The influence of members’ relationship on collaborative remembering

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2021.00481

Abstract

Abstract:

Our daily life is filled with collaborative recall activities that take place among intimate individuals. For example, married couples generally communicate about episodic and autobiographical events that serve a significant social function for human beings. Therefore, it is critical to examine the effect of collaborative recall on information retrieval for both younger and older couples. The present study used unpersonal-related semantic wordlists (Experiment 1) and unpersonal-related episodic stories (Experiment 2) as learning materials, respectively, to assess the effect of intimate relationships on collaborative recall for both younger and older adults. Results of Experiment 1 replicated the classical collaborative inhibition phenomenon in younger strangers, whereas no significant recall difference between collaborative and nominal groups was found for intimate couples. Such results were further examined in Experiment 2 with episodic stories, in which both younger and older couples had information retrieval with higher accuracy than nominal groups. In addition, older couples employed positive interaction strategies that played an important role in this collaborative facilitation. Those results can be explained by the transactive memory system. That is, based on intimate relationships and shared experiences among them, an effective system of encoding, storing and retrieving information may develop, diminish, or even reverse the negative effect of collaborative recall.

Key words: collaborative remembering, members’ relationship, transactive memory systems, semantic memory, episodic memory

ZHANG Huan, WANG Xin, LIU Yibei, CAO Xiancai, WU Jie. (2021). The influence of members’ relationship on collaborative remembering. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 53(5), 481-493.

Figures/Tables 7

References 51

[1]	Andersson, J., & Rönnberg, J. (1995). Recall suffers from collaboration: Joint recall effects of friendship and task complexity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 9(3), 199-211.
[2]	Barber, S. J., & Rajaram, S. (2011a). Collaborative memory and part-set cueing impairments: The role of executive depletion in modulating retrieval disruption. Memory, 19(4), 378-397. URL pmid: 21678155
[3]	Barber, S. J., & Rajaram, S. (2011b). Exploring the relationship between retrieval disruption from collaboration and recall. Memory, 19(5), 462-469. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2011.584389 URL pmid: 21736433
[4]	Barnier, A. J., Priddis, A. C., Broekhuijse, J. M., Harris, C. B., Cox, R. E., Addis, D. R., … Congleton, A. R. (2014). Reaping what they sow: Benefits of remembering together in intimate couples. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3(4), 261-265.
[5]	Basden, B. H., Basden, D. R., & Henry, S. (2000). Costs and benefits of collaborative remembering. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14(6), 497-507.
[6]	Blumen, H. M., Rajaram, S., & Henkel, L. (2013). The applied value of collaborative memory research in aging: Considerations for broadening the scope. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2(2), 133-135.
[7]	Browning, C. A., Harris, C. B., van Bergen, P., Barnier, A. J., & Rendell, P. G. (2018). Collaboration and prospective memory: Comparing nominal and collaborative group performance in strangers and couples. Memory, 26(9), 1206-1219. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2018.1433215 URL pmid: 29388873
[8]	Coman, A., Manier, D., & Hirst, W. (2009). Forgetting the unforgettable through conversation: socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting of September 11 memories. Psychological Science, 20(5), 627-633. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02343.x URL pmid: 19476592
[9]	Cooke, N. J., Gorman, J. C., Duran, J. L., & Taylor, A. R. (2007). Team cognition in experienced command-and-control teams. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13(3), 146-157. URL pmid: 17924800
[10]	Cuc, A., Koppel, J., & Hirst, W. (2007). Silence is not golden: A case for socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. Psychological Science, 18(8), 727-733. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01967.x URL pmid: 17680945
[11]	Echterhoff, G., Higgins, E. T., & Groll, S. (2005). Audience-tuning effects on memory: The role of shared reality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(3), 257-276. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.89.3.257 URL pmid: 16248713
[12]	Echterhoff, G., Kopietz, R., & Higgins, E. T. (2017). Shared reality in intergroup communication: Increasing the epistemic authority of an out-group audience. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(6), 806-825.
[13]	Finlay, F., Hitch, G. J., & Meudell, P. R. (2000). Mutual inhibition in collaborative recall: Evidence for a retrieval-based account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(6), 1556-1567.
[14]	Gagnon, L. M., & Dixon, R. A. (2008). Remembering and retelling stories in individual and collaborative contexts. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22(9), 1275-1297. doi: 10.1002/acp.1437 URL pmid: 20333265
[15]	Garfield, J. (1993). Teaching statistics using small-group collaborative learning. Journal of Statistics Education, 1(1), 1-9.
[16]	Gould, O. N., & Dixon, R. A. (1993). How we spent our vacation: Collaborative storytelling by young and old adults. Psychology and Aging, 8(1), 10-17.
[17]	Gould, O. N., Osborn, C., Krein, H., & Mortenson, M. (2002). Collaborative recall in married and unacquainted dyads. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(1), 36-44.
[18]	Gould, O. N., Trevithick, L., & Dixon, R. A. (1991). Adult age differences in elaborations produced during prose recall. Psychology and Aging, 6(1), 93-99. URL pmid: 2029373
[19]	Grysman, A., Harris, C. B., Barnier, A. J., & Savage, G. (2020). Long-married couples recall their wedding day: The influence of collaboration and gender on autobiographical memory recall. Memory, 28(1), 18-33. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1673428 URL pmid: 31615338
[20]	Harris, C. B., Barnier, A. J., Sutton, J., Keil, P. G., & Dixon, R. A. (2017). “Going episodic”: Collaborative inhibition and facilitation when long-married couples remember together. Memory, 25(8), 1148-1159. URL pmid: 28071300
[21]	Harris, C. B., Barnier, A. J., Sutton, J., & Savage, G. (2019). Features of successful and unsuccessful collaborative memory conversations in long-married couples. Topics in Cognitive Science, 11(4), 668-686. URL pmid: 29851268
[22]	Harris, C. B., Keil, P. G., Sutton, J., Barnier, A. J., & Mcllwain, D. J. F. (2011). We remember, we forget: Collaborative remembering in older couples. Discourse Processes, 48(4), 267-303.
[23]	Harris, C. B., Paterson, H. M., & Kemp, R. I. (2008). Collaborative recall and collective memory: What happens when we remember together? Memory, 16(3), 213-230. doi: 10.1080/09658210701811862 URL pmid: 18324548
[24]	Harris, C. B., Rasmussen, A. S., & Berntsen, D. (2014). The functions of autobiographical memory: An integrative approach. Memory, 22(5), 559-581. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2013.806555 URL pmid: 23808866
[25]	Hollingshead, A. B. (1998a). Retrieval processes in transactive memory systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3), 659-671.
[26]	Hollingshead, A. B. (1998b). Communication, learning, and retrieval in transactive memory systems. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 34(5), 423-442.
[27]	Johansson, N., Andersson, J. A. N., & Rönnberg, J. (2005). Compensating strategies in collaborative remembering in very old couples. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46(4), 349-359. URL pmid: 16014079
[28]	Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: social interdependence theory and collaborative learning. Educational Researcher, 38(5), 365-379.
[29]	Keeler, C. M., & Steinhorst, R. K. (1995). Using small groups to promote active learning in the introductory statistics course: a report from the field. Journal of Statistics Education, 3(2), 1-8.
[30]	Kemper, S., Anagnopoulos, C., Lyons, K., & Heberlein, W. (1994). Speech accommodations to dementia. Journal of Gerontology, 49(5), 223-229.
[31]	Kintsch, W., & van, Dijk, T., A. (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review, 85(5), 363-394.
[32]	Liu, X. (2013). The development of retrieval-induced forgetting and its mechanism(Unpublished doctorial dissertation). Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
[33]	Liu, X. P., Zhang, H., & Tang, W. H. (2014). The mechanism of collaborative inhibition: Evidence from the encoding phase. Journal of Psychological Science, 37(3), 559-566.
[34]	Liu, X. P., Zhang, H., Tang, W. H., & Feng, H. (2013). The cognitive mechanism of collaborative inhibition. Advances in Psychological Science, 21(5), 792-799.
[35]	Margrett, J. A., Reese-Melancon, C., & Rendell, P. G. (2011). Examining collaborative dialogue among couples a window into prospective memory processes. Journal of Psychology, 219(2), 100-107.
[36]	Marion, S. B., & Thorley, C. (2016). A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory: Testing the predictions of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 142(11), 1141-1164. doi: 10.1037/bul0000071 URL pmid: 27618544
[37]	Meade, M. L., Nokes, T. J., & Morrow, D. G. (2009). Expertise promotes facilitation on a collaborative memory task. Memory, 17(1), 39-48. doi: 10.1080/09658210802524240 URL pmid: 19105086
[38]	Ross, M., Spencer, S. J., Blatz, C. W., & Restorick, E. (2008). Collaboration reduces the frequency of false memories in older and younger adults. Psychology and Aging, 23(1), 85-92. URL pmid: 18361658
[39]	Ross, M., Spencer, S. J., Linardatos, L., Lam, K. C. H., & Perunovic, M. (2004). Going shopping and identifying landmarks: Does collaboration improve older people’s memory? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18(6), 683-696.
[40]	Soto, J. A., Perez, C. R., Kim, Y. H., Lee, E. A., & Minnick, M. R. (2011). Is expressive suppression always associated with poorer psychological functioning? A cross-cultural comparison between European Americans and Hong Kong Chinese. Emotion, 11(6), 1450-1455. doi: 10.1037/a0023340 URL pmid: 21707152
[41]	Stone, C. B., Barnier, A. J., Sutton, J., & Hirst, W. (2013). Forgetting our personal past: Socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting of autobiographical memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1084-1099.
[42]	Usita, P. M., Hyman, I. E., & Herman, K. C. (1998). Narrative intentions: Listening to life stories in Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Aging Studies, 12(2), 185-197.
[43]	Wade, K. A., & Garry, M. (2005). Strategies for verifying false autobiographical memories. American Journal of Psychology, 118(4), 587-602.
[44]	Wegner, D. M. (1987). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group mind. In B. Mullen & G. R. Goethals (Ed.), Theories of Group Behavior(pp. 185-208). Springer, New York.
[45]	Wegner, D. M., Erber, R., & Raymond, P. (1991). Transactive memory in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(6), 923-929. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.61.6.923 URL pmid: 1774630
[46]	Wegner, D. M., Giuliano, T., & Hertel, P. T. (1985). Cognitive interdependence in close relationships. In W. Ickes (Ed.), Compatible and incompatible relationships(pp. 253-276). Springer-Verlag, New York.
[47]	Weldon, M. S., & Bellinger, K. D. (1997). Collective memory: collaborative and individual processes in remembering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23(5), 1160-1175. doi: 10.1037//0278-7393.23.5.1160 URL pmid: 9293627
[48]	Wu, T., Li, F. Z., Wang, D. H., & Li, Y. C. (2016). Communication and its relationships with marital satisfaction in elderly couples. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24(2), 321-326.
[49]	Yuan, J. J., Long, Q. S., Ding, N. X., Lou, Y. X., Liu, Y. Y., & Yang, J. M. (2014). Suppression dampens unpleasant emotion faster than reappraisal: neural dynamics in a Chinese sample. Science China Life Sciences, 44(6), 602-613.
[50]	Zhang, H., Fu, Y., Zhang, X. L., & Shi, J. N. (2017). The effect of item similarity and response competition manipulations on collaborative inhibition in group recall. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41598-016-0028-x URL pmid: 28127051
[51]	Zhang, H., Zhang, X. L., Liu, X. P., Yang, H. B., & Shi, J. N. (2020). Inhibitory process of collaborative inhibition: Assessment using an emotional Stroop task. Psychological Reports, 123(2), 300-324. doi: 10.1177/0033294118805007 URL pmid: 30428267

Age	Relationship	Retrieval accuracy
Age	Relationship	Collaborative group	Nominal group
Younger adults	Couples	0.23 ± 0.13	0.18 ± 0.08
Younger adults	Strangers	0.24 ± 0.08	0.31 ± 0.08
Older adults	Couples	0.15 ± 0.10	0.14 ± 0.06
Older adults	Strangers	0.13 ± 0.04	0.10 ± 0.02

Age	Relationship	Retrieval accuracy
Age	Relationship	Collaborative group	Nominal group
Younger adults	Couples	0.23 ± 0.13	0.18 ± 0.08
Younger adults	Strangers	0.24 ± 0.08	0.31 ± 0.08
Older adults	Couples	0.15 ± 0.10	0.14 ± 0.06
Older adults	Strangers	0.13 ± 0.04	0.10 ± 0.02

Score	Standard	Example
1	Correct main item	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Correct relative item	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Partially correct modifier	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Completely correct modifier	We looked at the one lined before us enviously

Score	Standard	Example
1	Correct main item	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Correct relative item	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Partially correct modifier	We looked at the one lined before us enviously
1	Completely correct modifier	We looked at the one lined before us enviously

Age	Relationship	Retrieval accuracy		Detail scores
Age	Relationship	Collaborative group	Nominal group	Collaborative group	Nominal group
Younger adults	Couples	0.46 ± 0.15	0.40 ± 0.14	2.37 ± 0.68	2.21 ± 0.66
Younger adults	Strangers	0.45 ± 0.12	0.45 ± 0.13	2.21 ± 0.61	2.19 ± 0.51
Older adults	Couples	0.58 ± 0.16	0.41 ± 0.14	2.33 ± 0.82	2.03 ± 0.69
Older adults	Strangers	0.34 ± 0.08	0.34 ± 0.11	2.18 ± 0.53	2.02 ± 0.41