A theory of memory for items and associations

We present a retrieved-context theory of memory for items, associations, and their interaction (CMR-IA). Our theory assumes an evolving representation of temporal context that binds to items and associations, allowing the rememberer to make judgments based on the occurrence of a mnemonic target within a particular context. In addition to the assumptions inherited from prior retrieved-context theories, CMR-IA assumes a conjunctive (Gestalt) representation for paired associates, increased attention to rare items, and variable thresholds for recognition decisions. We apply CMR-IA to key findings concerning recognition of items and associations, including effects of recency, similarity, receiver-operating characteristic curves, word frequency, differential forgettings of items and associations, and contiguity effects for successive probes. We also apply CMR-IA to cued recall phenomena, including serial position effects, distribution of correct responses and errors, contiguity effects, associative symmetry, and similarity effects. Finally, we ask whether CMR-IA can account for the dependencies between successive tests of item and associative memory. We show that combining a Gestalt associative mechanism with retrieved-context theory provides a good account for many empirical phenomena concerning item and associative memory. The analysis of successive memory tests highlights the important role of output encoding in our model.