Abstract：
The current study assesses whether varying the encoding context of a repeated event is a potential strategy to improve recognition memory across retrieval contexts. Context variability, also known as encoding variability, has historically been investigated primarily using recall and cued recall tasks, with the consensus being that encoding variability is not necessarily beneficial for episodic retrieval. However, recent studies (see text) suggest that test type may determine the strategy\'s effectiveness. Aligned with these recent findings, we found consistent benefits to simple item recognition when a word was studied in more variable contexts compared to less variable contexts across four experiments. This main effect of context variability occurred when crossed with a manipulation of repetition spacing and when crossed with a manipulation of encoding-retrieval context match. Variation in encoding contexts beyond the future retrieval context led to better item recognition than repeated study exposures within the future retrieval context. We argue that the current study and other recent findings indicate a need to re-evaluate the historical consensus on encoding variability as a beneficial strategy for learning.
摘要：
当前的研究评估了改变重复事件的编码上下文是否是改善跨检索上下文的识别记忆的潜在策略。上下文可变性，也称为编码可变性，历史上主要使用召回和提示召回任务进行调查，共识是编码变异性不一定有利于情节检索。然而,最近的研究（见正文）表明，测试类型可以决定策略的有效性。与这些最近的发现一致，我们发现,在4个实验中,与变量较少的上下文相比,在变量较多的上下文中研究单词时,简单项目识别具有一致的益处.上下文可变性的这种主要影响发生在与重复间隔的操作交叉以及与编码检索上下文匹配的操作交叉时。与未来检索上下文中的重复研究曝光相比，未来检索上下文之外的编码上下文的变化导致更好的项目识别。我们认为，当前的研究和其他最新发现表明，有必要重新评估关于编码变异性的历史共识，将其作为一种有益的学习策略。
