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Individual Differences in Memory Generalization

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Dagmar (Dasa) Zeithamova¹, Cheyna Warner¹, Lainey Costa¹, Nash Unsworth¹; ¹University of Oregon

Memory generalization is a critical process that involves linking of information across experiences and deriving new knowledge. Many tasks have been developed to measure generalization, from similarity-based generalization (such as categorization tasks) to relational generalization (such as inferring A-C, from A-B and B-C). While initially studied in distinct lines of research, recent research and theories suggest that many forms of generalization may rely on a shared mechanism. However, the extent to which different generalization tasks measure a shared process, and the degree to which is generalization dissociable from memory for specific individual experiences, has not been established. Here, we address these questions by examining performance on multiple memory and memory generalization tasks in a large-scale individual differences study (N ~ 200). Results from a confirmatory factor analysis indicate that all 8 putative generalization tasks load on a single underlying factor. Furthermore, including both putative specific memory and generalization measures (14 measures), we found a two-factor model, with generalization and specificity as two distinct factors, best characterizes the nature of performance across tasks, albeit the underlying factors were highly correlated. These findings indicate that a range of memory generalization tasks measure the same underlying ability to integrate information across experiences and that putative memory specificity and generalization task rely on dissociable cognitive processes. Further, this project facilitates future memory generalization research through shared task code and data made available to the public.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic