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Generation effect


The generation effect is a phenomenon where information is better remembered if it is generated from one's own mind rather than simply read. Researchers have struggled to account for why generated information is better recalled than read information, but no single explanation has been sufficient.

The generation effect is typically achieved in cognitive psychology experiments by asking participants to generate words from word fragments. This effect has also been demonstrated using a variety of other materials, such as when generating a word after being presented with its antonym or synonym, generating keywords in paragraphs, pictures, and arithmetic problems. In addition, the generation effect has been found in studies using free recall, cued recall, and recognition tests. In one study, the subject was provided with a stimulus word, the first letter of the response, and a word relating the two. For example, with the rule of opposite, the stimulus word "hot", and the letter "c", the word cold would be generated. This methodology has since been used in the majority of experiments investigating the generation effect.

According to the lexical activation hypothesis, the participant must search his or her semantic memory during the process of generation. The search activates semantic features in memory that are related to the target item. During the retrieval of the target item at testing, the semantic features serve as retrieval cues and aid in the recall of the target item. One study done by Payne, Neely, and Burns further tested this hypothesis. Their research question was: will the generation effect occur for words only or also non-words? To test this they studied 168 Purdue undergraduate students. The researchers divided the participants up into two groups. The first group had word or non word pairs that rhymed and were told to read both out loud. The second group had a word or non word and the first letter of the next followed by blanks, and were told to read the first word out loud and generate a word that rhymed with the first word and started with the letter presented. The results were as expected. Participants were only generating words rather than non words according to the lexical activation hypothesis.


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