ERIC Number: EJ1049499
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Nov
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
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Available Date: N/A
Imagining Another Context during Encoding Offsets Context-Dependent Forgetting
Masicampo, E. J.; Sahakyan, Lili
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v40 n6 p1772-1777 Nov 2014
We tested whether imagining another context during encoding would offset context-dependent forgetting. All participants studied a list of words in Context A. Participants who remained in Context A during the test recalled more than participants who were tested in another context (Context B), demonstrating the standard context-dependent forgetting effect (e.g., Smith & Vela, 2001). Importantly, some participants imagined another mental context during encoding. Some of these participants imagined Context B during encoding, and when they were later tested in Context B or even in a completely new Context C, they did not show forgetting, confirming our predictions. Other participants imagined a new context during encoding simply by transforming the current context (i.e., by imagining that it was snowing in the room), and this likewise counteracted context-dependent forgetting. These data suggest a moderator of context-dependent forgetting. When the context surrounding a memory is largely mentally generated, context-dependent forgetting is eliminated.
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Memory, Imagination, Recall (Psychology), Context Effect, Undergraduate Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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