People are different, and each person perceives information in a unique way. An individual may better memorize a fact or an opinion if they can associate themselves with the presented knowledge. For example, people may have a finer comprehension of a movie if they can relate to situations or characters portrayed in the film. Such a phenomenon can be described by the self-reference effect (SRE). The presented study aims to examine whether good recognition depends on the SRE, meaning, for instance, that individuals may recall more words under the SRE condition over other circumstances. It is necessary to conduct a literature review to support the purpose of the proposed investigation.
The first assessed article illustrates the differences in people’s perceptions of information. Durbin et al. (2017) analyzed how self-referential processing affects item recognition and source memory. The researchers divided the study into two experiments, with one using words (E1) and the other employing pictures (E2) (Durbin et al., 2017). The participants were 24 students in each part of the investigation (Durbin et al., 2017). Independent variables (IVs) in E1 and E2 were represented by two conditions, with participants shown 216 words and 252 pictures, respectively, and asked to make self-referential (SR) or non-self-referential (NSR) judgments (Durbin et al., 2017). Dependent variables (DVs) were item recognition and source memory, measured utilizing ANOVA (Durbin et al., 2017). The findings revealed that SR-ly encoded words and pictures were identified better than those processed NSR-ly (Durbin et al., 2017). However, source memory was superior for positive items perceived SR-ly in E1 and for those observed NSR-ly in E2 (Durbin et al., 2017). The item recognition results support the proposed study’s hypothesis by suggesting that if people remember SR-ly encoded data, they are also likely to recall the exact words better under the SRE condition.
In comparison, the second reviewed article’s authors examined the SRE concerning two types of source information (SI). Yin et al. (2019) also conducted two experiments, one focused on spatial location (SL) of words (E1), and the other concentrated on color as contextual information (E2). The participants were students from Southwest University, of whom 69 were involved in E1 and 71 in E2 (Yin et al., 2019). IVs were represented by self-referential (SR), other-referential (OR), and semantic conditions, with participants divided into intentional- and incidental-learning groups (Yin et al., 2019). For both experiments, DVs were item memory and source memory, and they were measured by employing ANOVA (Yin et al., 2019). In E1, recollection of words and their SL was better under the SR condition, and the participants made fewer source mistakes and responded more unhesitatingly (Yin et al., 2019). In E2, the findings revealed that the SRE could improve memory for words but not their color (Yin et al., 2019). The results concerning the participants’ morale in their responses support the proposed research’s hypothesis by suggesting that people are likely to feel more confident about their IM under the SRE.
To conclude, the two assessed articles reinforce the purpose of the presented study, which is examining item recollection in relation to the self-reference effect. Accordingly, the analysis has the following hypotheses: the SRE should enhance recognition of words that participants can relate to themselves, and people should feel more confident about their memory under the SRE. The research’s findings are anticipated to enhance the discussion and understanding of how people process information that has a connection to their personalities.
References
Durbin, K. A., Mitchell, K. J., & Johnson, M. K. (2017). Source memory that encoding was self-referential: The influence of stimulus characteristics. Memory, 25(9), 1191-1200. Web.
Yin, X., Ma, Y., Xu, X., & Yang, H. (2019). The effect of self-referencing on memory for different kinds of source information. Memory, 27(4), 519-527. Web.