Reevaluating Encoding-Retrieval Match and Cue Overload

Abstract

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.