The Generation Effect and Source Memory

Superior memory performance for self-generated items compared to read or simply perceived items is called the positive generation effect, whereas the reverse pattern is called the negative generation effect. For item memory tasks, a positive generation effect typically occurs (cf., Slamecka & Graf, 1978). In contrast to this, no clear picture exists as to whether a positive or a negative generation effect is bound to emerge for source memory of perceptual attributes, due to empirical evidence for both outcomes. Therefore, the two lines of research investigated in the course of the present dissertation deal with the generation effect and source memory. They aim to shed light on present inconsistencies and contradictions as well as to illuminate unanswered questions. In the first line of research, I addressed the role of the processing of perceptual attributes and of the processing of internal states in memory for the degree of completeness. In the second line of research, I investigated the role of increased conceptual processing for the memory of presentation colour, for which a negative generation effect has been found consistently (e.g., Mulligan, 2004; Mulligan, Lozito, and Rosner, 2006; Riefer et al., 2007). All data were achieved in laboratory experiments and were analysed using the multinomial processing tree model for crossed source dimensions (Meiser & Bröder, 2002). I conclude (a) that self-reference plays a critical role for generation effect studies when attempting to investigate source memory and (b) that conceptual and perceptual processing play a less critical role than assumed – results could rather be interpreted as evidence in favour of a more general account involving visual and non-visual processing