Encoding Specificity Research Articles

Contextual control of infant retention.

This article reviews the role of the environmental in the expression and retention of operantly conditioned responding by human infants. Whether it was explicitly associated with reinforcement or not, the controls learned responding throughout the first postnatal year, although explicitly associating different contexts with reinforcement and nonreinforcement sharpens discrimination. Throughout the first year, the training also facilitates retention after relatively long delays. These findings have theoretical implications for both infantile amnesia and the functional maturation of the neural mechanisms that mediate the encoding of place information, as well as practical implications for the elimination of undesirable behaviors. Keywords: Context, memory development, renewal effect, human infants, operant conditioning, long-term retention, stimulus control. ********** For many years, the role of ambient environmental stimuli was largely ignored in research on stimulus control. Today, the facilitating and impairing effects of the environmental occupy a central role in theory and research on learning and memory (e.g., Bouton, 1993, 1994; Pearce & Hall, 1980; Rescorla & Wagner, 1972; Wagner, 1981). Whereas considerable attention has focused on the role of in studies with animal and human adults, scant attention has been paid to the role of in studies with infants. This neglect has largely been due to the widely held assumption that infants' brains are too immature to store information about the environmental surround in which learning occurs. Nadel, Willner, and Kurz (1985), for example, asserted that Virtually all learning during infancy is ... independent of context (p. 398). Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, many neuroscientists continue to cling to this long-held belief (e.g., McKee & Squire, 1993; Nadel & Zola-Morgan, 1984; Nelson, 1995; Squire, 1992). In this article, we review some of the major findings of our conditioning research on the contextual stimulus control of retention in infants and its implications. Distinction between cues and contexts A cue is defined as that aspect of a situation which the experimenter manipulates, and the is defined as the relatively invariant aspects of the setting (e.g., its location) in which the response occurs that do not affect the characteristics or demands of the task (Riccio, Richardson, & Ebner, 1984; Thomas, 1985). Even when responding to a given cue is explicitly reinforced, however, seemingly irrelevant contextual cues often exert a profound influence on test behavior. Riccio, Urda, and Thomas (1966), for example, found that pigeons key pecked for grain more frequently when the tilt of the cage floor during training and testing was more similar. Likewise, Winocur and Kinsbourne (1978) found that training Korsakoff patients in a highly distinctive room significantly increased the duration for which they remembered the training event when they were tested in the same room. In fact, one of the few principles upon which most memory theorists agree is that retention is best when the conditions of training (encoding) and testing most closely match. This principle is known as the encoding specificity principle (Tulving & Thomson, 1973). Baddeley (1982) distinguished two types of context. The intrinsic or interactive determines the form in which a target item is encoded, so that changing the during testing essentially requires that subjects recognize something very different from what they originally encoded. An example of the intrinsic is the sentence in which a target word is embedded that gives the word a particular meaning or the scene in which a target object appears. The extrinsic or independent does not influence how a target item is encoded. It includes aspects of the background, such as where or when the item was learned, the age, sex, or attitude of the experimenter, the subject's internal state, and so forth. …

Encoding specificity manipulations do affect retrieval from memory

In a recent article, P.A. Higham (2002) [Strong cues are not necessarily weak: Thomson and Tulving (1970) and the encoding specificity principle revisited. Memory & Cognition, 30, 67–80] proposed a new way to analyze cued recall performance in terms of three separable aspects of memory (retrieval, monitoring, and report bias) by comparing performance under both free-report and forced-report instructions. He used this method to derive estimates of these aspects of memory in an encoding specificity experiment similar to that reported by D.M. Thomson and E. Tulving (1970) [Associative encoding and retrieval: weak and strong cues. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 86, 255–262]. Under forced-report instructions, the encoding specificity manipulation did not affect performance. Higham concluded that the manipulation affected monitoring and report bias, but not retrieval. I argue that this interpretation of the results is problematic because the Thomson and Tulving paradigm is confounded, and show in three experiments using a more appropriate design that encoding specificity manipulations do affect performance in forced-report cued recall. Because in Higham’s framework forced-report performance provides a measure of retrieval that is uncontaminated by monitoring and report bias it is concluded that encoding specificity manipulations do affect retrieval from memory.

Strong cues are not necessarily weak: Thomson and Tulving (1970) and the encoding specificity principle revisited

Performance on tests in which there is control over reporting (e.g., cued recall with the option to withhold responses) can be characterized by four parameters: free- and forced-report retrieval (correct responses retrieved from memory when the option to withhold responses is exercised and when it is not, respectively), monitoring (discrimination between correct and incorrect potential responses), and report bias (willingness to report responses). Typically, researchers do not examine all these components in cued-test performance; blanks are sometimes counted the same as errors, meaning that the (free-report) performance index is contaminated with report bias and monitoring ability. In this research, a two-stage testing procedure is described that allows measures of free- and forced-report retrieval, monitoring, and bias to be derived from the original encoding specificity experiments (Thomson & Tulving, 1970). The results show that their cue-reinstatement manipulation affected free-report retrieval, but once report bias and monitoring effects were removed by forcing output, retrieval was unaffected.

Negative Cueing Effects with Weak and Strong Intralist Cues

In three experiments, we studied cueing effects of relational and itemspecific information after enacted and non-enacted encoding of short sentences (e.g. lift the pen, fold the paper). In Experiment 1, all subjects were instructed at encoding to remember only the nouns of these sentences; half of the subjects were informed about the categorical nature of the nouns, whereas the other half were not. At retrieval, all subjects were given a free recall test and a cued recall test with the verb of each sentence as the cue. In Experiment 2, all subjects were instructed at encoding to remember the whole sentence; as in Experiment 1, half of the subjects were informed about the categorical nature of the nouns and half were not. At test, all subjects were given two cued recall tests, one categorical cue for each noun in the first test and one verb cue and one categorical cue for each noun in the second test. In Experiment 3, at encoding, all subjects were informed about the categorical nature of nouns and were instructed to remember the whole sentence. In this experiment, the actions were performed with imaginary objects; free recall and cued recall tests were given to different subjects. In all three experiments, there was a negative effect of intralist cueing with verbs. This finding is at odds with the Encoding Specificity Principle, which assumes facilitation of cueing at retrieval if the cues were encoded together with the to-be-remembered information at encoding. Also, the effect of intralist cueing was different after encoding with enactment than after encoding without enactment; this difference holds true for enactment with real objects but not for enactment with imaginary objects. Enactment increased both the relational and the item-specific cueing efficiency. The results are discussed in terms of encoding interference between cues and targets and between item-specific processing and relational processing. Enacted encoding is conceived as integrating episodic information both with respect to item specificity and relational aspects of the information.

Strategy orientations, learner activity, and learning outcomes: Implications for instructional support of learning

Investigated were the differential effects of strategy orientations (memory strategy, organization strategy, application strategy, and read-and-study control) orthogonally crossed with learner activity (guided versus active) and outcomes (memory, organization, and application). Subjects were 136 undergraduates, randomly assigned to 1 of 8 treatments. One day after they studied a passage on the topic of radar, outcome measures were completed. Guided activities were found to be superior to the learner-active counterparts on a composite achievement score. The hypothesized interaction of strategy orientation and kind of measure was supported. Performance was highest, in every comparison, on the outcome measure that paralleled the strategy-orientation treatment. The main effect of strategy orientation on the total achievement score was not significant. These findings were discussed in terms of the transfer-appropriate processing theory, the encoding specificity principle, and generative learning theory, with implications for further research and instructional design.

The representation of color and form in long-term memory

Color and form are elementary stimulus encoding dimensions that have effects on the representation of visual stimuli at early processing stages. Little is known, however, about their effects on visual long-term memory. In three experiments we investigated whether color is part of the memory representation, whether color and form are bound in the memory representation, and the effect of color context on memory performance. Experimental results suggest that color is part of the memory representation and that color and form can be represented separately in memory and accessed independently. We suggest that the binding of color and form is a deliberate strategic act that requires focal attention, not a natural consequence of processing visual stimuli. We compare our results with the predictions of two computational memory models regarding feature binding. The effect of color context was not straightforward; however, results are consistent with the encoding specificity principle.

Remembering ads: The effects of encoding strategies, retrieval cues, and emotional response

This study uses the encoding specificity principle ( Tulving & Thomson, 1973) and the distinction between episodic and semantic knowledge to test predictions about the effects of processing goals and retrieval cues on memory for emotional and neutral TV commercials. Subjects viewed five emotional and five neutral ads embedded in programming. Encoding instructions asked subjects to either (a) evaluate each product or (b) “just watch” as they viewed the ads. Retrieval cues were either the opening scene of each ad (executional cue) or the product category (categorical cue). Both recall and response-time measures were used to index ad memory-trace accessibility. The results showed that when encoding and retrieval conditions were compatible (evaluation instructions with categorical cue, and just-watch instructions with executional cue) ad memory traces were retrieved more rapidly than when encoding and retrieval conditions were incompatible. In addition, subjects who “just watched” emotional ads were able to retrieve those ad memory traces more rapidly when given an executional cue compared to a categorical cue, whereas subjects who evaluated neutral ads at encoding recalled more ads, and retrieved them more rapidly, when given a categorical cue compared to an executional cue. Finally, we show that searching memory first with an executional cue and then with a product-category cue leads to an increase in ad recall for both emotional and neutral ads, whereas searching first with a categorical cue and then with an executional cue leads to a decrease in ad recall for neutral ads.

The necessary and sufficient conditions for motor learning, recognition, and recall

The first experiment paired four kinds of study tasks with three kinds of retrieval tests. Verbal repetition of a digit string produced motor facilitation without perceptual recognition, while, conversely, repeated perceptual processing of the digit string produced perceptual recognition of it without motor facilitation. Furthermore, perceptual and verbal repetition did not produce recall. Only repeated active retrieval attempts produced recall of the digit string, thus establishing the separate existence of the semantic code. In the second experiment, recognition memory declined faster following a task that did not involve the active retrieval of the digit string than one that did. These results extend the domain of the encoding specificity principle.

Cue utilization and encoding specificity in picture recognition by older adults.

According to the encoding specificity principle, memory is best when encoding and retrieval conditions are compatible. Some researchers have suggested that older adults encode information in a general fashion and are less sensitive to the specific contextual aspects of a memory situation due to limited processing resources. We investigated the hypothesis that age interacts with encoding specificity. Young and old adults studied target pictures in the presence or absence of pictorial cues factorially varied at encoding and retrieval. If the older adults used the specific cuing information differently from the younger adults, age should have interacted with the encoding and retrieval variables. The results provided no evidence for such an interaction and indicated that both ages showed evidence of encoding specificity. To investigate the role of processing resources in encoding specificity, old and young adults also studied the pictures while simultaneously performing a digit-monitoring task. The divided-attention manipulation also did not interact with age, as both young and old adults showed encoding specificity effects of comparable magnitude in both control and divided-attention conditions.

Unidimensional memory traces: on the analysis of multiple cued recall

The reduction-method model of memory trace structure proposed by E. Tulving and M.J. Watkins ( Psychological Review , 1975, 82 , 261–275) and further developed by J.C. Ogilvie, E. Tulving, S. Paskowitz, and G. V. Jones ( Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior , 1980, 19 , 405–415) is critically examined. It is shown that the success of the reduction-method logic itself does not require the postulation of multidimensional memory traces of the form espoused by these authors. A model based on unidimensional traces, with retrieval founded on mediating processes acting between the cue and the memory trace, is shown to comply with the assumptions inherent in the reduction-method logic. Data from Ogilvie et al. (1980) and three further experiments illustrate the advantages and applicability of the new model. Its theoretical benefits, especially the absence of any reliance on the Encoding Specificity Principle, are discussed.

Encoding Specificity

Crocker's (1981) comment on the Lee and Hirota (1980) paper essentially raises two issues. First, objection is made to the applicability of the encoding specificity principle to the resuits found in our study. Second, on a more general level, Crocker questions the heuristic value of utilizing theoretical issues in non-motor domains to guide scientific experimentation in the study of motor behavior. In this reply I posit that Crocker's reservations about encoding specificity are based upon improper theoretical and methodological considerations. Regarding the more philosophical issue however, I argue that Crocker's view may be counterproductive to progress in the area of memory research.

Some Tests of the Encoding Specificity and Semantic Integration Hypotheses

The encoding specificity hypothesis of Thomson and Tulving, as stated in 1970, holds that only those cues that have been present at encoding will be effective retrieval cues. In each of eight experiments, recall was generally best when the retrieval context matched the encoding context, thus supporting the hypothesis. The hypothesis was not supported, however, in several experiments in which, under a wide range of conditions, recall was better when strong extralist retrieval cues were present than when no retrieval cues (Experiments 2-7) or when weak extralist cues were present at retrieval (Experiment 8). These results were, however, accommodated by Tulving and Thomson's encoding specificity principle of 1973 combined with the assumption that the strong cues present at retrieval were also present at encoding. Finally, results from several of these experiments indicated, contrary to Baker and Santa's semantic integration hypothesis, that the facilitation of recall deriving from the presence at retrieval of strong extralist cues was independent of the degree to which a target word and its cue word were integrated.

Determinants of cued recall

This paper reports two cued recall experiments in which the degree of preexperimental associative strength between rhyming cues and their respective targets is manipulated whilst holding the extent of informational overlap between them constant. Both experiments show that strong rhyming cues are more efficient than weak rhyming cues in eliciting target retrieval in both a short-term and a long-term memory situation. The results are interpreted as consistent with the generationrecognition theory of retrieval and inconsistent with predictions made by the encoding specificity principle. It is therefore suggested that caution must be applied when extending the encoding specificity principle to experimental situations other than that from which it is derived. Implications for the distinction between scanning and reconstructive modes of retrieval are also briefly considered.

Encoding specificity in the recall of pictures and words in children and adults

In this study, the modality of the retrieval cues (pictures or words) was varied in a cued recall task to determine how second and fourth grade children and college adults encode words (Experiment 1) and pictures (Experiment 2). According to the assumptions of the encoding specificity principle, cue modality should affect recall only to the degree to which subjects focus on modality specific (sensory) rather than nonmodality specific (semantic) information in stimuli. In both experiments, the results showed progressively smaller encoding specificity effects with increasing age. To ensure that differences in encoding activity were responsible for these effects, comparisons were made of recall patterns under intentional learn conditions, and under incidental conceptual and sensory orienting conditions. The recall patterns of the children in the conceptual orienting condition were similar to the adult patterns in the learn condition, and the adult recall patterns in the sensory orienting conditions were similar to those of the children in the learn conditions. These results suggest that there are developmental differences in encoding the sensory and semantic information in stimuli that may result from differences in the efficiency with which the semantic information in stimuli is processed. The results suggest that young children typically encode stimuli in a fashion that stresses the sensory aspects of the stimuli, and that recall suffers as a result.

Schema theory and prose retention: Boundary conditions for encoding and retrieval effects

The present study was performed to determine the boundary conditions under which schemata influence the encoding and retrieval of prose. Subjects read a passage containing information important to burglars and homebuyers. Subjects were given either a burglar, homebuyer, or no perspective during reading, and either a burglar or homebuyer perspective during recall. Subjects were required to recall the passage either immediately after reading or 24 hours later. The results indicated that during immediate recall, either an encoding or retrieval perspective influenced recall. However, when recall was delayed, only the encoding perspective influenced recall. The results were interpreted in terms of schema theory and the encoding specificity principle.

Person stereotypes and memory for people.

Snyder and Uranowitz have proposed a memory-priming mechanism by which information about a person that is normally unavailable in episodic memory is made available by the activation of a person stereotype that subsumes that information. In our two experiments subjects read a biography of Betty K, who was later labeled as either a heterosexual or a lesbian before the subjects took a recognition memory test. A signal-detection model was used to assess the effects of labeling on response bias as well as on the amount of information available in memory. Neither experiment produced any improved recognition memory for biographic information due to activation of a sexual stereotype. Both experiments found a response bias (guessing), however, acting in the direction of the label the subject received. It is concluded that at this time no clear empirical support exists for the memory-priming mechanism proposed by Snyder and Uranowitz. In an important and influential article, Snyder and Uranowitz (1978) proposed a person-memory retrieval mechanism based on the operation of person stereotypes. According to their hypothesis previously presented information stored in memory but not available in a recognition task may become available after a person stereotype is activated. It is not necessary that this person stereotype play a role in encoding the information. So long as the information presented is relevant to the stereotype, the learner need not think of this relation at the time of presentation. This hypothesis thus goes against the encoding-specificity principle (Tulving & Thomson, 1973). Although Snyder and Uranowitz used person stereotypes as the activated structures to influence memory re

Congruency, Scoring Method, and Encoding Specificity in Cued Recall

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 ...

The role of sensory attributes as retrieval cues or as interference in retrieval of information from episodic memory.

The sensoty attributes of to-be-remembered (TBR) events and of distractor stimuli were systematically manipulated (both within and between modalities) in two Brown-Peterson tasks [experiments 1 (N = 40 male and female university students or faculty) and 2 (N - 22 male and female undergraduates)] and in a delayed recognition task (Experiment 1). Performance on these recall and recognition tasks (in which the semantic attributes of the TBR events were relatively controlled) was consistent with episodic theory. Memory of an event was reasonably completely described in terms of (a) the degree of overlap between the perceptible properties of the retrieval environment and of the memory trace of the event and (b) the perceptible similarities between the memory trace of the event and the traces of information encoded temporally adjacent to it. These sensory encoding specificity effects (as well as other research reviewed) were interpreted as demonstrations that a semantic interpretation of the encoding specificity principle cannot account for all encoding specificity phenomena.

STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING READINESS AND RECALL IN CONTENT AREAS: THE ENCODING SPECIFICITY PRINCIPLE

ABSTRACT This article presents theoretical rationale for utilizing similar pre‐reading and post‐reading activities to enhance comprehension in content areas. Specifically, the encoding specificity principle is suggested as a means to promote both readiness and recall of text‐based information. A discussion of pertinent instructional strategies which can capitalize on the encoding specificity principle follows.

Encoding specificity and contextual similarity

Taxonomic category headings were varied in a 2 by 2 factorial design at input and output in the processing and recall of concrete nouns in two experiments with college undergraduates. Experiment 1 showed that cuing at recall was beneficial regardless of whether cues were present during processing, but was maximally effective if cues were present at both stages. Experiment 2 examined whether the effectiveness of recall cues was due to their reinstating the encoding context at recall. The results supported neither a generation-recognition model of recall nor a strict interpretation of the encoding specificity principle. It is suggested that situationally specific mini-theories be formulated to account for cued recall phenomena.