・Authors: Ishiguro, S., Guitard, D., & Saint-Aubin, J.（石黒翔、ドミニク・ギタール、ジャン・サントーバン）

・Title: Examining the semantic relatedness effect on working memory with ad hoc categories（アドホックカテゴリを用いた意味的関連性効果の検討）

・Journal(書籍情報): Memory & Cognition

・doi: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-025-01692-2

・論文URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-025-01692-2

・Abstract: The semantic relatedness effect, a memory advantage of semantically related items (e.g., “penguin, giraffe, goat”), is well established in the literature on working memory (WM). Nevertheless, it remains unclear what mechanisms are responsible for this effect. Although an influential account ascribes it to the cue-dependent retrieval process (e.g., “animal” works as a cue for “penguin, giraffe, goat”), this account has not yet been fully investigated. This is partly because the influence of cues cannot be directly tested in typical studies using common categories (e.g., “animal” is likely to be generated and used by participants, but the generation and use of cues are uncontrollable for the experimenter). The present study, by introducing ad hoc categories and cueing ad hoc category labels, directly tested the influence of cues. Specifically, seemingly unrelated items (e.g., “bone, fly, car”) were presented with or without the corresponding ad hoc category label (e.g., “things that dogs chase”). Four experiments demonstrated that providing ad hoc category labels affected WM performance. Importantly, providing the labels improved item memory in WM (Experiments 2 and 3). This supported the retrieval-cue account. Nevertheless, the effect was small (Experiments 2 and 3) and was not found in an experiment (Experiment 1). In contrast, providing the labels had a substantial and systematic effect on long-term memory, suggesting that the manipulation of providing the labels, per se, was successful. The current study’s implications for research on WM and ad hoc categories were also discussed.

・著者のContact先のemail:
sho.ishiguro[at]umoncton.ca （[at]を@に変更してください。）
（前所属：京都大学　現所属：モンクトン大学・日本学術振興会　石黒翔）

・日本語によるコメント：
項目が意味的に関連するとワーキングメモリ成績が優れることは意味的関連性効果として知られています。この効果の説明として、手がかりの生成に基づく説明（検索手がかり説）と項目間の連合に基づく説明（活性化拡散説）は区別されておりませんでした。従来の刺激では参加者が自発的に手がかりを生成する可能性があるためです。そこで、自発的な手がかり生成が困難であると考えられる「アドホックカテゴリ」を用い、検索手がかり説を選択的に検討しました（アドホックカテゴリの例、犬が追いかけるモノ：車、ネコ、骨）。実験結果は検索手がかり説を支持するものでした。考察では意味認知と日常生活の関連についても議論しております。（石黒）

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