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Poster B162 in Poster Session B - Thursday, August 8, 2024, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, Johnson Ice Rink
Modeling Multiplicity of Strategies in Free Recall with Neural Networks
Moufan Li1, Kristopher T. Jensen2, Qihong Lu3,4, Qiong Zhang5, Marcelo G. Mattar1; 1Department of Psychology, New York University, 2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, 3The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, 4Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, 5Department of Psychology, Rutgers University
Humans preferentially recall items that are presented in close temporal proximity together -- a phenomenon known as the 'temporal contiguity effect'. In this study, we investigated how this phenomenon emerges naturally when training a recurrent neural network with episodic memory on free recall tasks, and the neural mechanisms underlying this process. The model managed to produce the temporal contiguity effect, and we found individual differences in neural mechanisms for different models. Some models learned an item index code that matches the `memory palace' technique and recalled in a forward order, while the other models learned to recall in a backward order and relied more on item-related temporal context. We found that the extent to which the model changes the context between encoding and recalling memories affects the learned recall strategy. Our findings provide insights into how different memory strategies may arise in human free recall.
Keywords: neural network episodic memory free recall temporal contiguity effect