Remembering Theories

• 1. Recall Definition⇒ involves reproducing information stored in memory, whether a cue is used to assist the retrieval process
• Type of recall 1:

  Free recall- involves reproducing as much information as possible in no order. E.g., Being asked to learn a list of words, and then recalling as many words as possible in any order.
• Type of recall 2:

  Serial recall- involves reproducing information in the order in which it was presented. e.g., learning a list of words and recalling them in the order in which they were presented
• Type of recall 3:

  Cued recall- involves the use of specific prompts (Cues) to aid retrieval and therefore reproduction of the required information E.g., learn a list of words, and then participants are given the first letter of each word in the list as a cue
• 2. Recognition

  Definition⇒ involves identifying the correct information from among alternatives. Sometimes there is incorrect information amongst the correct information.
• 2. Recognition:

  • Recognition is a better way of retrieving information than recall as it provides more useful cues that assist in locating and retrieving information from the LTM
  • Recognition is also a more sensitive measure than recall
• 3. Re-learning

  Definition⇒ involves learning information again that has been previously learned and stored in the LTM
• 3. Re-learning

  • If information is learned more quickly the second time, it is assumed that some of the information must be retained (saved) from the first learning experience whether the person realises it or not
  • Of all the measures of retention, re-learning is the most sensitive (sensitivity refers to its ability to access the amount of information that has been stored in memory)

  Re-learning something takes less time than it did to learn it originally

  • Ebbinghaus (1885) was the first researcher to scientifically study re-learning (as above)