Free recall and memory search

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

When trying to remember a specific event or autobiographical memory, it can often feel like one is searching through one's vast store of memories to find the relevant memory. Arguably no experimental task evokes this process more than the free recall paradigm. In this paradigm, a participant is presented with a list of items and then must recall as many items as possible in any order. As such, the participant is constrained to recalling information from a specific list, not unlike searching through one's memory of a specific time and place. This chapter introduces the experimental setup and then overviews some of the major theoretical approaches to understanding memory search. Details of dynamics in free recall responses are then discussed in light of these theories. How participants initiate recall, transition between items, and terminate recall provides insight into memory search, organization, representation, and association. Insights from other memory paradigms are then described, and the chapter ends with a discussion of the ecological validity for characterizing memory search in experimental settings.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Human Memory
Subtitle of host publicationFoundations and Applications
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages831-870
Number of pages40
Volume1
ISBN (Electronic)9780190918019
ISBN (Print)9780190917982
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 18 2024

Keywords

  • Cued recall
  • Episodic memory
  • Free recall
  • Memory search
  • Retrieval

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology

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