Distinctiveness of processing, processing time and memory performance

Abstract

The research reported here, explored the conditions where processing time can be used as a predictive measure for retention performance. The results showed that, in similar but quantitatively different tasks, both processing time and retention performance increased with increasing task difficulty. The strongly suggests that processing time can be used as an independent measure for extensiveness of processing, and as a predictor for later retention performance. This relationship, however, is restricted to the comparison of similar processing tasks that differ only in the amount of processing necessary to perform the task. It is hypothesized that longer processing times are indicative of more extensive processing, leading to the formation of more distinctive memory representations. These, in turn, cause higher retention performance because they allow better discrimination from other memory traces, and because they are retrieved more easily. Although distinctiveness of memory representations is an important variable in determining retention performance, it is not the only one. In a recall test, semantic relations between items had an effect on performance independent of distinctiveness.