Shiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W
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Psychological Review Copyright 1984 by the 1984, Vol. 91, No. 2, 269-276 American Psychological Association, Inc. Theoretical Note Automatic and Controlled Processing Revisited Richard M. Shiffrin Walter Schneider Indiana University University of Illinois The theory of automatic and controlled processing outlined in Schneider and Shiffrin (1977) and in Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) is defended in the present note. We argue that the criticisms of Ryan (1983) range from irrelevant to incorrect, based on a brief review of data from the 1977 articles and on some more recent publications. The evidence Ryan discusses comes from the prememorized-list paradigm, a par- adigm that undoubtedly involves automatic and controlled processes but probably not automatic detection and controlled search. We argue that a variety of mechanisms consistent with our general theory, some automatic and some controlled, could be operating in the prememorized-list paradigm and can explain the observed results. A theory of automatic and controlled processing effortless process that is not limited by short-term was outlined and given empirical support in the memory capacity, is not under direct subject control, articles of Schneider and Shiffrin (1977) and Shiffrin and performs well-developed skilled behaviors. It and Schneider (1977). The characteristics of both typically develops when subjects process stimuli in types of processes were established through ex- consistent fashion over many trials; it is difficult to amination of particular examples of each of these suppress, modify, or ignore, once learned. Con- classes of processes. These examples, of critical im- trolled processing is often slow, generally serial, ef- portance in many search and attention tasks, were fortful, capacity limited, subject regulated, and is termed automatic detection and controlled search, used to deal with novel or inconsistent information. and their characteristics were determined empiri- It is needed in situations where the responses re- cally. quired to stimuli vary from one trial or situation In particular, in memory- or visual-search tasks, to the next, and is easily modified, suppressed, or consistent mapping (CM) refers to paradigms in ignored at the desire of the subject. Finally, all tasks which targets and distractors never exchange roles are carried out by complex mixtures of controlled over trials of the study. Varied mapping (VM) refers and automatic processes used in combination. (For to paradigms in which targets on one trial may be a more recent discussion see Schneider, Dumais, distractors on another, and vice versa. We dem- & Shiffrin, in press, and Schneider & Fisk, in onstrated that extended testing in CM paradigms press-a). led to a marked flattening of the set-size functions Ryan (1983) confuses the general concepts of au- and to a number of other prominent effects. We tomatic and controlled processing with the partic- termed the processes used by subjects, automatic ular instances. He argues, probably correctly, that detection. In contrast, the use of a VM procedure, automatic detection and controlled search cannot however extended, leaves intact the form and the explain the results from what we shall term the slope of the set-size function. We termed the pro- prememorized-list paradigm, but this fact is irrel- cesses used in this situation, controlled search. evant if automatic detection and controlled search Based on the findings, we postulated that auto- are not used to produce responses in this paradigm. matic processing is generally a fast, parallel, fairly We argue that other automatic and controlled pro- cesses are at work in the prememorized-list para- digm. Stripped of references to the prememorized-list This research was supported by National Institute of paradigm, Ryan's (1983) note contains little more Mental Health Grant 12717 and a Waterman Research Grant to the first author, and Contract ONR NOOOO-14- than polemics. No criticisms are directed toward 81-K-0034 (NR 150-460) and National Institute of Mental the research reported in our 1977 articles (Schneider Health Grant 31425 to the second author. & Shiffrin, 1977; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). In Requests for reprints should be sent to Richard M. those articles we reported roughly 14 new experi- Shiffrin, Psychology Department, Indiana University, ments the results from which were used to generate Bloomington, Indiana 47405. and elaborate the theory. Not one of our studies or 269 270 THEORETICAL NOTE results are mentioned by Ryan. We also used the value may well occur automatically, so that relatively theory to analyze a large number of studies in the few resources might be required to respond; in par- literature, clarifying what had been a somewhat dis- ticular, an explicit search of the memory set is prob- jointed set of findings. He mentions almost none ably not required. of these findings or the explications based on our theory and mentions none of the results in the ar- Automatic Detection and Categorical ticles published by us or by our colleagues since Classification 1977. Despite Ryan's expostulations, we think our 1977 exposition remains cogent and convincing and According to our theory, sufficiently extended based directly on the evidence. consistent testing in the prememorized-list paradigm should lead to the development of two types of au- Prememorized-List-Recognition Paradigm tomatic processes. First, the individual target stimuli should develop an automatic tendency to attract The results discussed in Ryan's (1983) note are attention. This is called automatic detection in the virtually all from the prememorized-list paradigm. 1977 articles and leads to list-length independence. The subject learns lists of items in advance of the Second, the target stimuli should coalesce as a uni- test session, to a criterion assuring that they can be tary category, such that a category code would be reproduced with high accuracy. The test session generated automatically whenever a member is pre- requires that the subject make yes-no decisions dis- sented. This code could then be used to judge list tinguishing list items from distractors not learned membership in a way that would not depend on on the lists. Reaction time is plotted as a function list length (see Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977, Exper- of memorized list length. iment 3). In the prememorized-list studies to date, Atkinson and Juola (e.g., 1973, 1974) suggested sufficiently extended testing has not been used to that subjects utilize a familiarity judgment to re- allow an inference that automatism of either type spond on most trials in this paradigm, with a rapid has developed, although it is conceivable that the search of long-term memory occurring on those training to criterion in advance of the test session(s) trials when the familiarity judgment was not easy. could have led to such development. We agreed that this model was plausible (i.e., Shiffrin The possible use of automatic detection and au- & Schneider, 1977, p. 176). However, we did not tomatic categorical classification is difficult to assess delve into this paradigm in detail because we felt in prememorized-list studies. If the only alternative that numerous mechanisms could be operating, and process were controlled serial search, then such the paradigm was poorly designed to distinguish processes would produce a flatter set-size function. between them. To make our views clear, we now However, processes like familiarity would also pro- consider the various types of processes that subjects duce flatter set-size functions, so more sophisticated could use in the prememorized-list paradigm. methods would have to be used to disambiguate these possibilities. Contextual Familiarity Perhaps the most likely candidate for a process Controlled Serial Search underlying responding in the prememorized-list In prememorized-list studies, the longest lists paradigm is temporal-contextual familiarity. After usually contain more items than can be maintained all, aside from the fact that the list is learned to in short-term store (STS). Thus we would not expect criterion before testing begins, the paradigm is quite controlled serial search to be used in such condi- similar to traditional recognition-memory tasks. In tions. However, there is at least one way in which such tasks most researchers have proposed that sub- subjects are quite likely to use controlled serial jects respond on the basis of familiarity at least search in this paradigm. They may read into STS some of the time. Familiarity judgments presumably some of the memory set (perhaps all of it in the entail an assessment of the recency of the test item, cases where the set size is small enough) and may or the list-context associated with the list item. Fa- carry out a serial search of just this portion of the miliarity can be quite simple as in the models of memory set, perhaps in parallel with some other Mandler (1980) or Atkinson and Juola (1974)—in process. Because such a strategy does not noticeably which cases increases of latency with list length improve performance at large set sizes, controlled would not be predicted—or quite complex, as in serial search is likely to play a significant role and the models of Ratcliff (1978), J. A. Anderson (1973), reduce latencies only when the set size is very small. and Gillund and Shiffrin (1984), in which cases increases of latency with list length would be pre- Controlled Search of Long-Term Memory dicted. (A closely related notion is that of strength as a basis for discrimination that has been proposed Mandler (1980), Atkinson and Juola (1974), and by Corballis, 1975.) The generation of a familiarity others have proposed that recognition involves two THEORETICAL NOTE 271 phases: familiarity and some sort of search of long- prememorized-list paradigm and, as we have argued, term memory. Raaijmakers and Shiffrin (1980, these are either irrelevant or incorrectly applied. 1981) have given a detailed exposition of one model Furthermore, the criticisms fail to take into account of long-term memory search.