Task Appropriateness of Mnemonic Techniques

Abstract

The present article reviewed research in which two or more mnemonic techniques in the paradigms of either free recall, paired-associate, or serial learning have been compared. The review showed that the most effective mnemonic differed across the three paradigms: imagery mediation for paired-associate learning, the story mnemonic for free recall learning, and the method of loci for serial learning. Each mnemonic varies in its suitability for different paradigms, and each paradigm is facilitated more by the use of certain mnemonics than by others. These conclusions support the view that memory processing differs across memory tasks. They also indicate that differences in memory performance across tasks are due not only to differences in basic processes (such as recognition and perception) elicited by tasks but also to the task appropriateness of control processes applied to a task.