---recalling information from memory--- Flashcards
what is memory retrieval
• Process that controls flow of information from long-term to working memory store.
retrieval - explicit memory
- The types of memory elicited through the conscious retrieval of recollections in response to direct questions. Tested using:
- Recall tests: subject must reproduce information with limited or no influence from external cues
- Recognition task: A form of explicit memory retrieval in which items are presented to a person who must determine if they were previously encountered
explicit memory retrieval: free recall
- A type of explicit memory task in which a person must reproduce information without the benefit of external cues
- “Recall the words from the list”….
explicit memory retrieval: cued recall
• “I will give you the category of the target word to help you recall”
explicit memory retrieval: recognition task
• A form of explicit memory retrieval in which items are presented to a person who must determine if they were previously encountered
Number of cues
more cues for recognition tasks
marginal knowledge
can only be retrieved when an appropriate memory cue
(Cantor 2015)
across four experiments, they found that we can stabilise our marginal knowledge with the right steps put in place. In their experiments, they found that multiple choice tests (by method of exposing the person to the correct answer) stabilised marginal knowledge to the extent that, even when feedback is not provided, the marginal knowledge is stabilised for at least one week.
tip of the tongue phenomenon
- Recognising someone’s name is possible even when unable to recall the name
- Brown and McNeil (1966)
- Subjects given definitions to low-frequency words.
- Attempt to recall word associated with definition.
marginal knowledge
- What is available in memory (stored), may not always be accessible (difficult to retrieve)
- What we recall is often an underestimate of what is stored in memory
- Retrieval cues may be required
- Feeling Of Knowing (FOK) judgements are often accurate indicators of stored knowledge (e.g. Hart, 1965; Nelsen, Gerler, & Narens, 1984)
tip of the tongue phenomenon - a failure in retrieval
- Can report being very close to accessing the information
- Cannot recall the word, but can recall words of a similar form or meaning
- Recall can be guided by partial word information
- The information can often be retrieved if given sufficient additional time to retrieve it (e.g. Cohen & Faulkner, 1986; Read & Bruce, 1982)
Barlett memory research (1932)
- Recalling an event – are memory reconstructions influenced by schemas or prior knowledge?
- Bartlett memory research (1932).
- War of the Ghosts (serial recall).
- Memories shaped to conform to our personal beliefs.
- Memories recalled are not copies, but reconstructions.
loftus and palmer 1974
- Watch video of car collisions (at different speeds).
- “How fast were the cars travelling when they ____ into each other?”
- Recalled speed influenced by the verb used (i.e. hit, smashed).
- Recollection of the visual scene (i.e. broken glass) also affected.
Context cues
Godden & Baddeley (1972(
• Free-recall experiment
• Divers learned words from lists in two natural environments:
• dry land
• Underwater
• Words recalled in location of learning, or the alternative
• Lists learned underwater are recalled better underwater!
(and vice versa)