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We often have predictions about what to expect in our everyday encounters. However, not all these predictions will be accurate. Prediction error (PE) refers to the discrepancy between expectations and actual observed outcomes, and it is believed to play a role in learning, such as in classical conditioning. Yet, its relationship to one-shot declarative memory remains poorly understood. In the present study, we aimed to replicate Greve et al. (2017, Experiment 1) by testing whether PE enhances memory. Participants first learned scene-word associations in which a specific scene image was paired with one of two category labels, “positive” or “negative”. For example, participants learned that images of gardens were associated with the label “negative”, and images of kitchens were associated with the label “positive”. This learned association was later violated (to produce PE) in a later phase by presenting a specific emotional word from the opposite category label (e.g., gardens paired with the word “happy”). PE occurred on 30% of the trials, while the remaining 70% of the trials were consistent with the learned associations. Finally, the last phase included a memory test over the image and emotional word pairings. A successful replication of Greve’s findings would be better memory for trials where the association was violated compared to trials where the word was consistent with the association. However, preliminary data indicate that memory remains equal across trials and is not enhanced by PE. This also suggests that mismatches between expectations and outcomes may not always enhance associative memory.

Publisher Location

Las Vegas (Nev.)

Publication Date

Fall 11-21-2025

Publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Keywords

prediction error; recognition memory; replication; declarative memory; long-term memory

Disciplines

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

File Format

PDF

File Size

904 KB

Permissions

Google Drive\Institutional Repository\OUR_OfficeOfUGResearch\Symposia\2025 Fall Symposium

Comments

Mentor: Colleen Parks

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Prediction Error's Influence of Declarative Memory: A Replication


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