Memory Search
Encoding refers to the content or form in which information is stored in memory; forgetting is loss of the stored information with the passage of time or with exposure to interfering materials; and retrieval refers to accessing information from memory. Any observation of memory reflects all three components, but measurements of recognition time, reflecting memory search, emphasize retrieval. Recognition time is the time required to respond whether a visually presented test item was part of a previously studied list. For an example of a recognition test following a short-term memory list, see Figure 1. Recognition time and accuracy for individual items in both short-term and long-term memory are consistent with retrieval mechanisms involving parallel, or direct access, operations rather than unguided search through many memories. Some aspects of the increase in recognition time with the length of small short-term memory lists suggest a serial, or sequential, search of the list. However, when more detailed analysis of response times and accuracies is carried out, serial search is ruled out as the sole mechanism of retrieval of the prior experience of an item. Instead, response times inversely related to recency of items in particular list positions. Recency determines the efficiency of a simple, direct retrieval process.
This page contains 201 words.
Memory Search article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 4,038 words
(approx. 13 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Memory Article
