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Cognitive effort and memory.

1979; American Psychological Association; Volume: 5; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1037/0278-7393.5.6.607

2327-9745

Sherman W. Tyler, Paula T. Hertel, Marvin C. McCallum, Henry C. Ellis,

Cognitive Functions and Memory

We propose that the concept of cognitive effort in memory is both useful and important. Cognitive effort is defined as the engaged proportion of limitedcapacity central processing. It Was hypothesized that this variable might have important memorial consequences and might also be a potential confounding factor in levels-of-pro cessing paradigms. The first experiment tested this possibility using two types of incidental-le arning tasks factorially combined with two degrees of effort. It was found that high effort led to better recall than low effort, but that level-of-processing effects were nonsignificant. A second experiment clearly demonstrated the feasibility of using performance on a secondary task as an independent criterion for measuring effort, and two further experiments ruled out alternative accounts of effort effects. A reliable levels-of-processing effect was obtained in the fourth experiment in which the incidental-learning tasks were blocked. Implications and possible future applications of the cognitive effort concept are discussed.