Encoding specificity principle

The encoding specificity principle provides a framework for understanding how the conditions present while encoding information relate to memory and recall of that information. Memory researchers Thomson and Tulving suggest that recall is most effective when the conditions at the time of encoding match the conditions at the time of retrieval. These conditions may refer to the context in which the information was encoded, the physical location or surroundings, as well as the mental or physical state of the individual at the time of encoding. This principle plays a significant role in both the concept of context-dependent memory and the concept of state-dependent memory.

Consider the debate on whether taking an exam in the same classroom in which the material for the exam was encoded positively correlates with performance on said exam. The encoding specificity principle suggests that it does. In this example, the context refers to the physical location in which the exam takes place. Another example could correspond to the state an individual is in at the time of encoding; studies show that a person who is intoxicated at the time of encoding has a better time retrieving information if later the person is also intoxicated. State can also refer to the emotional state the individual is in at the time of encoding and at the time of retrieval; if these states match, the individual is more likely to recall the encoded information.

In a laboratory study, a subject presented with an unrelated word pair is able to recall a target word with much more accuracy when prompted with the unrelated word it was matched with at the time of encoding, than if presented with a semantically related word that was not available during the time of encoding. During a recall task, people benefit equally from a weakly related cue word as from a strongly related cue word, provided the weakly related word was present at encoding.

Semantics does not always play a role in encoding specificity; memory, rather, depends upon the context at encoding and retrieval. Early research has shown that semantically related cues should be effective in retrieving a word provided the semantic cue was encoded along with the target word. If the semantically related word is not present at the time of encoding, it will not be efficient at cuing recall for the target word.

Regardless of semantic relatedness of the paired words, participants more effectively recalled target words that had been primed when prompted for recall. Many of the following experiments employed a method modeled off of Thomson and Tulving's. All, however, had slight variations which allowed the researchers to discover their own individual findings. The following table shows the importance of priming through word pairs to achieve enhanced recall of words encoded together.

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