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Do different tests of episodic memory produce consistent results in human adults?


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Authors

Cheke, Lucy G 
Clayton, Nicola S 

Abstract

A number of different philosophical, theoretical, and empirical perspectives on episodic memory have led to the development of very different tests with which to assess it. Although these tests putatively assess the same psychological capacity, they have rarely been directly compared. Here, a sample of undergraduates was tested on three different putative tests of episodic memory (What-Where-When, Unexpected Question/Source Memory, and Free Recall). It was predicted that to the extent to which these different tests are assessing the same psychological process, performance across the various tests should be positively correlated. It was found that not all tests were related and those relationships that did exist were not always linear. Instead, two tests showed a quadratic relationship, suggesting the contribution of multiple psychological processes. It is concluded that not all putative tests of episodic cognition are necessarily testing the same thing.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Episodic, Neuropsychological Tests, Young Adult

Journal Title

Learn Mem

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1072-0502
1549-5485

Volume Title

20

Publisher

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Sponsorship
We thank the research students who were involved in this project, Mathilda Hay and Stephanie Bailey. We also thank Netta Chachuma and Francesca Lewis for help on an early version of this study, and James Thom, Ljerka Ostojic, Jon Simons, and Tom Smulders for commenting on versions of the manuscript, and Daniel Booth and Anthony Cheke for proofreading. Special thanks to Chris Stephenson for creating, maintaining, and updating the computer-based task. L.G.C. was funded by an MRC doctoral training studentship, an MRC Centenary Early Career Award, and a Junior Research Fellowship at Girton College, Cambridge.