and memory",

abstract = "Determining how two members of a family are related ordinarily requires a deductive process that operates on information drawn from memory. We investigate this process in two experiments in which subjects must decide on the truth of sentences involving familial relations. In Experiment 1 the sentences referred to families known to the subjects through their own experience, while in Experiment 2 the sentences were about hypothetical families that were learned in the laboratory. In both cases, the time required for subjects' decisions suggests that memory for families is organized in terms of parent-child relations, together with knowledge of which members belong to the same generation. In addition, we obtained {"}fanning{"} effects, similar to those obtained in experiments on sentence memory.",

author = "Rips, {Lance J.} and Stubbs, {Margaret E.}",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank Joel Angiolillo-Bent, Gordon Bower, Norman Brown, James Greeno, Douglas Hintzman, Jintae Lee, and Stephen Monsell for their advice and assistance• We also acknowledge the support of U.S. Public Health Service Grants K02MH00236 and 5S07RR0702914 and of NSF Grant BNS-8014131. Correspondence should be addressed to Lance Rips, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Chicago, 5848 S. University Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637.",

year = "1980",

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doi = "10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90391-6",

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journal = "Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior",

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AU - Stubbs, Margaret E.

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank Joel Angiolillo-Bent, Gordon Bower, Norman Brown, James Greeno, Douglas Hintzman, Jintae Lee, and Stephen Monsell for their advice and assistance• We also acknowledge the support of U.S. Public Health Service Grants K02MH00236 and 5S07RR0702914 and of NSF Grant BNS-8014131. Correspondence should be addressed to Lance Rips, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Chicago, 5848 S. University Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637.

PY - 1980/12

Y1 - 1980/12

N2 - Determining how two members of a family are related ordinarily requires a deductive process that operates on information drawn from memory. We investigate this process in two experiments in which subjects must decide on the truth of sentences involving familial relations. In Experiment 1 the sentences referred to families known to the subjects through their own experience, while in Experiment 2 the sentences were about hypothetical families that were learned in the laboratory. In both cases, the time required for subjects' decisions suggests that memory for families is organized in terms of parent-child relations, together with knowledge of which members belong to the same generation. In addition, we obtained "fanning" effects, similar to those obtained in experiments on sentence memory.

AB - Determining how two members of a family are related ordinarily requires a deductive process that operates on information drawn from memory. We investigate this process in two experiments in which subjects must decide on the truth of sentences involving familial relations. In Experiment 1 the sentences referred to families known to the subjects through their own experience, while in Experiment 2 the sentences were about hypothetical families that were learned in the laboratory. In both cases, the time required for subjects' decisions suggests that memory for families is organized in terms of parent-child relations, together with knowledge of which members belong to the same generation. In addition, we obtained "fanning" effects, similar to those obtained in experiments on sentence memory.

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Genealogy and memory

Abstract

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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