Role of Distinctive Processing during Retrieval

Encoding tasks that engage both distinctive and organizational processing produce superior recall relative to tasks that engage only one type of processing (e.g., Hunt & Einstein, 1981). In 1993, Hunt and McDaniel proposed that organizational processing entails the relationships that specify the encoding episode, while distinctive processing allows the discrimination of particular items that share those relationships. The experiments presented here replicate previous findings from cued recall tests supporting the proposed roles for distinctive and organizational processing. Unlike previous research that generally has been limited to the use of encoding manipulations to investigate the benefits of these processes, the present experiments contrasted performance on tests of cued recall and category production. The results showed that the usefulness of distinctive processing is limited to testing situations that require production of specific items. In contrast, organization is shown to be beneficial for both cued recall and category production. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that organization and distinctiveness serve different functions in recall and support the use of Tenpenny and Shoben's 1992 component process analysis in the investigation of retrieval.