Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

246 CHAPTER 6 Memoryencoding specificity principleThe principle that when the conditions ofinformation retrieval are similar to the conditionsof information encoding, retrieval ismore likely to be successful.context effectThe tendency to recover information moreeasily when the retrieval occurs in the samesetting as the original learning of theinformation.mood congruenceAn encoding specificity phenomenon inwhich a given mood tends to evoke memoriesthat are consistent with that mood.flashbulb memoryThe recall of very specific images or detailssurrounding a vivid, rare, or significantpersonal event; details may or may not beaccurate.Flashbulb Memories? Can you rememberwhere you were when you heard aboutthe terrorist attacks on the World TradeCenter and the Pentagon? The OklahomaCity bombing? Shocking national eventscan supposedly trigger highly accurate,long-term flashbulb memories. Meaningfulpersonal events, such as your high schoolgraduation or wedding day, can also producevivid flashbulb memories.The Encoding Specificity PrincipleKey Theme• According to the encoding specificity principle, re-creating the originallearning conditions makes retrieval easier.Key Questions• How can context and mood affect retrieval?• What role does distinctiveness play in retrieval, and how accurate areflashbulb memories?One of the best ways to increase access to information in memory is to re-create theoriginal learning conditions. This simple idea is formally called the encoding specificityprinciple (Tulving, 1983). As a general rule, the more closely retrieval cues match theoriginal learning conditions, the more likely it is that retrieval will occur.For example, have you ever had trouble remembering some bit of informationduring a test but immediately recalled it as you entered the library where you normallystudy? When you intentionally try to remember some bit of information, suchas the definition of a term, you often encode much more into memory than just thatisolated bit of information. As you study in the library, at some level you’re awareof all kinds of environmental cues. These cues might include the sights, sounds, andaromas within that particular situation. The environmental cues in a particular contextcan become encoded as part of the unique memories you form while in that context.These same environmental cues can act as retrieval cues to help you access the memoriesformed in that context.This particular form of encoding specificity is called the context effect. The contexteffect is the tendency to remember information more easily when the retrieval occursin the same setting in which you originally learned the information. Thus, the environmentalcues in the library where you normally study act as additionalretrieval cues that help jog your memory. Of course, it’s too late to help your testscore, but the memory was there.A different form of encoding specificity is called mood congruence—the ideathat a given mood tends to evoke memories that are consistent with that mood.In other words, a specific emotional state can act as a retrieval cue that evokesmemories of events involving the same emotion. So, when you’re in a positivemood, you’re more likely to recall positive memories. When you’re feeling blue,you’re more likely to recall negative or unpleasant memories.Flashbulb MemoriesVivid Events, Accurate Memories?If you rummage around your own memories, you’ll quickly discover thathighly unusual, surprising, or even bizarre experiences are easier to retrievefrom memory than are routine events (Pillemer, 1998). Such memoriesare said to be characterized by a high degree of distinctiveness. Thatis, the encoded information represents a unique, different, or unusualmemory.Various events can create vivid, distinctive, and long-lasting memoriesthat are sometimes referred to as flashbulb memories (Brown & Kulik,1982). Just as a camera flash captures the specific details of a scene, aflashbulb memory is thought to involve the recall of very specific detailsor images surrounding a significant, rare, or vivid event.Do flashbulb memories literally capture specific details, like the detailsof a photograph, that are unaffected by the passage of time? Emotionally