Effect of Context on Transfer of Information from Short- to Long-Term Memory

Abstract

Manipulation of the context in a short-term memory paradigm produces changes in the ability to recognize the same material from long-term memory 24 hr. later. If immediate recall is accurate, later recognition is improved if this recall is conducted with the same context as occurred at learning. If immediate recall is completely inaccurate, later recognition is improved if this recall is conducted with different context than was present at learning. Short-term recall did not need to be accurate to transfer the learned nonsense trigrams to long-term memory. Manipulation of context 24 hr. after learning had no effect on recognition. Results are discussed in terms of the Waugh and Norman memory model, Tulving's encoding specificity hypothesis, and interference theory.