Data_Sheet_1_Contextual reinstatement affects semantic organization.CSV

The Context Dependency Effect is the well-established finding in which memory performance is enhanced under conditions in which the encoding and retrieval contexts overlap (i.e., Same-Context) and diminished when the overlap between encoding and retrieval contexts is low (i.e., Different-Context). Despite much research on context-dependent memory, most prior work examined only mean performance levels. The current experiment examined the influence of context change, manipulated by using three different pieces of background music, on semantic organization during free recall. Recall driven by semantic organization captures an important, ecologically valid aspect of memory retrieval: because narratives of real-life events are typically comprised of semantically related concepts (e.g., “sea,” “bathing suit,” and “sand” when recalling a trip to the beach), their recall is likely driven by semantic organization. Participants in the current study were tested in the same or different context as the material was learned. The results showed that although the mean number of correctly recalled items was numerically greater in the Same-Context condition compared to the Different-Context condition, the Context Dependency Effect was not significant. In contrast, however, semantic clustering—an established measure of semantic organization—was greater in the Different-Context condition compared to the Same-Context condition. Together, these results suggest that when contextual cues at recall are relatively meager, participants instead use semantic information as cues to guide memory retrieval. In line with previous findings, temporal organization, patterns of errors, and serial position analyses showed no differences between the two context conditions. The present experiment provides novel evidence on how external context change affects recall organization.

情境依赖效应是指记忆性能在编码与检索情境存在重叠（即，同一情境）时得到增强，而在编码与检索情境重叠度较低（即，不同情境）时则有所降低的已被广泛认可的发现。尽管对情境依赖记忆的研究众多，但先前的大多数研究仅考察了平均表现水平。当前实验通过操纵三种不同的背景音乐，探讨了情境变化对自由回忆过程中的语义组织的影响。由语义组织驱动的回忆捕捉了记忆检索的重要且具有生态效度的一面：由于现实生活事件的叙述通常由语义相关的概念组成（例如，在回忆海滩之旅时，包括“海洋”、“泳装”和“沙子”等），其回忆很可能由语义组织驱动。当前研究中的参与者在接受测试时处于与学习材料相同的或不同的情境中。结果显示，尽管与不同情境条件相比，同一情境条件下的正确回忆项目数量在数值上更大，但情境依赖效应并不显著。然而，与此相反，语义聚类——作为语义组织的一个既定衡量指标——在不同情境条件下的值高于同一情境条件。这些结果共同表明，当回忆时的情境线索相对贫乏时，参与者反而会使用语义信息作为线索来指导记忆检索。与先前的研究结果一致，时间组织、错误模式和序列位置分析在两种情境条件下均未显示出差异。本实验提供了关于外部情境变化如何影响回忆组织的新证据。