ELABORATIVE-INTERROGATION EFFECTS DEPEND ON THE NATURE OF THE QUESTION

Potential mechanisms mediating the facilitative effects of elaborative interrogation on associative memory were investigated with Canadian university students who read facts about Canadian provinces. For each fact, subjects in four elaborative-interrogation conditions answered a "why" question requiring subjects (a) to either confirm the fact or explain why it was unexpected and (b) to either use information about the specific province or about other provinces only. A control group read the facts aloud for the entire presentation period. As hypothesized, the pattern of results indicated that when elaborative interrogations facilitate associative memory, they do so, at least in part, by promoting attention to information consistent with the associations to be learned.