The Psychology Book (59 page)

an extended version of his filter

the confines of the laboratory. A key

from the evidence available at the

theory. Like its predecessor, this

figure in the founding of cognitive

time, and so susceptible to change

book became a classic textbook of

psychology, his research into

in the light of new evidence; this is

cognitive psychology.

attention laid the groundwork for a

how science progresses.

new field of enquiry that continues

The work of the APU centered

The cognitive approach

to yield rich results today. ■

around Broadbent’s research into

Broadbent’s books did not reach

attention, but this allowed for a

the general public, but were widely

constantly widening range of

read by scientists from other

applications. Broadbent worked

disciplines. His comparison of the

tirelessly to ensure that his work

workings of the human brain with

was practically useful, examining

electronic machines became more

the effects of noise, heat, and stress

and more relevant as interest in

His psychology was intended

on attention in work environments,

computing increased. His model

for society and its problems,

and he constantly reviewed his

of the various stages of human

not merely for the dwellers

ideas as he worked. In the process,

information processing—acquisition,

in ivory towers.

he gained government support for

storage, retrieval, and use—echoed

Fergus Craik and

his ideas, and the respect of many

the work on artificial intelligence

Alan Baddely

industries whose practices were

at that time.

improved by his work. This led to

Broadbent was instrumental in

yet more research into areas such

setting up a Joint Council Initiative

as differences of attention between

on Cognitive Science and Human-

individuals, and lapses of attention

Computer Interaction, which helped

TIME’S ARROW

IS BENT

I

E N

NDE T

L TU O A L

LVING (1927– ) OOP

188 ENDEL TULVING

IN CONTEXT

Episodic memory
is made up of events and

APPROACH

experiences that are stored in long-term memory.

Memory studies

BEFORE

1878
Hermann Ebbinghaus

conducts the first scientific

study of human memory.

Memories of our

It is distinct from
semantic

1927
Bluma Zeigarnik

experiences are
associated

memory
, which is our

with particular times and

describes how interrupted

long-term memory store for

places
and can be triggered

tasks are better remembered

facts and knowledge.

by these cues.

than uninterrupted ones.

1960s
Jerome Bruner stresses

the importance of organization

and categorization in the

learning process.

Associated
sensory cues
such as a particular

AFTER

song or scent can also help us recall seemingly

1979
Elizabeth Loftus looks at

complete memories of past events.

distortions of memory in her

book
Eyewitness Testimony.

1981
Gordon H. Bower makes

the link between events and

Only humans can
“travel back in time”
to

emotions in memory.

reflect on their experiences in this way…

2001
Daniel Schacter

publishes
The Seven Sins of

Memory
:
How the Mind

Forgets and Remembers.

…as if time’s arrow is bent into a loop.

M
emory was one of the studies, notably by Bluma Zeigarnik area of study. Forced to abandon first fields of study for

and Frederic Bartlett in the 1920s

the study of visual perception due

psychologists in the

and 30s, memory was largely ignored

to a lack of facilities, Tulving turned

19th century, as it was closely

as a topic until the “cognitive

his attention to memory. The

connected with the concept of

revolution” took place following

funding deficit also shaped his

consciousness, which had formed

World War II. Cognitive psychologists

approach to the subject, designing

the bridge between philosophy and

began to explore the idea of the

experiments that used no more

psychology. Hermann Ebbinghaus

brain as an information processor,

than a pen, some paper, and a

in particular devoted much of his

and this provided a model for the

supply of index cards.

research to the scientific study of

storage of memory: it was seen as

memory and learning, but the next

a process, whereby some items

The free-recall method

generation of psychologists turned

passed from short-term or working

Learning about the subject as he

their attention to a behaviorist

memory into long-term memory.

went along, Tulving worked in a

study of learning, and “conditioning”

By the time Endel Tulving

rather unorthodox way, which

replaced memory as the focus of

finished his doctorate in 1957,

occasionally earned him criticism

research. Apart from a few isolated

memory was once more a central

from his peers, and was to make

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 189

See also:
Hermann Ebbinghaus 48–49 ■ Bluma Zeigarnik 162 ■ George Armitage Miller 168–73 ■ Gordon H. Bower 194–95 ■ Elizabeth Loftus 202–07 ■ Daniel Schacter 208–09 ■ Roger Brown 237 ■ Frederic Bartlett 335

publishing his results difficult. His

the better they organize the

In the course of his research,

maverick instincts did, however,

information, the better they are

Tulving was struck by the fact

lead to some truly innovative

able to remember it. His subjects

that there seemed to be different

research. One hurriedly designed,

were also able to recall a word

kinds of memory. The distinction

ad hoc
demonstration to a class of

when given a cue in the form of

between long-term memory and

students in the early 1960s was to

the category (such as “animals”)

short-term memory had already

provide him with the model for

in which they had mentally filed

been established, but Tulving felt

many later experiments. He read

that word. Tulving concluded that

there was more than one kind of

out a random list of 20 everyday

although all the words memorized

long-term memory. He saw a

words to the students, and then

from the list were actually available

difference between memories

asked them to write down as many

for remembering, the ones that

that are knowledge-based (facts

as they could recall, in any order.

were organized by subject were

and data), and those that are

As he expected, most of them

more readily accessible to memory,

experience-based (events and

managed to remember around

especially when the appropriate

conversations). He proposed a

half of the list. He then asked them

cue was given.

division of long-term memory into

about the words that they had not

two distinct types: semantic

remembered, giving hints such as

Memory types

memory, the store of facts; and

“Wasn’t there a color on the list?,”

Where previous psychologists

episodic memory, the repository

after which the student could often

had concentrated on the process

of our personal history and events.

provide the correct answer.

of storing information, and the

Tulving’s experiments had

Tulving developed a series of

failings of that process, Tulving

demonstrated that organization of

experiments on this “free recall”

made a distinction between two

semantic information, such as lists

method, during which he noticed

different processes—storage and

of words, helps efficient recollection,

that people tend to group words

retrieval of information—and

and the same appeared to be true

together into meaningful categories;

showed how the two were linked.

of episodic memory. But where ❯❯

ANIMALS

FOOD

TRANSPORTATION

TOOLS

In Tulving’s free recall experiments,
people were asked

to remember as many words as possible from a random list.

“Forgotten” words were often recalled using category cues.

They were stored in memory but temporarily inaccessible.