COGNITIVE EFFORT AND MEMORY

Suggests that the concept of cognitive effort in memory is both useful and important. Cognitive effort is defined as the engaged proportion of limited-capacity central processing. Using 80 undergraduates in 4 experiments, it was hypothesized that this variable might have important memorial consequences and be a potential confounding factor in levels-of-processing paradigms. Exp I tested this possibility using 2 types of incidental-learning tasks factorially combined with 2 degrees of effort. High effort led to better recall than low effort, but level-of-processing effects were nonsignificant. Exp II demonstrated the feasibility of using performance on a secondary task as an independent criterion for measuring effort, and Exps III-IV ruled out alternative accounts of effort effects. A reliable levels-of-processing effect was obtained in Exp IV, in which the incidental-learning tasks were blocked. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.