The Region of Proximal Learning (RPL) theory hypothesizes that curiosity is highest for almost-known information. We examined how curiosity differs across phenomenological states of retrieval failures, in accordance with the Proximity to Retrieval Success (PRS) framework. Young adults completed short-answer general knowledge questions and chose a phenomenological category to represent their experience when unable to answer. They selected among four categories of retrieval failures, from “It’s on the tip of my tongue” (closest to retrieval) to “I have never known or seen this information” (furthest from retrieval). Participants also rated their curiosity level for each question. Curiosity systematically decreased as proximity to retrieval decreased, consistent with both RPL and PRS. In a second study, this relationship was also examined in older adults and participants completed a final recognition test. This study is the first to establish the relationship between curiosity, a range of retrieval failure experiences, age, and memory.

Children’s ability to provide accurate and detailed accounts of past events impacts child abuse investigations and legal proceedings. To examine children’s memory organization for details of a repeated event, we adapted Slinger’s (2010) reaction time paradigm. Children (N = 128) aged 9 to 11 watched six magic shows, with each session containing an exemplar from twelve variable detail categories. Following a delay, participants completed a recognition test, which included an equal number of experienced variable details and foils. Test items were blocked by variable detail (i.e., experienced details and foils from the same detail category presented in randomized order) or magic show (i.e., experienced details and foils randomly presented, maintaining the general session structure). Children responded faster, more accurately, and had higher discriminability when the test was blocked by variable detail than magic show. Therefore, children’s memory organization may help recall the general event more accurately than a specific session.

Across two experiments, we test an encoding effort hypothesis of the effect of performance feedback on memory. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated a positive effect of immediate and summative feedback on performance in an immediate free recall paradigm. In Experiment 2, we tested an encoding effort hypothesis using pupillometry. Specifically, we hypothesized that participants who receive feedback would self-report being more motivated to perform highly and exhibit greater evoked pupillary responses at encoding. Despite replicating the behavioral benefit of feedback on memory performance, we did not observe a significant difference in the magnitude of pupillary responses at encoding between the feedback and control conditions, thus refuting our encoding effort hypothesis. Alternative hypotheses, such as a metacognitive calibration account, are considered, and designs for future experiments to test these hypotheses are discussed.

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) modulates memory-consolidation processes via interactions with the hippocampus. Electrical stimulation of the BLA in humans enhances declarative memory and induces oscillatory interactions between the BLA and hippocampus. However, the BLA disproportionately projects to the anterior (aHC) compared to posterior (pHC) hippocampus, regions that process object and scene learning, respectively. Nevertheless, the premise that the BLA prioritizes certain memories over others has not been tested in humans.

We tested whether brief electrical stimulation of the BLA could differentially enhance object and scene memory. Patients undergoing intracranial monitoring via depth electrodes viewed object and scene images, half of which were followed by BLA stimulation. Stimulation enhanced memory for object but not scene images when patients were given a recognition-memory test the next day. Furthermore, BLA stimulation elicited stronger evoked responses in the aHC vs. pHC, providing insight into how BLA-hippocampal projections contribute to the dynamics of memory prioritization.