Biasing remembering: The effect of egocentric-updating fluency in episodic memory reconstruction process
Résumé
The attribution hypothesis framework suggests that fluency (i.e., the relative ease and speed with which an item is processed) could constitute a basis for memory judgments. Using a Remember-Know procedure, the usual perceptual fluency manipulations during recognition only affect know responses. A possible explanation of these results is that perceptual fluency acts on processes which are not directly relevant for remembering. Recent episodic memory models emphasize the involvement of the egocentric-updated with self-motion (Ego-Up) process on the first-person point-of-view reconstruction which occurs during remembering. Two experiments were conducted to assess the effect of Ego-Up fluency on remembering. Participants learned a four-minute path movie. Subsequently, they had to evaluate short paths and determine whether they were part of the learned path or not, followed by a Remember-Know procedure for recognized items. Ego-Up fluency was manipulated with the introduction of a slight acceleration on recognition paths. The first experiment shows that fluency significantly increases remember responses on learned paths. The second experiment indicates that this effect depends on the involvement of a reconstruction process during the recognition task. These results suggest that remembering could be biased by an Ego-Up fluency which is specific to the episodic-memory reconstruction process.