Using the Encoding Specificity Principle to Assess the Nature of the Secondary Memory Component of Working Memory

Recent theories and evidence suggest working memory involves secondary memory as well as primary memory. It is unclear, however, if the secondary memory component of working memory is the same as the secondary memory component underlying episodic long-term memory. The present investigation explores this issue by examining whether manipulating encoding and retrieval cues on a short-term memory task produces similar effects as to what is typically seen on episodic long-term memory tasks. More specifically, it is commonly observed on episodic long-term memory tasks that retrieval cues that were not also present during encoding produces worse recall compared to retrieval cues that were present during encoding, as well as worse recall compared to if no cues were presented. Currently, it is unclear whether this finding, known as the encoding specificity principle, would also be observed in short-term memory tasks. In the current investigation, participants engaged in a modified operation span task where they learned weakly related word-pairs ("era : TIME"). During recall, participants were either provided the same cue from earlier in the series ("era"; match cue), a different cue that was not shown earlier in the series but was strongly associated with the target word ("life"; mismatch cue), or were asked to free recall the target word (no cue). Under conditions in which performance was predicted to rely on secondary memory, performance in the no cue condition was better than the mismatch condition, consistent with the encoding specificity principle (Thomson & Tulving, 1970). Importantly, when performance was not predicted to rely on secondary memory, performance between the mismatch and no cue conditions did not differ. These results suggest that working memory relies on the same secondary memory component as episodic long-term memory tasks only under conditions predicted by a dual-component model of working memory (Unsworth & Engle, 2007).

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Bui, Dung Chi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sandra S Hale
• Joel Myerson, David A Balota, Henry L Roediger, Carl Craver

• encoding specificity
• primary memory
• secondary memory
• working memory
• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• I have not registered my thesis with the U.S. Copyright Office, and do not intend to.

Language dc:language

English (en)

Identifier

https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/488

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:art_sci_etds-1488