Elaborative encoding

Elaborative encoding is a mnemonic that relates to-be-remembered information to pre-existing memories and knowledge.[1] These connections can be made visually, spatially, semantically or acoustically. Multiple techniques, such as the method of loci, the link system, the peg word method, PAO (person, action, object), etc., are used to store information in long-term memory and make it easier to recall this information in the future. Many different forms and techniques of elaborative encoding in addition to the ones stated above are used by mnemonists at the World Memory Championships to remember large quantities of information pertaining to each event of the competition. Each year, competitors invent new techniques and improve previous ones that allow them to remember larger quantities of information faster, so competitors must train year-round to keep pace with the newest techniques and tricks of elaborative encoding.[2]

Explanation

New information and stimuli tend to be best remembered when they can be associated with old memories and experiences in order to enrich the new stimulus. The efficiency and success of encoding (and subsequent retrieval) is largely dependent upon the type of associations you choose to make. It is generally accepted that the more unusual and meaningful these elaborately encoded memories are, the more successful one will be in trying to retrieve them.[3] Elaborative encoding is most successful when the individual makes active attempts to elaborate on incoming information. This type of encoding also helps learning, as it constructs a rich set of integrated memories. Several theories suggest that ability to recall information is heightened when physical and mental conditions match those experienced when the information was first encoded.[4] For example, one will often be more successful in recalling a stimulus while chewing bubble gum if one were also chewing gum when one originally encoded the new stimulus. This has also been found to encompass drug- and alcohol-induced recollection; people who encoded memories in an intoxicated state were more successful at recalling them when in a similar state later on.[5] Verbal elaboration has also been shown to strengthen mental connections and boost retrieval (see also rehearsal).[6] Because the intensity and effectiveness of encoded connections varies from person to person, it is often difficult to study with consistent results.

Experiments

Applications

Elaborative encoding is often a very beneficial tool to save and recall information. Since connections can whenever any new stimulus enters our perception, the scope of things that can be encoded is nearly limitless. In a practical sense, actively relating new information back to previous knowledge expands and intensifies the web of memories and mental connections. Elaboration has proven to be very effective when encoding names, faces and locations. The ability to recall encoded memories has also been a useful tool in diagnosing mental disabilities such as Alzheimer's disease.[11] Type mnemonics are often an effective way of transferring information into long-term memory and being able to recall it easily in the future. However, since most people do not actively train themselves on mnemonics after it has proved its usefulness these skills become less effective with age.[12] Another method of elaborative encoding is sometimes referred to as the link system. By this method, individuals associate new information and stimuli with rich and exaggerated memories in order to make them easier to recall.

References

  1. Groome, D., & Dewart, H." (1999), An introduction to cognitive psychology: Processes and disorders (3 ed.), pp. 168–170
  2. Foer, Joshua (2011), Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, New York: Penguin Group
  3. 1 2 Anderson, J. R., and Gary L. Bradshaw (1982). "Elaborative Encoding as an Explanation of Levels" (PDF). Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 21: 165–174.
  4. Najjar, Lawrence J. (1996), The Effects of Multimedia and Elaborative Encoding on Learning (PDF), doi:10.1148/3628
  5. Brown, Scott C., and Fergus I. M. Craik (2000). "Encoding and Retrieval of Information". Oxford University Press.
  6. Bahrick, H. P., Clark, S., & Bahrick, P (1967). "Generalization gradients as indicants of learning and retention of a recognition task". Journal of Experimental Psychology 75 (4): 464–471. doi:10.1037/h0025131.
  7. Jennifer H. Coane (2013). "Retrieval practice and elaborative encoding benefit memory in younger and older adults". Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition: 95–100.
  8. Anderson, J. R. (1994). Learning and memory: An integrated approach. New York: Wiley.
  9. Karpicke, J. D., & Smith, M. A. (2012). "Separate mnemonic effects of retrieval practice and elaborative encoding" (PDF). Journal of Memory and Language 67 (1): 17–29. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2012.02.004.
  10. Winograd, E. (1981). "Elaboration and distinctiveness in memory for faces". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 7 (3): 181–190. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.7.3.181. PMID 7241060.
  11. Knopman DS, Ryberg S. (1989). "A Verbal Memory Test With High Predictive Accuracy for Dementia of the Alzheimer". Arch Neurol. 46 (2): 141–145. doi:10.1001/archneur.1989.00520380041011. PMID 2916953.
  12. Anschutz, Lucy, Camp, Cameron J., Markley, Robert P. & Jack J. Kramer (2007). "Remembering mnemonics: A three-year follow-up on the effects of mnemonics training in elderly adults". Experimental Aging Research: An International Journal Devoted to the Scientific Study of the Aging Process 13 (3): 141–143. doi:10.1080/03610738708259315. PMID 3691584.
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