Thomson monask university, clayton, victoria, slttstraliu recent changes in prctheorclical orientation toward problems of human memory have brought with them a concern with retrieval. Several tentative explanations of this phenomenon of recognition failure were subsumed under the encoding specificity principle according to which the memory trace of an event and hence the properties of effective retrieval cue are determined by the specific encoding operations performed by the system on the input stimuli. However, this representation is recencybiased and thus can not account for primacy. The encoding specificity principle provides a framework for understanding how the conditions present while encoding information. The encoding specificity principle shows how memories are linked to the context where they are created. Tulving argues that episodic memory is encoded based on how it was experienced the encoding specificity principle. According to the encoding specificity principle tulving, 1983 the recollection of an event depends on the interaction between the properties of the encoded event and the properties of the encoded retrieval information. There was, however, an unexpected finding in their study. Thomson and tulving 1970 and the encoding specificity principle revisited. Tulving called this general principle of matching encoding and decoding contexts the encoding specificity principle. These results were, however, accommodated by tulving and thomsons encoding specificity principle of 1973 combined with the assumption that the strong cues present at retrieval were also present at encoding. How we change what others think, feel, believe and do. The results supported the principle of encoding specificity thomson.
More recently, postman 1975, in an investigation of the generality of the encoding specificity principle, reported eight relevant comparisons of recall and recognition. It says that, in general, it is best to match your encoding context to the recall environment. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior 14, 370381 1975 a test of confusion theory of encoding specificity sandor wiseman and endel tulving university of toronto subjects studied and were tested for recognition and recall of target words on four successive lists of cuetarget word pairs. The effects of context and instructional set this research project was designed to test the encoding specificity principle, which explains how well humans encode and retrieve information and how it effects ones memory. Thomson and tulving 1970 and the encoding specificity principle revisited pdf. Encoding specificity manipulations do affect retrieval. The encoding specificity principle is the general principle that matching the encoding contexts. Generationrecognition theory and the encoding specificity principle. Encoding specificity effect tulving and thomson 1973 step.
Craik and tulvings research supports their level of processing theory. Hence, one would expect better recall for the condition with two retrieval cues. Pdf conducted 2 experiments with a total of 78 undergraduates to clarify possible interpretations of the encoding specificity principle of e. In the research reported by humphreys and galbraith 1975, an attempt was made to test predictions from the encoding specificity principle by means of an encoding procedure wherein the target and cue words. Assuming adequate consolidation whatever that is, an encoded memory, made rich and distinctive by elaborative and organizational processing, remains permanently in memory storage until needed, at which time it must be retrieved from storage, subject to interference, and put to use. Importantly, when performance was not predicted to rely on secondary memory, performance between the mismatch and no cue conditions did not differ. In other words, cues that are present at encoding are the maximally effective ones for facilitating retrieval. Tests of the generality of the principle of encoding specificity tests of the generality of the principle of. The encoding specificity principle is the tested in three experiments by thomson and final idea about retrieval and extralist cuing tulving 1970.
Tulvings long term memory ao1 ao2 ao3 psychology wizard. Using music and encoding specificity to improve learning. Encoding specificity effect tulving and thomson 1973 step 1 participants were given a list of words to learn the words paired with a second set of words participants were told to study the target words in capital letters the paired words in lower case letters might be helpful in remembering the paired words were weak associates. According to this principle, encoding operations govern the storage of information by directing the location of this information, and the ease and effectiveness of recalling this information is dependent on the initial encoding. Similarly, tulving 1979 developed the encoding specificity principle, which is an idea that focuses on the compatibility of the cue used in recall with the processing done in encoding i. Formal cognitive models of episodic memory assume that during encoding list items become associated with a changing context representation. Higham universityof southampton, southampton, england performance on tests in which there is control over reporting e. The probability of successful retrieval of the target item is a montonically increasing function of informational overlap between the information present at retrieval and the information stored in memory. The encoding specificity principle states the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory. Pdf compare and contrast levels of processing theory. Specifically, the principle states that memory is improved when information available at encoding. Fisher and craiks 1977 ata required nothing illore than his. Therefore in our experiment we wanted to see if changing the semantic context would affect.
Thomson 1973 introduced an encoding specificity principle, which asserts that the memory trace of an. The encoding specificity principle suggests that subjects can retrieve. Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory1 endel tulving 2 yule university and university of toronto, toronto, canada ant donald m. Thomson and tulving 1970 and the encoding specificity principle revisited philip a. 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 forcedreport cued recall. One interpretation of this phenomenon has been suggested by tulving and thomson. Finally, we conclude that the wiseman and tulving data have no relevance either to the principle of encoding specificity or to twostage models of recall. Free fulltext pdf articles from hundreds of disciplines, all in one place strong cues are not necessarily weak. Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic. This finding was that certain target words were consis tently recognized more frequently than others. Using the encoding specificity principle to assess the. Encoding specificity and recognition memory for words. Encoding specificity definition psychology glossary.
A test of confusion theory of encoding specificity sciencedirect. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Specifically, the principle states that memory is improved when information available at encoding is also available at retrieval. Some tests of the encoding specificity and semantic. Tulving and thompson studied the effect of the change in context of the tbr by adding. Pdf a semantic interpretation of encoding specificity researchgate. Citeseerx scientific documents that cite the following paper. Both concepts highlight a basic organizing principle of human memory. Encoding specificity is a principle that states that human memories are more easily retrieved if external conditions emotional cues at the time of retrieval are similar to those in existence at the time the memory was stored. Encoding specificity and unidirectional associates in cued. This means that when a memory is stored details of time and space when and where are stored with it.
Agerelated differences in the specificity of verbal encoding. Generally, such findings have been attributed to tulving and thompsons 1973 encoding specificity principle. If you must take a test without caffeine, it is best to study without caffeine. Pdf encoding specificity and retrieval processes in. Tulving and thomsons 1973 results thus ques tioned the generationrecognition account of retrieval, and favoured the encoding specificity principle. He concluded that the encoding specificity effect indexed by the. The present authors feel that tulvings 1978 view is not completely cowpatible with fisher and. Forthe older subjects, however, a context specificity effect was found. Encoding specificity vs associative continuity pdf.
Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. These effects are also consistent with the encoding specificity principle, which predicts that a greater match between a cue and a stored memory will increase the probability of retrieval success. This is why people can normally answer the question when did that happen. Pdf a semantic interpretation of encoding specificity.
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