Feature-specific reaction times reveal a semanticisation of memories over time and with repeated remembering.

ABSTRACT: Memories are thought to undergo an episodic-to-semantic transformation in the course of their consolidation. We here test if repeated recall induces a similar semanticisation, and if the resulting qualitative changes in memories can be measured using simple feature-specific reaction time probes. Participants studied associations between verbs and object images, and then repeatedly recalled the objects when cued with the verb, immediately and after a two-day delay. Reaction times during immediate recall demonstrate that conceptual features are accessed faster than perceptual features. Consistent with a semanticisation process, this perceptual-conceptual gap significantly increases across the delay. A significantly smaller perceptual-conceptual gap is found in the delayed recall data of a co

SUBMITTER: Lifanov J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8155072 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature