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Context‐dependent memory for meaningful material: information for students
Author(s) -
Grant Harry M.,
Bredahl Lane C.,
Clay John,
Ferrie Jennifer,
Groves Jane E.,
McDorman Timothy A.,
Dark Veronica J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0720(1998120)12:6<617::aid-acp542>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - recall , context (archaeology) , test (biology) , psychology , dependency (uml) , cognitive psychology , recall test , reading comprehension , comprehension , reading (process) , silence , matching (statistics) , context dependent memory , context effect , free recall , word (group theory) , computer science , artificial intelligence , linguistics , paleontology , biology , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , programming language , aesthetics
Context‐dependency effects on memory for lists of unrelated words have been shown more often with recall than with recognition. Context dependency for meaningful text material was examined using two standard academic testing techniques: short answer (recall) and multiple choice (recognition). Forty participants read an article in either silent or noisy conditions; their reading comprehension was assessed with both types of test under silent or noisy conditions. Both tests showed context‐dependency effects in which performance was better in the matching conditions (silent study/silent test and noisy study/noisy test) than in the mismatching conditions (silent study/noisy test and noisy study/silent test). Context cues appear to be important in the retrieval of newly learned meaningful information. An academic application is that students may perform better on exams by studying in silence. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.