Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Retrieval01:12

Retrieval

Retrieval is the process of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness. This ability is essential for daily tasks like brushing hair and teeth, driving to work, and performing job duties. Retrieval occurs in three ways: recall, recognition, and relearning.
Recall involves accessing information without cues, such as during an essay test, where individuals must retrieve facts and concepts from memory unaided. Another example is remembering the name of a colleague...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory01:26

Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

Memory is one of the most vital higher mental functions of the brain. Memory is closely related to learning because it enables us to retain information and experiences from our past to use them in our present life. It also helps us to remember facts, events, and skills, such as riding a bike or swimming. There are two types of memory — declarative memory, which involves memorizing facts or events, and procedural memory, which enables us to remember how to do something like writing or playing an...
Implicit Memories01:24

Implicit Memories

Implicit memories, also known as non-declarative memories, are long-term memories that function outside of conscious awareness. These memories influence behavior and skills without explicit knowledge. This type of memory is evident in tasks like playing tennis, snowboarding, and texting. Implicit memory has three subsystems: procedural memory, conditioning, and priming. This type of memory is essential in various activities, from everyday tasks to specialized skills.
One key aspect of implicit...
Storage01:23

Storage

A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze each...
Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory01:22

Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory

Improving short-term memory can be achieved through techniques like chunking and rehearsal. Chunking involves organizing information into larger, more manageable units. This technique is particularly useful for information that exceeds the typical memory span of between five and nine items. For instance, logging into an online account with a password like "ta89vq0179gz" involves grouping letters and numbers into three chunks—ta89, vq01, and 79gz. It makes large amounts of information more...
Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Reconstruction of temporal and spatial order information.

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2026
Same author

Transfer in Learning New Vocabulary: Memorization and Abstraction.

Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)·2025
Same author

Astronaut Candidate, Candidate-Like, and Undergraduate Subjects Compared on Retention and Transfer.

Aerospace medicine and human performance·2024
Same author

The effects of testing the relationships among relational concepts.

Cognitive research: principles and implications·2022
Same author

Visual selection and response selection without effector selection in tasks with circular arrays.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2020
Same author

The Bat-and-Ball Problem: Stronger evidence in support of a conscious error process.

Decision (Washington, D.C.)·2019

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms
07:31

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms

Published on: February 8, 2019

Contextual memory and skill transfer in category search.

James A Kole1, Alice F Healy, Deanna M Fierman

  • 1University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0345, USA. james.kole@colorado.edu

Memory & Cognition
|December 8, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Memory transfer in category search tasks is improved when training and testing contexts overlap. Maintaining category organization or domain, and using similar or identical items, enhances performance.

More Related Videos

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
05:15

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms
07:31

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms

Published on: February 8, 2019

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
05:15

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Information Retrieval

Background:

  • Understanding how users transfer knowledge between different contexts is crucial for designing effective search interfaces.
  • Category search tasks involve navigating hierarchical menus, where organization and content can significantly impact user experience.
  • Previous research has explored memory and search behavior, but the dynamic interplay of context and transfer in category search requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the factors influencing transfer and contextual memory in category search tasks.
  • To determine how changes in domain, category organization, and exemplar sets affect search performance.
  • To identify the conditions under which users can effectively transfer learned information across different search scenarios.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted using a two-phase (training and test) category search task.
  • Participants searched through category and exemplar menus for targets.
  • Variables manipulated included domain (grocery vs. department store), category organization (alphabetical vs. semantic), and exemplar set overlap (same, partial, or complete replacement).

Main Results:

  • Transfer occurred when the category organization or domain was maintained between training and test phases.
  • Positive transfer was also observed when category or exemplar sets showed partial or complete overlap.
  • Conversely, changes in domain or organization, and complete replacement of exemplars, hindered transfer.

Conclusions:

  • Transfer in category search is significantly facilitated by overlap in training and testing contexts.
  • Maintaining consistent domain and organizational structures aids memory retrieval and search efficiency.
  • Designing search interfaces that minimize contextual shifts and maximize content familiarity can improve user performance and reduce cognitive load.