Strategic Control of Retrieval Strategies

The chapter describes the type of architectural framework that accounts for basic memory phenomena and highlights the importance of assuming a strategy-selection component prior to careful memory search.

Abstract

This chapter highlights the importance of considering the strategic components of memory retrieval when developing a model of memory and question answering. The chapter describes the type of architectural framework that accounts for basic memory phenomena and highlights the importance of assuming a strategy-selection component prior to careful memory search. These arguments are both theoretically and empirically based. The chapter describes the variables that affect strategy selection, presents the possible mechanisms involved in selection, and reviews the generality of these mechanisms for other cognitive tasks. The variables extrinsic to a memory probe that influence strategy selection include prior history of success with a strategy. Other situational variables such as explicit advice about successful strategies, task instructions, and knowledge of the age of the memories tested can also influence this bias in strategy selection. Activation determines the ease of access of information; the more active the information, the easier it is to access.