The Effect of Normative Context Variability on Recognition Memory
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2003
Keywords
recognition memory, words, context variability
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.5.760
Abstract
According to some theories of recognition memory (e.g., S. Dennis & M. S. Humphreys, 2001), the number of different contexts in which words appear determines how memorable individual occurrences of words will be: A word that occurs in a small number of different contexts should be better recognized than a word that appears in a larger number of different contexts. To empirically test this prediction, a normative measure is developed, referred to here as context variability, that estimates the number of different contexts in which words appear in everyday life. These findings confirm the prediction that words low in context variability are better recognized (on average) than words that are high in context variability.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v. 29, issue 5, p. 760-766
Scholar Commons Citation
Steyvers, Mark and Malmberg, Kenneth J., "The Effect of Normative Context Variability on Recognition Memory" (2003). Psychology Faculty Publications. 1694.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/1694
