Effect of incentive on storage and retrieval processes.

A continuous paired-associate task was used to examine, the effect of monetary incentive on response probability when incentive was presented at the time a pair was studied, at the time it was tested, at both times, or at neither time. All paired-associate items were assigned either a high or a low value. The S was either cued or not cued with this value at the time he studied the item and again when he was tested. After each test trial, feedback was presented that indicated whether or not the response had been correct and what the value of the item was. The results indicated that presenting the value of an item at the time the item was studied greatly affected the probability of a correct response at test; a study cue of high value led to better performance than a study cue of low value. A similar although smaller effect took place when the value of the item was presented at the time the item was tested; 5s responded more accurately when told that the item on which they were being tested was a high-value as opposed to a low-value item. These data were considered in terms of the memory model of Atkinson and Shiffrin which postulates differential control processes at the time of initial storage and subsequent retrieval. The task of S in a typical verbal learning experiment may be viewed as the storage of information at the time an item is studied, and retrieval of the information at the time the item is tested. This distinction between storage and retrieval has become important in recent theoretical work that considers the structure and organization of human mem-ory in terms of information-processing no-tions. One such theory has been proposed (Atkinson Shiffrin, 1968; Shiffrin Atkinson, 1969) and successfully applied to many aspects of human learning, including the concepts of reinforcement and reward (Atkinson Wickens, 1970). This theory makes a distinction between a short-term (or temporary) store and a long-term (or permanent) store. The Ss task is viewed as the transfer of information from an initial sensory register through short-term store, to permanent memory, and later the retrieval