context reinstatement encoding specificity principle

A good example is when an eyewitness is required during a police investigation to give a complete and accurate account of criminal activity witnessed. However, it does not incorporate the potential additional benefit of self-generated retrieval cues.īeing able to reliably recall a personally experienced event is sometimes of critical importance.

Mental Reinstatement of Context is based upon the principle of encoding-retrieval specificity, whereby the overlap between encoded information and retrieval cue predicts the likelihood of accurate recall. We contrast this mnemonic with a similar retrieval technique, Mental Reinstatement of Context, which is recognized as the most effective mnemonic component of the Cognitive Interview. Here, we present the theoretical rationale behind the use of this technique, and highlight the distinction between a self-generated cue and a self-referent cue in autobiographical memory research. The use of a self-generated cue mnemonic allows for the spreading activation nature of memory, whilst also presenting an opportunity to capitalize upon cue distinctiveness. We draw upon the Associative Network model of memory, as well as the principles of encoding-retrieval specificity, and cue distinctiveness, to argue that self-generated cue mnemonics offer an intuitive means of facilitating reliable recall of personally experienced events. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom.

Context reinstatement encoding specificity principle