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'''The encoding specificity principle''', a theory in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_psychology cognitive psychology], is used to explain variability in memory retention; it is the concept that memory is improved when information available at encoding is also available at retrieval. According to Melton3, the elaborate process of memory may be broken down into three stages: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encoding_(memory) encoding], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_(memory) storage], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_(memory) retrieval]. Encoding refers to the process in which information is studied and taken in. A deep semantic processing of information leads to enhanced encoding that is most effective for long-term storage.1 Storage involves the retention of information over time and the formation of a memory representation, also known as a memory trace. However, memory critically depends upon retrieval, which refers to one’s ability to extract information from memory once it has been successfully encoded and stored.
The success of retrieval depends heavily upon what types of retrieval cues are present. Donald M. Thomson and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Tulving Endel Tulving] first proposed the idea that retrieval will be most successful if information available at encoding is also present at retrieval, regardless of how strongly the cues are related to the to-be-remembered words. They theorized that “the memory trace of an event and hence the properties of effective retrieval cue are determined by the specific encoding operations performed by the system on the input stimuli.”2 This hypothesis for understanding how contextual information affects the retrieval of an episodic memory has been proven in a plethora of studies and is now known as the encoding specificity principle.
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