Tests of a structural theory of the memory trace

Jones (1976) has shown that the memory trace resulting from the viewing of a picture corresponds to a ‘fragment’ of that picture. The present paper shows that the fragmentation hypothesis also correctly represents the recall of memories derived from sentences. The paper is in four sections. First, an experiment is reported which confirms that the earlier results of Jones (1976) cannot themselves be attributed to verbal recoding of the visual stimuli used there. Second, the re‐analysis of four large experiments of Anderson & Bower (1973) investigating the cued recall of sentences shows that sentences (both imaged and non‐imaged) also give rise to fragments in memory. Third, the fragmentation hypothesis is shown to be consistent with the results of several other experiments investigating the multiple cuing of sentences, even though the storage of configural information is not assumed. Fourth, the status of the fragmentation hypothesis as a general theory of memory is discussed in the light of a distinction drawn between structural and compositional representations of memory

Cognitive psychology · Cued recall · Engram · Fragmentation (computing) · Free recall · Linguistics · Recall · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Computer Science · Memory Processes and Influences · Psychology

• A spreading activation theory of memory

  Open Access•John R Anderson•Journal of Verbal Learning and…•1983

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