Congruency, Scoring Method, and Encoding Specificity in Cued Recall

Abstract

Summary With the use of the congruity dimension as defined by association values (semantic similarity), encoding specificity was examined in cued recall situations. One hundred twenty-eight undergraduates of both sexes learned 24 target words in an experiment run under a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, with two input and two output variations (congruous vs. incongruous, respectively) and two retention intervals (0- vs. 30-minute retention intervals). Congruity generated significant effects as both input and output variables, which interacted further significandy. Recall was better when cues remained the same than when they were switched from input to output. In the switched conditions, however, performance levels were higher when output cues were congruous than when incongruous. Observed encoding specificity was more likely to be supported with lenient scoring than with strict scoring. Significant forgetting occurred during the 30-minute retention intervals. The encoding specificity principle alone could not ...