Hedges enhance memory but inhibit retelling

• Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review 2012-10, Vol.19 (5), p.892-898
• Main Authors: Liu, Kris, Fox Tree, Jean E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Report; Cognitive Psychology; Cues; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Language; Learning. Memory; Memory; Mental Recall; Production and perception of spoken language; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Speech; Speech Perception; Verbal Behavior; Verbal communication
• ISSN: 1069-9384; 1531-5320
• DOI: 10.3758/s13423-012-0275-1

We examined the effects of hedges and the discourse marker like on how people recalled specific details about precise quantities in spontaneous speech. We found that listeners treated hedged information differently from like- marked information , although both are thought to be indicators of uncertainty or vagueness . In addition, hedges had different effects depending on whether speakers were (1) retelling conversations to another person or (2) answering questions about material they had heard. When retelling to another person, listeners were more likely to report information that was either unmarked or marked with a like than hedged information (Experiment 1). Yet when answering questions by themselves, hedges enhanced memory for details, in comparison with like s (Experiment 2). Hedges appear to provide pragmatic cues about what information is reliable enough to repeat in a conversational context. But although hedged information may be left out, it is not forgotten.