The encoding specificity principle, initially proposed by Thompson and Tulving in 1973, asserts that the congruence between encoding and retrieval conditions plays a crucial role in successful memory retrieval. Although this principle has largely been supported, Nairne (2002) has challenged memory theorists to reconsider its direct causality, proposing that the diagnostic value of retrieval cues with respect to a specific memory is the primary determinant of successful retrieval. This study sought to investigate this claim. This study builds upon the work conducted by Goh and Lu (2012) by adapting the manipulations of encoding-retrieval match and cue overload in their original task design. The current study replaced the implicit category cue in the high-overload, high-match conditions with an explicit cue in an attempt to strengthen the manipulation. We hypothesized that the addition of an explicit high-overload cue to our experimental design would lead to a significant effect of encoding-retrieval match in the high-overload condition, in contrast with Goh and Lu’s (2012) findings. Our findings provide mixed support for this hypothesis. We observed weak evidence for a main effect of encoding-retrieval match, with better performance in the high-match condition than the low-match condition without evidence for a significant interaction between encoding-retrieval match and cue overload. However, planned t-tests somewhat conflicted with this finding in that encoding-retrieval match had a significant effect only when the cues were low-overload, not when match was increased with a high-overload cue. Further investigation is needed before conclusions can be drawn from this data. / Master of Science / Memory is often more successful when the conditions during learning match those during recall—a concept known as the encoding specificity principle, first proposed by Thompson and Tulving in 1973. This principle suggests that memory performance improves when the cues present during learning are also available during recall. While widely accepted, Nairne (2002) suggested that the effectiveness of memory retrieval depends more on how well a retrieval cue uniquely identifies the specific memory being recalled than on matching conditions. To explore this, we modified a task originally designed by Goh and Lu (2012) that tested the effects of matching learning and recall conditions and the presence of competing memory cues. Their original study design used semantic categories as cues, but the participants were not explicitly told to pay attention to the semantic category of the words. We replaced this implicit category label with a more explicit word cue to strengthen the experimental manipulations. We hypothesized that these changes would reveal a stronger effect of matching learning and recall conditions, particularly when multiple competing cues were present, contrary to Goh and Lu’s findings. Results partially supported this hypothesis: memory performance was better when learning and recall conditions matched, and explicit cues improved recall in some cases but not others. These findings suggest that both encoding-retrieval matching and the clarity of retrieval cues contribute to memory performance, highlighting areas for future research.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of encoding specificity on learning in a multimedia environment. Based upon the theory of encoding specificity there should be a relationship between the modality for which a learner encodes information into memory and the modality used to assess the learner's knowledge. Modality attributes for purposes of this study included visual (animation) and verbal information (narration and text). Two-hundred and fifteen students viewed a computer animation on lighting formation which was presented in one of three different modalities (animation with narration, animation with text, text only). Following the instruction students were assessed in one of three modalities (animation with narration, animation with text, text only) on recall and transfer. A 3 Encoding/Study x 3 Retrieval/Test (animation with narration, animation with text, text only) full-factorial post-test only design was used to assess the effects of matched and mismatched encoding and retrieval modalities in a multimedia environment. Encoding specificity suggests that there is an interaction between the conditions at encoding and retrieval such to say that the to-be-remembered item will not be as effective during retrieval unless the cue was specifically encoded at time of storage. Unfortunately, the present study did not find much to support the claim of encoding specificity based upon modality. The use of modality in both encoding and retrieval condition to support encoding specificity was found only in the AT-AT matched recall group versus the mismatched groups. Furthermore, significance was not found in any of the matched mismatched transfer conditions. / Ph. D.

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