Abstract
The traditional short- and long-term storage view of information processing and the levels-of-processing view both discuss the forgetting of information over time. In the traditional stage view, there is loss of at least poorly encoded information across several seconds when the information cannot be rehearsed (e.g., Ricker et al., 2020, Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46, 60–76). In the levels-of-processing approach, information that is encoded in a shallow manner is lost more quickly over time than deeply-encoded information (Craik & Lockhart, 1972, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671–684.). Previous studies of the depth of encoding, however, have mostly been conducted using delayed tests, so there are few studies directly comparing the rate of forgetting over time for information as a function of different depths of encoding. We manipulated the level of processing with immediate recall in a modified Brown–Peterson task. An effect of the level of processing was robust, but evidence of forgetting across retention intervals was not always observed. When encoding time was curtailed (in Experiments 3 and 4), we found main effects of both the level of processing and the retention interval, but no interaction between the two variables. The results suggest that the depth-of-encoding effect may occur during the initial encoding of items, but without differential forgetting within the range of retention intervals that we examined (0–18 s), in contrast to the suggestion by Craik and Lockhart. Further work is needed to determine whether the depth-of-processing effect would grow over longer intervals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 2, pp. 89–95). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60422-3
Baddeley, A. D., Hitch, G., & Allen, R. (2021). A multicomponent model of working memory. In R. H. Logie, V. Camos, & N. Cowan (Eds.), Working memory: State of the science (pp. 10–43). Oxford University Press.
Bartsch, L. M., & Oberauer, K. (2023). The contribution of episodic long-term memory to working memory for bindings. Cognition. 231, Article 105330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105330
Brown, J. (1958). Some tests of the decay theory of immediate memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 10, 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470215808416249
Camos, V., Mora, G., & Oberauer, K. (2011). Adaptive choice between articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing in verbal working memory. Memory & Cognition, 39, 231–244. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-010-0011-x
Cowan, N. (2019). Short-term memory based on activated long-term memory: A review in response to Norris (2017). Psychological Bulletin, 145, 822–847. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000199
Cowan, N., Bao, C., Bishop-Chrzanowski, B. M., Costa, A. N., Greene, N. R., Guitard, D., Li, C., Musich, M. L., & Ünal, Z. E. (2024). The relation between attention and memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 75, 183–214. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych040723-012736
Cowan, N., Guitard, D., Greene, N. R., & Fiset, S. (2022). Exploring the use of phonological and semantic representations in working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001077
Cowan, N., Towse, J. N., Hamilton, Z., Saults, J. S., Elliott, E. M., Lacey, J. F., Moreno, M. V., & Hitch, G. J. (2003). Children’s working-memory processes: A response-timing analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.132.1.113
Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X
Craik, F. I. M., & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 268–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268
Crowder, R. G. (1982). The demise of short-term memory. Acta Psychologica, 50, 291–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-6918(82)90044-0
Doherty, J., Rhodes, S., Barrouillet, P., Cowan, N., Naveh-Benjamin, M., Belletier, C., Jaroslawska, A., Camos, V., & Logie, R. (2019). Dual-task costs in working memory: An adversarial collaboration. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45, 1529–1551. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000668
Fuchs, A. H., & Melton, A. W. (1974). Effects of frequency of presentation and stimulus length on retention in the Brown-Peterson paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 103(4), 629–637. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0037196
Germine, L., Nakayama, K., Duchaine, B. C., Chabris, C. F., Chatterjee, G., & Wilmer, J. B. (2012). Is the Web as good as the lab? Comparable performance from Web and lab in cognitive/perceptual experiments. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19, 847–857. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-012-0296-9
Glenberg, A. M., & Swanson, N. C. (1986). A temporal distinctiveness theory of recency and modality effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 12, 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-7393.12.1.3
Healy, A. F., & McNamara, D. S. (1996). Verbal learning and memory: does the modal model still work? Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 143–72. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.143
Hellyer, S. (1962). Supplementary report: Frequency of stimulus presentation and short-term decrement in recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(6), Article 650. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043117
Hulme, C., Roodenrys, S., Schweickert, R., Brown, G. D., Martin, S., & Stuart, G. (1997). Word-frequency effects on short-term memory tasks: Evidence for a redintegration process in immediate serial recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 1217–1232. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-7393.23.5.1217
JASP Team. (2024). JASP (Version 0.18. 3)[Computer software].
Keppel, G., & Underwood, B. J. (1962). Proactive inhibition in short term retention of single items. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1, 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(62)80023-1
Loaiza, V. M., McCabe, D. P., Youngblood, J. L., Rose, N. S., & Myerson, J. (2011). The influence of levels of processing on recall from working memory and delayed recall tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 1258–63. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023923
Martin, R. C. (2021). The critical role of semantic working memory in language comprehension and production. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(4), 283–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721421995178
Mazuryk, G. F., & Lockhart, R. S. (1974). Negative recency and levels of processing in free recall. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 28, 114–123. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0081971
McCabe, D. P. (2008). The role of covert retrieval in working memory span tasks: Evidence from delayed recall tests. Journal of Memory and Language, 58, 480–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2007.04.004
Melton, A. W. (1963). Implications of short term memory for a general theory of memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 2, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(63)80063-8s
Mizrak, E., & Oberauer, K. (2022). Working memory recruits long-term memory when it is beneficial: Evidence from the Hebb effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151(4), 763–780. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000934
Murdock, B. B., Jr. (1961). The retention of individual items. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 618–625. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043657
Murray, D. (1979). The secondary memory component in the Brown-Peterson paradigm. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 13, 64–66. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335014
Nairne, J. S. (2002). Remembering over the short term: The case against the standard model. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53–81. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135131
Oberauer, K. (2022). When does working memory get better with longer time? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 48(12), 1754–1774. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001199
Oberauer, K., & Lewandowsky, S. (2008). Forgetting in immediate serial recall: decay, temporal distinctiveness, or interference? Psychological Review, 115, 544–576. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.115.3.544
Peer, E., Brandimarte, L., Samat, S., & Acquisti, A. (2017). Beyond the Turk: Alternative platforms for crowdsourcing behavioral research. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 153–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.01.006
Peterson, L. R., & Peterson, M. J. (1959). Short-term retention of individual verbal items. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58, 193–198. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0049234
Ricker, T. J., & Cowan, N. (2010). Loss of visual working memory within seconds: The combined use of refreshable and non-refreshable features. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 1355–1368. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020356
Ricker, T. J., & Cowan, N. (2014). Differences between presentation methods in working memory procedures: A matter of working memory consolidation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 417–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034301
Ricker, T. J., Sandry, J., Vergauwe, E., & Cowan, N. (2020). Do familiar memory items decay? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46, 60–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000719
Rose, N. S., Myerson, J., Roediger, H. L., & Hale, S. (2010). Similarities and differences between working memory and long-term memory: Evidence from the levels-of-processing span task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 471–483. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018405
Rouder, J. N., Morey, R. D., Speckman, P. L., & Province, J. M. (2012). Default Bayes factors for ANOVA designs. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56, 356–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2012.08.001
Sebrechts, M. M., Marsh, R. L., & Seamon, J. G. (1989). Secondary memory and very rapid forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 17, 693–700. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03202630
Seiler, K. H., & Engelkamp, J. (2003). The role of item-specific information for the serial position curve in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 954–964. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.5.954
Souza, A. S., & Oberauer, K. (2017). Time to process information in working memory improves episodic memory. Journal of Memory & Language, 96, 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.07.002
Stoet, G. (2010). PsyToolkit: A software package for programming psychological experiments using Linux. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 1096–1104. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.4.1096
Stoet, G. (2017). PsyToolKit: A novel web-based method for running online questionnaires and reaction-time experiments. Teaching of Psychology, 44, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628316677643
Surprenant, A. M., & Neath, I. (2009). The nine lives of short-term memory. In A. Thorn & M. Page (Eds.), Interactions between short-term and long-term memory in the verbal domain (pp. 16–43). Psychology Press.
Tan, L., & Ward, G. (2008). Rehearsal in immediate serial recall. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15, 535–542. https://doi.org/10.3758/pbr.15.3.535
Tulving, E., & Colotla, V. A. (1970). Free recall of trilingual lists. Cognitive Psychology, 1, 86–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(70)90006-X
Uittenhove, K., Jeanneret, S., & Vergauwe, E. (2023). From lab-testing to web-testing in cognitive research: Who you test is more Important than how you test. Journal of Cognition, 19(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.259
Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2007). The nature of individual differences in working memory capacity: Active maintenance in primary memory and controlled search from secondary memory. Psychological Review, 114, 104–132. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.114.1.104
Waugh, N. C., & Norman, D. A. (1965). Primary memory. Psychological Review, 72, 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021797
Author note
This work was conducted as the first author’s undergraduate thesis and was funded by NIH Grant R01-HD021338 to N.C.
Materials and data are available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/8wgmp/?view_only=15130a68afd249a196a1a6e839fbbfa2).
Funding
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,R01-HD021338
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lawrence, C.O., Guitard, D. & Cowan, N. Short-term retention of words as a function of encoding depth. Mem Cogn (2024). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01546-3
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01546-3