The effect of encoding variables on the free recall of words and action events

Cohen, Ronald

doi:10.3758/bf03198282

Cited by 155 publications

(180 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(25 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

157

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These results are analogous to those obtained in studies utilizing the SPT methodology (e.g., Backman & Nilsson, 1984;Cohen, 1983). This suggests that encoding information for future performance may have much in common with the memory for tasks that have been performed by the subject in the past.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Much of this research has centered on the memory for past activities (e.g., Anderson, 1984;Backman, Nilsson, & Chalom, 1986;Cohen, 1981Cohen, , 1983Johnson, 1988;Kausler & Hakami, 1983;Koriat, Ben-Zur, & Sheffer, 1988). However, there are many instances in everyday life in which what we have to remember is not an act that we have already accomplished but one that has to be performed in the future.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Encoding information for future action: Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for to-be-recalled tasks

1990

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What is the nature of the representation underlying memory for future tasks such as calling the doctor or buying milk? If this representation consists of a verbal instruction that is translated into action at the time ofretrieval, then memory should be better when tested via verbatim recall of the instruction than when tested via actual performance. Three experiments rejected this possibility, indicating better memory for a perform mode of report than for a recall mode of report. This was true in Experiment 1 in which subjects saw aseries of verbal instructions (e.g., "move the eraser," "lift the cup," "touch the ashtray"), with advance information regarding the mode of report required during testing. In Experiment 2, the advance cue was valid only in 75% of the trials. Memory depended more heavily on the expected mode of report than on the actual mode of report, suggesting that the perform superiority is due to processes that occur during encoding. In Experiment 3, subjects learned 20 phrases depicting minitasks. More tasks were remembered by subjects tested via performance than by subjects tested via verbatim recall. A second part of Experiment 3 also indicated superior memory when aperform test was expected, regardless of which mode of report was actually required. The results were compared with the finding that subject-performed tasks are better remembered than are their verbal instructions, which suggests that the representation underlying memory for future assignments may take advantage ofthe imaginal-enactive properties ofthe envisaged acts. Other possible differences between memory for to-be-recalled tasks and memory for to-be-performed tasks are discussed.In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the study of memory for action. Much of this research has centered on the memory for past activities (e.g., Anderson, 1984;Backman, Nilsson, & Chalom, 1986;Cohen, 1981Cohen, , 1983Johnson, 1988;Kausler & Hakami, 1983;Koriat, Ben-Zur, & Sheffer, 1988). However, there are many instances in everyday life in which what we have to remember is not an act that we have already accomplished but one that has to be performed in the future. In some instances, the information pertaining to future acts must be retained for only a short interval. For example, when preparing a new dish on the basis of a written recipe, a person often has to retain aseries of specific directions in short-term memory before carrying them out. A sirnilar process occurs when one consults an operating manual in an attempt to install or operate new equipment. In other instances, memory for to-be-performed activities must extend over longer time intervals, as when a waiter must rememberThe study was conducted at the Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa. We are grateful to Alan Baddeley, Johannes Engelkamp, Margaret Intons-Peterson, and Norman Slamecka for their comments on an earlier version. We wish to thank Shiri Pearlman, Hamutal Pines, and Michal Sion for their help in setting up and conducting ...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Encoding information for future action: Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for to-be-recalled tasks

1990

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In what relevant way do these two types of old items differ? Well-known findings in the memory research literature are that items processed at a deeper level [13]; self-generated material [64]; or subject-performed tasks [12], are better remembered than material encoded with less effort. Analogously, the encoding manipulation used in the present study comprised encoding of items in two different ways, one that required participants to mentally visualise images of objects, and another that simply required participants to look at presented pictures of objects in a more passive manner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory for perceived and imagined pictures—an event-related potential study

et al. 2002

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioural measures were used to investigate recognition memory and source-monitoring judgements about previously perceived and imagined pictures. At study, word labels of common objects were presented. Half of these were followed by a corresponding picture and the other half by an empty frame, signalling to the participants to mentally visualise an image. At test, participants in a source-monitoring task made a three-way discrimination between new words and words corresponding to previously perceived and imagined pictures. Participants in an old/new-recognition task indicated whether test words were previously presented or not. In both tasks, correctly identified old items elicited more positive-going ERPs than correctly judged new items. This widely distributed old/new effect was found to have an earlier onset and to be of a greater magnitude for imagined than for perceived items. Task (source versus item-memory) affected the old/new effects over prefrontal areas and the reaction times to remembered old items. The present findings are consistent with the view that a greater amount, or a different type, of information is necessary for accurate source-memory judgements than for correct recognition, and moreover, that different types of source-specifying information revive at different rates. In addition, the results add weight to the view that the late widespread ERP-old/new effect is sensitive to the quality or the amount of information retrieved from memory.

show abstract

“…Explanations for such effects focus, then, on encoding, processing and accessibility. Cohen (1981Cohen ( , 1983 suggested that memory for action events is non-strategic (evidenced by a lack of properties usually associated with word recall: primacy, age and levels of processing effects), and, as such, acted as an optimal form of encoding. In this way, encoding was not reliant upon 'deliberate strategies for remembering' (Nilsson 2000: 137) and has, therefore, been suggested to be of particular use with both younger and learning-impaired learners (Cohen 1989).…”

Section: Enactment and Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practical terms, such traces should result in higher recall (production) and lower attrition (loss) of lexical items learnt with gestures as supports. The theoretical framework for this paper will set out ideas relating to levels of processing in memorisation (Craik and Lockhart 1972), a model of working memory (Baddeley 2003) which posits the idea that visual and non-visual information can be processed simultaneously, and research relating to memorization of 'events involving actions' (Cohen, 1989: 60) which holds that enactment might enhance accessibility of traces (Cohen and Otterbein 1992: 118), is non-strategic (Cohen 1981(Cohen , 1983) and also creates more distinctive and richer traces Nilsson 1984, 1985). The multi-faceted role of gesture in language use will be acknowledged, and existing research relating to the idea that gestures can aid language learning will be examined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

Porter

2012

The Language Learning Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Finding ways to make language teaching practices both active and effective is of great importance for young learners. However, extending the foreign language production of young learners in instructional settings beyond the naming of objects is often challenging. The memorisation abilities of very young learners (children aged 5-7) sometimes appear limited and attrition is a major issue, given the onceweekly teaching sessions which are a common model for UK primary modern foreign language instruction. This study explored the effectiveness of gestures, as a form of elaborated encoding for young learners, in aiding target language memorisation and slowing attrition through the implementation of a strict teaching protocol and a bespoke pedagogical tool. Findings show significant advantage for short-term retention of a story told with both gestures and pictures when compared with a story told with pictures only. Delayed post-test scores for the gestured story demonstrate a greater rate of attrition from a higher initial mean score than the non-gestured story. This study will therefore assert that gestures boost memorisation due to retrieval cues and richer memory traces. However, it will also note that, when considering longer-term retention, a higher rate of attrition for the gestured story shows that a richer trace alone is not enough. In other words, whilst elaborated processing enhances memorisation, even richer traces need refreshing through repetition and retrieval practice.

show abstract

The effect of encoding variables on the free recall of words and action events

Cited by 155 publications

References 19 publications

Encoding information for future action: Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for to-be-recalled tasks

Encoding information for future action: Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for to-be-recalled tasks

Memory for perceived and imagined pictures—an event-related potential study

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About