People often report an annoying memory failure when they walk from one end of the house to the other for something and then forget what they wanted when they reach their destination. As soon as they return to the first room, they are reminded of what they wanted in the first place. This common experience best illustrates the principle of
A) the self-reference effect.
B) maintenance rehearsal.
C) levels of processing theory.
D) encoding specificity.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This experience illustrates the principle of encoding specificity, where memory retrieval is best when the cues present at encoding are also present at retrieval. Walking to a different room can change the environmental cues and thus make it harder to retrieve the memory of the intended item. However, returning to the original room brings back those environmental cues and makes it easier to remember.

People Often Report an Annoying Memory Failure When They Walk