Research Report: An Asymmetry Between Memory Encoding and Retrieval. Revelation, Generation, and Transfer-Appropriate Processing

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 7 - 11
• Main Authors: Mulligan, Neil W, Lozito, Jeffrey P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-01-2006
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01657.x

Transfer-appropriate-processing accounts of memory emphasize the similarity of encoding and retrieval processes, and imply that experimental manipulations should have similar effects on encoding and retrieval. Exceptions to this expectation are thus of great interest, but extant exceptions (produced by studies using divided attention, alcohol, and benzodiazepines) are debatable, single dissociations between encoding and retrieval. The present experiments demonstrate a reversed dissociation, in which the same variable produced opposite effects when implemented at encoding and retrieval. At encoding, participants either solved anagrams of study words or read intact study words. At retrieval, participants likewise solved anagrams or read intact words prior to making recognition memory judgments. Compared with reading intact words, solving anagrams at encoding enhanced later recognition accuracy, whereas solving anagrams at test impaired accuracy. These results were obtained with old-new decisions (Experiment 1) and with confidence ratings (Experiment 2).