Exploring the relationship between retrieval disruption from collaboration and recall

Abstract

When people recall together in a collaborative group they recall less than their potential. This phenomenon of collaborative inhibition is explained in terms of retrieval disruption. However, collaborative recall also re-exposes individuals to items recalled by others that they themselves might otherwise have forgotten. This re-exposure produces post-collaborative benefits in individual recall. The current study examined whether reduced retrieval disruption during group recall is related not only to less collaborative inhibition, but also to greater post-collaborative recall benefits. To test this we devised a paradigm to calculate the extent to which each individual experienced retrieval disruption during group recall. We also included two types of collaborative groups, one of which was expected to experience greater retrieval disruption than the other. Results suggest that the relationship between retrieval disruption and recall performance depends on the level at which retrieval disruption is measured. When retrieval disruption was assessed at the individual level, then minimising retrieval disruption was associated with higher recall (i.e., less collaborative inhibition and greater post-collaborative individual recall). However, when retrieval disruption was assessed at the group level there was no relationship with recall. Furthermore, the findings from this design suggest a role of cross-cueing in modulating group recall levels.

Keywords:

• Collaborative inhibition
• Retrieval disruption
• Clustering
• Cross-cueing
• Human memory

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Danielle DellaRagione, Mindy Gray, Celia Harris, Elana Mystal, and Juliana Tseng for research assistance. The writing of this manuscript was in part supported by NIH grant #T32-AG00037-32.

Notes

¹Within the collaborative divergent organisational structure groups there is some interdependence between the ARC scores of the three group members. If the group recall product highly conforms to one group member's organisational structure it cannot highly conform to either of the other two group members’ organisational structures. However, it is important to note that not all groups systematically conformed to one particular organisational structure. When comparing groups we see that the same average ARC score (e.g., .02) could either reflect minimal disruption for one individual accompanied by greater disruption for the other group members (e.g., ARC scores of .40, –.07, and –.27) or moderate disruption for all group members (e.g., ARC scores of .04, .03, and –.02). In both of these cases the average ARC score (e.g., .02) should be predictive of group recall. This is because group recall also reflects the average contributions from each group member. In some cases there may be a dominant contributor and in other cases the contributions may be more equally distributed.