The hidden depth of memory: retrieval of autobiographical memories is structurally focused
Résumé
Whereas surface and structural features are often correlated in real-life situations, it is necessary to disentangle them in experimental situations to determine their respective influence in driving analogical retrieval. We introduce a free-reminding experimental paradigm to assess the types of autobiographical memories which are elicited when target cues show typical associations (Experiment 1), or less typical associations (Experiment 2) between surface and structural features. Experiment 1 showed that fully-fledged structural similarities, and to a lesser extent partial structural similarities, have a significant influence on the retrieval of superficially similar situations. By setting a retrieval competition between surface and structural similarities, Experiment 2 provides support to our structural superiority hypothesis that superficially dissimilar analogs are more frequently retrieved than superficially similar disanalogs. Our data are consistent with the view that the conjunction of surface and structural similarities is highly efficient in driving retrieval, but that structural overcomes surface similarities when they are dissociated.