Multiple-route recall

Explanations > Memory > Multiple-route recall

Description | Discussion | So what?

Description

Multiple-route recall assumes that there are separate ways that recall happens.

In the direct route to recall, a cue leads directly to the triggering of a memory without any intermediate processing.

In the indirect route to recall, the cue leads to thought, inference and the generation of possibilities.

Discussion

Multiple-route recall assumes that single-route theories are just too simple. Jones (1982) describes two-route recall.

Direct-route recall has been linked to Encoding specificity principle, whilst indirect-route recall has been linked to Two-process theory.

So what?

If you want the other person to recall something, consider the processing that will likely be required to bring it back to memory.

See also

Encoding specificity principle, Two-process theory

Jones, G.V. (1982). Tests of the dual-mechanism theory of recall. Acta Psychologica, 50,  61-72