Orientation, size, and relative size information in semantic and episodic memory

The time required to identify a common object depends on several factors, especially pre-existing knowledge and episodic representations newly established as a result of a prior study. My research examined how these factors contribute to identification of objects (both studied and non-studied) and to performance on explicit memory tests. The overall goal was to explore the link between memory and object perception. One series of experiments examined influences due to object orientation in the plane of the page. Subjects were shown color photos of objects, and memory was assessed either with an old/new recognition test or with a test that required them to identify objects that were slowly faded in on a computer monitor. The critical variables were the type of photo — each showing either an object with a predominant or cardinal orientation (e.g., helicopter) or a non-cardinal object (e.g., pencil), and the orientation at which the photos were displayed at study and at test (e.g., rotated 0°, 120°, or 240°). For non-studied targets, identification test performance showed a large effect due to display orientation, but only for cardinal objects. For studied targets, study-to-test changes in orientation influenced priming for both non-cardinal and cardinal objects, but orientation specific priming effects (larger priming when study and test orientations matched rather than mismatched) were much larger with cardinal than non-cardinal objects, especially, when their display orientation, at test was unusual (i.e., 120°, 240°). A second series of experiments examined influences due to object size (size of an object presented alone) and relative size (size of an object relative to another object). Size manipulations had a large effect on identification of non-studied objects but study-to- test changes in size had only a minimal effect on priming. In contrast, study1to-test changes in relative size influenced recognition decision speed which is an index of priming. The combined findings suggest that both semantic and episodic representations behave as if they coded orientation but only for cardinal objects. They also suggest that episodic representations code relative size but not size information. The findings are explained by the instance views of memory.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat