Incidental versus Intentional Memory

Abstract

The distinction between incidental and intentional memory deals with differences in people's expectations and strategies while encoding episodic information. Other things being equal, intentional learning instructions typically produce better recall and recognition performance than incidental learning instructions. Past research indicates that these differences can be understood without making specific assumptions about the nature of intent per se. Instead, memory performance following incidental learning instructions is comparable to that of intentional learning instructions given that similar encoding processes are used in both conditions. These findings have been observed with explicit and implicit memory tasks and even when participants' motivation has been manipulated by using different forms of incentives. Although intention to learn has minimal effects on memory performance, more recent research on delayed intentions, or prospective memory, indicates that representation of intention-related concepts are characterized by a heightened and more sustained level of activation than other memory contents.