ABSTRACT
What we learn can be divided into two broad categories: information we actively strive to memorize and all information we commit to our memory incidentally, only because it happens to accompany the task at hand. This latter, incidentally encoded type of information is often referred to as context, and includes details about the physical environment in which learning takes place, our mood during learning, physical appearance of the materials we try to memorize, etc. Although context usually does not constitute the target of cognitive processes engaged during learning, it nevertheless exerts profound influence on what is ultimately remembered. Studies on memory are replete with examples of how reinstating study context aids memory retrieval, and forensic interviewing protocols contain context reinstatement techniques believed to improve the quality of eyewitness testimony. However, a newer line of studies reveals a darker side of context. In this chapter, we present a summary of recent findings demonstrating how accurate memory for context at retrieval may lead the processes of memory appraisal and regulation astray. We argue that people often conflate context memory with memory for information originally embedded in these contexts, becoming convinced that their responses to memory queries must be correct merely because the context in which the questions are posed is well remembered. Together, this demonstrates how and when context, far from benefitting actual memory performance, creates illusions of knowledge, disrupting memory monitoring and leading to inaccurate responding.
