Collaborative remembering and defference of cognitive perspectives

1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 08610142
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 教育・社会系心理学
• Research Institution: University of the Sacred Heart
• Principal Investigator: TAKAHASHI Masanobu Department of Psychology, University of the Sacred Heart, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (10206849)
• Project Period (FY): 1996 – 1997
• Keywords: collaborative remembering / cognitive perspectives / incidental learning

Research Abstract

It is well known that two heads are better than one. In the recent experimental psychology of memory, this phenomenon has been investigated under the name of the collaborative remembering.
In Experiment 1, collaborative and individual recall were compared in the sequential design developed by Meundell, Hitch, & Kirby (1992). All the subjects were first asked to recall the materials on their own incidently. Some people were then assigned to pairs and had to recall the materials collaboratively. As expected, collaborative groups recalled more than individuals. However, the most interesting result was that collaborative group recalled less than nominal groups (simply pooled individuals), thus exhibiting collaborative inhibition. These results are consistent with many previous findings (e.g., Weldon & Bellinger, 1997).
In Experiment 2, collaborative and individual recall were compared if the pair had the same or different cognitive perspectives. As in Experiment 1, collaborative inhibitions obtained irrespective of whether people share the same or different perspective on events.
The explanation for such collaborative inhibitions are considered in terms of the shift in collaborative group's recall criteria, in addition to the inhibitory functioning by part-list cuing and social loafing.