Abstract
Four experiments were done to investigate the effects of repetition on judgment of recency (JOR). Experiment 1 showed that repetition can make an item seem either more recent or less recent than a nonrepeated item, depending on presentation spacing. Experiments 2-4 showed that subjects are able to judge the recency of a repeated item’s first presentation or of its second presentation with a high degree of independence, especially if they report that the item occurred twice. The data are more consistent with an independent-trace explanation of JOR and repetition than with a cumulative-strength account, but neither hypothesis explains how repetition can make an item seem less recent. It is proposed that the findings as a whole can be better explained by a hypothesis based on recursive reminding.
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Hintzman, D.L. How does repetition affect memory? Evidence from judgments of recency. Memory & Cognition 38, 102–115 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.1.102
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.1.102