Encoding is the process by which we place the things that we experience into memory. Unless information is encoded, it cannot be remembered. I’m sure you’ve been to a party where you’ve been introduced to someone and then—maybe only seconds later—you realize that you do not remember the per- son’s name. Of course it’s not really surprising that you can’t remember the name, because you probably were distracted and you never encoded the name to begin with.
Not everything we experience can or should be encoded. We tend to encode things that we need to remember and not bother to encode things that are irrelevant. Look at Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\), which shows different images of U.S. pennies. Can you tell which one is the real one? Nickerson and Adams (1979) found that very few of the U.S. participants they tested could identify the right one. We see pennies a lot, but we don’t bother to encode their features.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): pennies in different styles. Can you identify the “real” penny? We tend to have poor memory for things that don’t matter, even if we see them frequently. [“Pennies in Different Styles” by University of Minnesota is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.]
One way to improve our memory is to use better encoding strategies. Some ways of studying are more effective than others. Research has found that we are better able to remember information if we encode it in a meaningful way. When we engage in elaborative encoding we process new information in ways that make it more relevant or meaningful (Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Harris & Qualls, 2000).
Imagine that you are trying to remember the characteristics of the different schools of psychology. Rather than simply trying to remember the schools and their characteristics, you might try to relate the information to things you already know. For instance, you might try to remember the fundamentals of the cognitive school of psychology by linking the characteristics to the computer model. The cognitive school focuses on how information is input, processed, and retrieved, and you might think about how computers do pretty much the same thing. You might also try to organize the information into meaningful units. For instance, you might link the cognitive school to structuralism because both were concerned with mental processes. You also might try to use visual cues to help you remember the information. You might look at the image of Freud and imagine what he looked like as a child. That image might help you remember that childhood experiences were an important part of Freudian theory. Each person has his or her unique way of elaborating on information; the important thing is to try to develop unique and meaningful associations among the materials.
RESEARCH FOCUS
Elaboration and Memory
In an important study showing the effectiveness of elaborative encoding, Rogers et al. (1977) studied how people recalled information that they had learned under different processing conditions. All the participants were presented with the same list of 40 adjectives to learn, but through the use of random assignment, the participants were given one of four different sets of instructions about how to process the adjectives.
Participants assigned to the structural task condition were asked to judge whether the word was printed in upper- case or lowercase letters. Participants in the phonemic task condition were asked whether or not the word rhymed with another given word. In the semantic task condition, the participants were asked if the word was a synonym of another word. And in the self-reference task condition, participants were asked to indicate whether or not the given adjective was or was not true of themselves. After completing the specified task, each participant was asked to recall as many adjectives as he or she could remember.
Rogers and his colleagues hypothesized that different types of processing would have different effects on memory. As you can see in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\), the students in the self-reference task condition recalled significantly more adjectives than did students in any other condition. This finding, known. as the self-reference effect, is powerful evidence that the self-concept helps us organize and remember information. The next time you are studying for an exam, you might try relating the material to your own experiences. The self-reference effect suggests that doing so will help you better remember the information (Symons & Johnson, 1997). ■
Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Self-reference effect results. Participants recalled the same words significantly better when they were processed in relation to the self than when they were processed in other ways. [“Memory and Experimental Condition” by Judy Schmitt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Adapted from Rogers et al. (1977).]
Using the Contributions of Hermann Ebbinghaus to improve Your Memory
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) was a pioneer of the study of memory. In this section we consider three of his most important findings, each of which can help you improve your memory. In his research, in which he was the only research participant, Ebbinghaus practiced memorizing lists of non- sense syllables, such as the following:
DIF, LAJ, LEQ, MUV, WYC, DAL, SEN, KEP, NUD
You can imagine that because the material he was trying to learn was not at all meaningful, it was not easy to do. Ebbinghaus plotted how many of the syllables he could remember against the time that had elapsed since he had studied them. He discovered an important principle of memory: Memory decays rapidly at first, but the amount of decay levels off with time (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). Although Ebbinghaus looked at forgetting after days had elapsed, the same effect occurs on longer and shorter time scales. Bahrick (1984) found that students who took a Spanish language course forgot about half of the vocabulary they had learned within three years, but that after that time their memory remained pretty much constant. Forget- ting also drops off quickly on a shorter time frame. This suggests that you should try to review the material that you have already studied right before you take an exam; that way, you will be more likely to remember the material during the exam.
Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. Hermann Ebbinghaus found that memory for information drops off rapidly at first but then levels off after time. [This work, “Forgetting Curve,” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 by Judy Schmitt. It is a derivative of “Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve” by University of Minnesota, which is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.]
Ebbinghaus also discovered another important principle of learning, known as the spacing effect. The spacing effect refers to the fact that learning is improved when the same amount of study is spread out over periods of time than it is when it occurs closer together or at the same time. This means that even if you have only a limited amount of time to study, you’ll learn more if you study continually throughout the semester (a little bit every day is best) than if you wait to cram at the last minute before your exam (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)). Another good strategy is to study and then wait as long as you can before you forget the material. Then review the information and again wait as long as you can before you forget it. (This probably will be a longer period of time than the first time.) Repeat and repeat again. The spacing effect is usually considered in terms of the difference between distributed practice (practice that is spread out over time) and massed practice (practice that comes in one block), with the former approach producing better memory.
Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Effects of massed versus distributed practice on learning. The spacing effect refers to the fact that memory is better when it is distributed rather than massed. leslie, Maria, and Abby all studied for four hours total, but the students who spread out their learning into smaller study sessions did better on the exam. [“Massed vs Distributed Practice” by Judy Schmitt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.]
Ebbinghaus also considered the role of overlearning— that is, continuing to practice and study even when we think that we have mastered the material. Ebbinghaus and other researchers have found that overlearning helps encoding (Driskell et al., 1992). Students frequently think that they have already mastered the material but then discover when they get to the exam that they have not. The point is clear: Try to keep studying and reviewing, even if you think you already know all the material.
RETRIEVAL DEMONSTRATION
Try this test of the ability to retrieve information with a classmate. The instructions are in the text.
We’ve all experienced retrieval failure in the form of the frustrating tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, in which we are certain that we know something we are trying to recall but cannot quite come up with it. You can try this one on your friends as well. Read your friend the names of the 10 states listed in the States and Capital Cities Demonstration, and ask him to name the capital city of each state. Now, for the capital cities that your friend can’t name, give him just the first letter of the capital city. You’ll probably find that having the first letters of the cities helps with retrieval. The tip-of-the-tongue experience is a very good example of the inability to retrieve information that is actually stored in memory.
STATES AND CAPITAL CITIES DEMONSTRATION
Try this demonstration of the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon with a classmate. Instructions are in the text.
We are more likely to be able to retrieve items from memory when conditions at retrieval are similar to the conditions under which we encoded them. Context-dependent learning refers to an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned matches the situation in which it is remembered. Godden and Baddeley (1975) conducted a study to test this idea using scuba divers. They asked the divers to learn a list of words either when they were on land or when they were underwater. Then they tested the divers on their memory, either in the same or the opposite situation. As you can see in Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\), the divers’ memory was better when they were tested in the same context in which they had learned the words than when they were tested in the other context.
Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Godden and Baddeley (1975) tested the memory of scuba divers to learn and retrieve information in different contexts and found strong evidence for context-dependent learning. [“Learning Condition and Recollection” by Judy Schmitt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Adapted from Godden and Baddeley (1975).]
You can see that context-dependent learning might also be important in improving your memory. For instance, you might want to try to study for an exam in a situation that is similar to the one in which you are going to take the exam.
Whereas context-dependent learning refers to a match in the external situation between learning and remembering, state-dependent learning refers to superior retrieval of memories when the individual is in the same physiological or psychological state as during encoding. Research has found, for instance, that animals that learn a maze while under the influence of one drug tend to remember their learning better when they are tested under the influence of the same drug than when they are tested without the drug (Jackson et al., 1992). And research with humans finds that bilinguals remember better when tested in the same language in which they learned the material (Marian & Kaushanskaya, 2007). Mood states may also produce state-dependent learning. People who learn information when they are in a bad (rather than a good) mood find it easier to recall these memories when they are tested while they are in a bad mood, and vice versa. It is easier to recall unpleasant memories than pleasant ones when we’re sad, and easier to recall pleasant memories than unpleasant ones when we’re happy (Bower, 1981; Eich, 2008).
Variations in the ability to retrieve information are also seen in the serial position curve. When we give people a list of words one at a time (e.g., on flashcards) and then ask them to recall them, the results look something like those in Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\). People are able to retrieve more words that were presented to them at the beginning and the end of the list than they are words that were presented in the middle of the list. This pattern, known as the serial position curve, is caused by two retrieval phenomena: The primacy effect refers to a tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented early in a list; the recency effect refers to the tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented later in a list.
Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): The serial position curve is the result of both primacy effects and recency effects. [This work, “Serial Position Curve,” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 by Judy Schmitt. It is a derivative of “The Serial Position Curve” by University of Minnesota, which is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.]
There are a number of explanations for primacy and recency effects, but one of them is in terms of the effects of rehearsal on short-term and long-term memory (Baddeley et al., 2009). Because we can keep the last words we learned in the presented list in short-term memory by rehearsing them before the memory test begins, they are relatively easily remembered. So the recency effect can be explained in terms of maintenance rehearsal in short-term memory. And the pri- macy effect may also be due to rehearsal—when we hear the first word in the list we start to rehearse it, making it more likely that it will be moved from short-term to long-term memory. And the same is true for the other words that come early in the list. But for the words in the middle of the list, this rehearsal becomes much harder, making them less likely to be moved to LTM.
In some cases our existing memories influence our new learning. This may occur either in a backward way or a for- ward way. Retroactive interference occurs when learning something new impairs our ability to retrieve information that was learned earlier. For example, if you have learned to program in one computer language, and then you learn to program in another similar one, you may start to make mistakes programming the first language that you never would have made before you learned the new one. In this case the new memories work backward (retroactively) to influence retrieval from memory that is already in place.
In contrast to retroactive interference, proactive interference works in a forward direction (see Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\)for a comparison). Proactive interference occurs when earlier learning impairs our ability to encode information that we try to learn later. For example, if we have learned French as a second language, this knowledge may make it more difficult, at least in some respects, to learn a third language (say Spanish), which involves similar but not identical vocabulary.
Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Retroactive and Proactive Interference
