Retrieval tasks differentially influence memory for object features

Abstract

Visual memory for objects and their constituent features (e.g., size, color, and state) is highly malleable and heavily influenced by encoding contexts and specific task-based characteristics. Yet, how object-feature memory is influenced by different retrieval tasks is not well understood. In this study, we examined whether variations in retrieval tasks that have been previously used in the literature (paired AFCs vs. 2-AFC) could produce different patterns of memory responses, that could then lead to different interpretations of the underlying memory representations. Specifically, participants studied and were asked to identify which object-feature combination they had previously seen. The results revealed that response patterns differed based on retrieval tasks, whereby the paired-AFC condition produced more accurate object-feature responses, while the 2-AFC produced more single-exemplar responses. Taken together, these results suggest that the nature of retrieval tasks can influence the kinds of elicited responses, leading to variation in interpretations across studies. Investigating how retrieval context shapes object-feature recognition provides important insight into malleability of visual object-feature representations in memory.