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ESSAYS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
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principles
of m em ory
AIMÉE M. SURPRENANT AND IAN NEATH
Psychology Press
Taylor & Francis Croup
New York London
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in~Publication Data
Surprenant, Aimee M.
Principles of memory / Aimee M. Surprenant, Ian Neath.
p. cm. — (Essays in cognitive psychology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84169-422-1 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Memory. 1. Neath, Ian, 1965- II. Title.
BF371.S885 2009
153.1’2-dc22 2009013579
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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and the Psychology Press Web site at
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Principles of Memory 1
1.2 Laws, Principles, and Effects 2
1.3 What Is a Principle? 5
1.4 Seven Principles of Memory 7
Chapter 2 Systems or Process? 9
2.1 Systems or Process? 9
2.2 The Systems View 10
2.2.1 The Five Memory Systems 10
2.2.1.1 Procedural Memory 10
2.2.1.2 Perceptual Representation
System 11
2.2.1.3 Semantic Memory 12
2.2.1.4 Working Memory 12
2.2.1.5 Episodic Memory 13
2.2.2 Critique of the Systems View 13
2.2.2.1 Number of Memory Systems 13
2.22.2 Dissociations 16
2.2.2.3 Life Span Development 18
2.2.3 Summary of the Systems View 18
2.3 The Processing View 20
2.3.1 Types of Processing 20
2.3.1.1 Levels of Processing 20
2.3.1.2 Transfer-Appropriate
Processing 21
2.3.1.3 Components of Processing 22
2.3.2 Critique of the Processing View 23
2.3.2.1 Proliferation of Processes 23
2.3.22 Testability 23
. 2.3.2.3 Amnesia 23
v
vi Contents
2.3.3 Summary of the Processing View 24
2.4 Chapter Summary 25
Chapter 3 The Cue-Driven Principle 27
3.1 Principle 1: The Cue-Driven Principle 27
3.2 Memory Without Cues 29
3.3 Evidence for Cues 31
3.3.1 Redintegrative Effects 36
3.3.2 Cueing Effects 37
3.3.3 Proactive Interference 39
3.3.4 Possible Exceptions 41
3.4 Chapter Summary 42
Chapter 4 The Encoding-Retrieval Principle 43
4.1 Principle 2: The Encoding-Retrieval Principle 43
4.2 Encoding Specificity 44
4.3 Transfer-Appropriate—Not Similar—Processing 45
4.3.1 The Irrelevance of Match: Theoretical
Example 45
4.3.2 The Irrelevance of Match: Empirical
Example 48
4.4 Implications of Principle 2 49
4.4.1 Corollary A: Items Do Not Have
Intrinsic Mnemonic Properties 50
4.4.2 Corollary B: Processes Do Not Have
Intrinsic Mnemonic Properties 51
4.4.3 Corollary C: Cues Do Not Have Intrinsic
Mnemonic Properties 52
4.4.4 Corollary D: Forgetting Must Be due to
Extrinsic Factors 52
4.4.4.1 Forgetting in Sensory Memory 53
4.4.4.2 Forgetting in Short-Term/
Working Memory 54
4.4.4.3 Forgetting due to the Passage
of Time 56
4.5 Chapter Summary 58
Chapter 5 The Cue Overload Principle 59
5.1 Principle 3: The Cue Overload Principle 59
5.2 Explanatory Power 59
5.2.1 Buildup of and Release From Proactive
Interference 60
5.2.2 List Length Effect 61
5.2.3 The Fan Effect 62
5.2.4 Levels of Processing 63
5.3 Objections to Cue Overload 65
Contents vii
5.3.1 Violation of the Encoding-Retrieval
Principle . 66
5.3.2 Relevance of Cue Overload 67
5.4 Chapter Summary 68
Chapter 6 The Reconstruction Principle 69
6.1 Principle 4: The Reconstruction Principle 69
6.2 Classic Demonstrations 70
6.3 The Misinformation Effect 72
6.4 Reconstruction in Semantic Memory 73
6.5 Reality Monitoring 73
6.6 Deese/Roediger/McDermott Procedure 74
6.7 Recognition Without Identification 75
6.8 Reconstruction in Immediate Memory 77
6.8.1 Redintegration 77
6.8.2 Regularization of Errors 78
6.8.3 Building a DOG from a DART, a MOP,
and a FIG 79
6.8.4 False Memory in Short-Term/Working
Memory Tasks 80
6.9 Reconstruction in Very Short-Term Memory 81
6.10 Reconstruction in Iconic Memory 82
6.11 Chapter Summary 84
Chapter 7 The Impurity Principle 85
7.1 Principle 5: The Impurity Principle 85
7.2 Tasks and Processes 85
7.3 Task Purity 88
7.3.1 Implicit Versus Explicit 89
7.3.2 Episodic Versus Semantic 90
7.3.3 STM (and WM) Versus LTM 92
7.4 Process Purity 93
7.4.1 Process Dissociation 93
7.4.2 Processes and Subprocesses 96
7.5 Subtractive Logic in Neuroimaging 98
7.6 Chapter Summary 101
Chapter 8 The Relative Distinctiveness Principle 103
8.1 Principle 6: The Relative Distinctiveness
Principle 103
8.2 The Von Restorff Effect 103
8.3 Distinctiveness in Short-Term/Working
Memory 105
8.4 Instantiating the Principle 107
8.4.1 SIMPLE and Absolute Identification 107
8.4.2 SIMPLE and Free Recall 111
viii Contents
8.4.3 SIMPLE and the von Restorff Isolation
Effect 114
8.4.4 SIMPLE and Serial Recall 115
8.5 Distinctiveness in Sensory Memory 116
8.6 Distinctiveness in Semantic Memory 118
8.7 Distinctiveness in Implicit Memory 121
8.8 Underlying Dimensions 123
8.9 Chapter Summary 125
Chapter 9 The Specificity Principle 127
9.1 Principle 7: The Specificity Principle 127
9.2 Levels of Representation 127
9.3 External Support Versus Specificity 129
9.3.1 Indirect Memory and Specificity 130
9.3.2 Encoding Specificity 131
9.3.3 Gist-Based Versus Item-Based Processing 133
9.4 Specificity in Amnesia 135
9.5 Proper Names 138
9.6 Chapter Summary 138
Chapter 10 Evaluation, Limitations, and Implications 141
10.1 Principles of Memory 141
10.2 Relation to Other Sets of Principles 142
10.2.1 Kihlstrom and Barnhardt's Principles 142
10.2.2 Crowder's Four Principles 144
10.2.3 Principles of Short-Term Memory 145
10.2.4 Seven Sins of Memory 146
10.2.5 Semon's Principles 147
10.2.6 Principles of Cognition 147
10.3 Relation to Laws of Memory 148
10.3.1 Cohen's Laws 148
10.3.2 Tulving-Wiseman Law 148
10.3.3 Roediger's Laws 149
10.3.4 Ribot's Law 149
10.3.5 Jost's Laws 150
10.3.6 Aristotle's Laws of Association 150
10.4 Possible Principles 151
10.5 Evaluation 152
10.5.1 Possible Weaknesses 152
10.5.2 Conclusions 153
References 155
Author Index 179
Subject Index 187
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Work on the ideas behind this book began while we were on sabbatical at
the Memory Research Unit, Department of Psychology, City University,
London. We thank colleagues at Bristol University, Cardiff University,
City University London, the University of Essex, the University of
Hertfordshire, the University of Reading, the University of Warwick,
the University of York, and University College London for their hospital
ity and intellectual stimulation. Prior to our arrival in the UK, we were
similarly well-treated by colleagues at Australian Catholic University,
the University of Southern Queensland, and the University of Western
Australia.
We started writing the book when we returned to Purdue University,
and completed it at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Order of
authorship was determined by a coin toss.
We thank our graduate students, Annie Jalbert and Brittany Faux,
and the students in the Winter 2008 Special Topics in Memory course at
Memorial University for their feedback on a draft of this book.
Preparation of this book was supported, in part, by the (US) National
Institute on Aging Grant AG021071 and by the (Canadian) Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grants to both
authors.
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