Memory II

This chapter continues the discussion of memory research in cognitive psychology, focusing on the period from the 1960s onward. We explore tasks, phenomena, and principles of memory rather than just models.

Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

The transition from behaviorism to cognitive psychology significantly influenced memory research. B.F. Skinner's 1957 book "Verbal Behavior" attempted to apply behaviorist principles to human language, while Noam Chomsky's critique highlighted the need for cognitive processes in understanding language.

This period led to the creation of "The Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior" in 1962 (later renamed "Journal of Memory and Language" in 1985), which tracked notable developments in memory research and explains why memory studies often use words as stimuli.

Memory Methodology

Memory tasks typically involve two phases:

• Encoding phase: Presentation of stimuli for later memory testing
• Retrieval phase: Testing memory for the previously presented information

Common Memory Tasks

Free Recall: Participants write down as many words as they can remember in any order.

Recognition Memory: Participants judge whether items are "old" (previously presented) or "new" (not presented).

Issues with Measuring Memory: Recognition Tasks

Recognition tasks involve discrimination between old and new items, measured using signal detection theory:

Memory performance is assessed using both hit rates and false alarm rates, not just proportion correct.

Memory Phenomena

1. Temporal Delay

Memory performance generally decreases as the delay between encoding and retrieval increases, following Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve.

2. Distinctiveness

Distinctive items are better remembered than common items, as demonstrated by the von Restorff effect.

3. Serial Position Effects

• Primacy effect**: Better recall for items at the beginning of a list
• Recency effect**: Better recall for items at the end of a list

4. Mental Imagery

Items that evoke vivid mental images are typically better remembered than abstract items.

5. Picture Superiority Effect

Pictures are generally remembered better than words, possibly due to dual coding (visual and verbal).

6. Frequency Effects

More frequent items in language are often recognized faster and more accurately.

7. Presentation Rate and Spacing

• Spacing effect: Distributed practice leads to better retention than massed practice
• Slower presentation rates generally improve memory performance

8. Interference Effects

Retroactive Interference**: New learning interferes with memory for previously learned material.

Proactive Interference**: Previously learned material interferes with new learning. Underwood (1957) showed that recall decreases as the number of previously learned lists increases.

9. Fan Effect

Recognition time increases as the number of associations (fan) for an item increases. Anderson (1974) demonstrated this with sentences describing people in locations.

10. Meaningfulness Effects

Self-Reference Effect: Information related to oneself is better remembered than information processed in other ways.

Meaningful Context: Bransford and Johnson (1972) showed that meaningful context provided before reading significantly improves comprehension and recall.

11. Context Effects

Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975) demonstrated context-dependent memory with underwater divers, showing better recall when encoding and retrieval environments matched.

12. Generation Effect

Slamecka and Graf showed that words generated by participants are better remembered than words simply read.

Related Effects:

• Enactment Effect: Performing actions improves memory for those actions
• Production Effect: Speaking words aloud improves memory compared to silent reading

13. Testing Effect (Retrieval Practice)

Repeated testing of memory improves long-term retention more than repeated study.

14. Directed Forgetting

Instructions to forget certain information can actually impair memory for that information.

Memory Processing Principles

1. Levels of Processing

Craik and Lockhart proposed that deeper, more semantic processing leads to better memory than shallow, surface-level processing.

2. Context-Dependent and Cue-Dependent Memory

Memory performance improves when retrieval conditions match encoding conditions.

3. Encoding Specificity Principle

Endel Tulving proposed that memory retrieval is most effective when retrieval conditions match encoding conditions.

4. Transfer Appropriate Processing (TAP)

Morris, Bransford, and Franks (1977) showed that memory performance depends on the match between cognitive operations during encoding and retrieval, not just the depth of processing.

Procedures of Mind

Kolers and Roediger (1984) proposed a skill-based framework for understanding cognition and memory. This approach views cognition in terms of specific skills learned to perform tasks.

Kolerian Reading Studies

Paul Kolers studied learning to read geometrically transformed text (upside-down, mirror-reversed). Key findings:

• People improve with practice on transformed text
• Skills are often highly specific and don't transfer well between similar tasks
• Reading words and naming letters involve different skill sets

Summary

Memory research from the 1960s onward revealed numerous phenomena and principles that shape how we encode, store, and retrieve information. These findings moved beyond simple structural models to emphasize the importance of:

• Processing operations during encoding and retrieval
• Context and meaningfulness
• Active generation and testing
• Skill-specific learning and transfer

These discoveries laid the foundation for modern cognitive approaches to memory and learning.

Try the Experiment

Explore how false memories can be created:

Try the False Memory Experiment →

References

• Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• Chomsky, N. (1959). A review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Language, 35(1), 26-58.
• Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 671-684.
• Bransford, J. D., & Johnson, M. K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 717-726.
• Godden, D. R., & Baddeley, A. D. (1975). Context-dependent memory in two natural environments: On land and underwater. British Journal of Psychology, 66(3), 325-331.
• Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. M. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. Psychological Review, 80(5), 352-373.