Variation in encoding context benefits item recognition.
The current study assesses whether varying the encoding context of a repeated event is a potential strategy to improve recognition memory across retrieval contexts. Context variability, also known as encoding variability, has historically been investigated primarily using recall and cued recall task...
| Published in: | Memory & Cognition Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 725 - 746 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Apr2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=184954177&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 184954177 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0090502X MEG jtl: Memory & Cognition issn: 0090502X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2025 vid: 53 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 184954177 10.3758/s13421-024-01603-x ppf: 725 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.5MB tig: atl: Variation in encoding context benefits item recognition. aug: au: Salan, Jefferson Smith, Devyn E. Shafer, Erica S. Diana, Rachel A. affil: https://ror.org/02smfhw86 Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 890 Drillfield Dr., 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA https://ror.org/0153tk833 Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA su: Recognition (Psychology) Task performance Manipulative behavior Memory Analysis of variance Cognition Repeated measures design T-test (Statistics) Research funding Descriptive statistics Data analysis software sug: subj: Recognition (Psychology) Task performance Manipulative behavior Memory Analysis of variance Cognition Repeated measures design T-test (Statistics) Research funding Descriptive statistics Data analysis software keyword: Context effects Episodic memory Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Recognition Context effects Episodic memory Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Recognition ab: The current study assesses whether varying the encoding context of a repeated event is a potential strategy to improve recognition memory across retrieval contexts. Context variability, also known as encoding variability, has historically been investigated primarily using recall and cued recall tasks, with the consensus being that encoding variability is not necessarily beneficial for episodic retrieval. However, recent studies (see text) suggest that test type may determine the strategy's effectiveness. Aligned with these recent findings, we found consistent benefits to simple item recognition when a word was studied in more variable contexts compared to less variable contexts across four experiments. This main effect of context variability occurred when crossed with a manipulation of repetition spacing and when crossed with a manipulation of encoding-retrieval context match. Variation in encoding contexts beyond the future retrieval context led to better item recognition than repeated study exposures within the future retrieval context. We argue that the current study and other recent findings indicate a need to re-evaluate the historical consensus on encoding variability as a beneficial strategy for learning. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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