ABSTRACT
The previous chapter described encoding into long-term memory. This chapter covers the next two stages of a memory: storage and retrieval. In contrast to the Ebbinghaus curve of forgetting, studies of real-life memory show enduring memory for high school classmates, and for academic learning. Studies of hypermnesia show the recallability of items actually increases with practice. Psychological models of storage include semantic networks, the interrelationships of concepts in memory. A biological model of storage is consolidation theory, which describes the transition from short-term memory into a permanent long-term memory. Subsequent reactivation (retrieval) of a consolidated memory puts the memory back into a labile state where it can be altered or updated. A primary determinant of memory retrieval are the cues available. The encoding-specificity paradigm (e.g., context-specific learning, state-dependent learning) shows that retrieval depends on matching the cues available at the time of retrieval with those that were present at encoding. There are a variety of memory distortions. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott false memory effect shows that normal associations can lead to misrecall. Tip of the tongue and the feeling-of-knowing are examples of partial recall; source forgetting is remembering the item but not the correct origin of the memory. Postevent information produces misinformation effects, or the inability to distinguish correct from incorrect information in memory. The recovered memory controversy over whether memories of traumatic events are genuine or are distortions created later in time.
