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A temporal ratio model of memory
Abstract
A model of memory retrieval is described. The model embodies 4 main claims: (a) temporal memory--traces of items are represented in memory partly in terms of their temporal distance from the present; (b) scale-similarity--similar mechanisms govern retrieval from memory over many different timescales; (c) local distinctiveness--performance on a range of memory tasks is determined by interference from near psychological neighbors; and (d) interference-based forgetting--all memory loss is due to interference and not trace decay. The model is applied to data on free recall and serial recall. The account emphasizes qualitative similarity in the retrieval principles involved in memory performance at all timescales, contrary to models that emphasize distinctions between short-term and long-term memory.
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“Models of free recall such as Search of Associative Memory [95] and SIMPLE [96] use the previously recalled word to cue the next word, and has been productively used to account for the dependencies seen when people attempt to recall a list of words.”
From Bayesian Brains without Probabilities (2016) · cites this paper as [96]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Brown, G. D. A., Neath, I., & Chater, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Warwick (GB)
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 2007
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 539-576
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W2109740547
- Semantic Scholar
- 00e9e3984599b9ab357ac69af4f1a47fd23112f1
- Cited by
- 798
- References
- 262
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 54 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 41
- FWCI
- 19.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (R000239351; RES 000231038)
- Economic and Social Research Council (R000239351; RES 000231038)
- Leverhulme Trust (F/215/AY)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- memory retrieval, temporal memory, temporal distance, scale similarity, local distinctiveness, free recall, serial recall, short-term memory, long-term memory
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Humans, Models, Psychological, Neuropsychological Tests, Mental Recall, Retention, Psychology, Serial Learning
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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