The Effect of the Single versus Dual Perspectives on Recall of Information Out of Text

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The Effect of the Single versus Dual Perspectives
on Recall of Information Out of Text

• Megan McGinnis and Kylea Corbin
• University of Dayton

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Back Ground

• Pichert and Anderson 1977
• Study on perspective on textual recall
• Anderson and Pichert 1978
• Change in perspective on textual recall
• This opened the door to other schematic research

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What is a schema?

• Schemas are generalized knowledge about a
  situation or an event used to interpret, encode,
  understand, remember new instances, and provide
  expectations about what should occur in a given
  situation.

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Two competing Hypotheses

• Selective attention hypothesis
• Slot filling hypothesis
• Weight of the evidence falls more on the side of
  the selective attention hypothesis

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• Research has not only been done on various
  hypotheses but also on how processes activated at
  the time of encoding affect schemas opposed to
  processes activated at the time of retrieval.
  (Anderson Pichert, 1978)

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Encoding versus Retrieval

• Ideational scaffolding hypothesis
• Inferential reconstruction

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Break down and describe the structure of stories
and other textual materials

• Grammars (Cirilo Foss, 1980)
• Hierarchical in nature
• Top levels abstract (setting, theme)
• Lower levels details

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Levels Effect

• The finding is that the propositions that stand
  higher in the hierarchy, or the structure of the
  text, are recalled much better than those at the
  lower levels.

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Two explanations

• 1. The higher a proposition is in the hierarchy,
  the more noticeable it is for the reader.
• 2. Stresses the difficulty of processing a
  proposition at a higher level in the hierarchy
  due to its lack of connections to the earlier
  text.

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Our Study

• Branched off from Anderson and Picherts previous
  studies on schema and text
• Text barrowed from original study
• No previous studies on dual perspective

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• On the next page there will be a story for you to
  read. While reading the story presented in front
  of you, you are to imagine that you are a
  homebuyer looking for a home. You will be given
  two minutes to read through the story once. Once
  the two minutes is up, you will hear a beep
  telling you when to stop. You will then count
  backwards by threes until you hear another beep
  telling you when to stop. When this happens you
  are to write down the last number you counted on
  the sheet that is presented for you, and will be
  instructed on what to do next.

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Count backwards by threes from

• 241

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• Write down the last number you counted on the
  sheet of paper. Please write down as much of the
  exact story as you can on the sheet of paper
  presented in front of you. If you cannot remember
  the exact words of any sentence, but you do
  remember the meaning, write down a sentence or
  part of a sentence as close to the original as
  possible. You will be given five minutes to do
  this.

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Idea Units

• The two boys ran until they came to a driveway.
  See, I told you today was good for skipping
  school, said Mark. Mom is never home on
  Thursday, he added. Tall hedges hid the
  house from the road so the pair strolled across
  the finely landscaped yard. I never knew your
  place was so big, said Pete. Yeah, but its
  nicer now than it used to be since Dad had the
  new stone siding put on and added the
  fireplace.
• There were front and back doors and a side
  door which led to the garage which was empty
  except for three parked 10-speed bikes. They
  went in the side door, Mark explaining that it
  was always open in case his younger sisters
  got home earlier than their mother.
• Homebuyer new stone siding
• Burglar three parked 10-speed bikes
• EitherTall hedges hid the house from the road

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Results
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Results Cont
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Problems

• Too small sample
• Text imbalance
• Not enough time for recall
• Perspective not obvious to some
• Third Condition needed

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So What?

• Schema and schools
• Teachers and students
• Schema and false memories
• Eyewitness testimony