“Context-Dependent Memory Refers To Improved Recall Of Specific Episodes Or Information When Contextual Cues Relating To The Environment Are The Same During Encoding And Retrieval.”
So What Does This Mean?
Well When You Memorise A Piece Of Information Or Fact, Your Brain Also Links It With Details About The Environment In Which We Learned The Information And The Physical And Emotional State We Are In At The Time.
How Could This Benefit Your Revision?
Studies Have Demonstrated That If You Can Tailor Your Environment In Which You Revise You Can Improve Your Recall Of Facts And Information In The Actual Exam
The Context-Learning Memory Effect Refers To The Belief That “What Is Learnt In A Given Environment Is Best Recalled In That Environment”.
Godden Et Al. Set Out To Investigate This Effect In Two Natural Environments And Will Be Discussed In This Post. The Main Limitation Of Previous Investigations Into This Effect Is The Lack Of ‘Ecological Validity; In Other Words, The Methods And Findings Established Were Not Applicable In The Real World. For Example, In 1967, Dallett Et Al. Evaluated The Context-Learning Memory Effect By Placing Participants Heads In An Oddly Shaped Box Containing Flashing Lights Of Different Colours As The Learning Environment.
Although Still Not Considered Ecologically Valid, Godden Et Al. Investigated This Effect Using An Underwater Environment, A Natural Environment That Drastically Differs From That On The Surface. The Participants, When Placed Underwater, Are Weightless, Have Restricted Vision, And Is Significantly Different From A Traditional Learning Environment. The Design Of This Study Consisted Of Eighteen Volunteers Who Were Asked To Learn A List Of Words, Either On Land Or In Water, Before Subsequently Being Asked To Recall This List Either On Land Or On Water. This Approach Yielded Four Potential Conditions: DD, Where Volunteers Learnt On Dry Land And Recalled On Dry Land; DW, Where Volunteers Learnt On Dry Land And Recalled On Wetland; WW And WD. This Study Hypothesised That, Under The Context-Dependent Memory Effect, Those Who Learned And Recalled This List Of Words In The Same Environment Should Display A Significantly Superior Ability To Recall Than When Asked To Recall In A Different Environment To That Of Learning (DW And WD). The Findings Of This Study Revealed No Significant Differences Between Recall Performance In Either Environment; However, The Results Show That Participants Who Had The Same Learning And Recall Environment Displayed A Significantly Superior Recall Performance. There Was Also No Significant Difference Between Conditions DD And WW, Nor DW And WD. The Results Of This Study Are In Line With The Context-Dependent Memory Hypothesis And Provide Evidence For This Method Of Learning In A Real-World Situation. Even After Adjusting For Potential Limitations In This Study, A Highly Significant Difference Between The Same Environment And Different Environment Groups Emerged.
The Implications Of The Context-Dependent Memory Effect Can Be Detrimental In Real-World Situations, Especially For Studying Purposes. From A Young Age, We Are Told That When Studying, We Must Find A Quiet Space With No Distractions To Really Take In The Information We Are Revising. This Most Likely Was To Limit The Chances Of Us Getting Side-Tracked By The Smallest Of Disruptions; However, This Quiet Environment Mimics The Environment We Most Likely Had A Test Or Examination In. Therefore, The Context-Dependent Memory Effect Comes Into Play And Can Prove Crucial In Enhancing Our Ability To Retain Information.
The Study Discussed In This Paper Can Be Found At: Https://Psycnet.Apa.Org/Record/1978-22375-001
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