Proposed by Craik and Lockhart (1972), the levels of processing hypothesis states that the deeper an individual thinks about something, the better they will remember it.

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University of Chicago

Elaborative rehearsal is the act of linking new information that one is trying to learn to pre-existing information that is already known.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

An example of elaborative rehearsal involves remembering a new phone number by connecting it to information already in memory. For instance, to remember an area code like 203, one could associate it with the knowledge that a relative lives in Connecticut, which uses that same area code. This link makes the new number more meaningful and easier to retrieve later.

Example of Elaborative Rehearsal: Remembering a Phone Number

Levels of Processing Hypothesis

A student is studying for a biology exam and needs to remember the function of the mitochondria. Which of the following strategies best exemplifies a memory technique where new information is made more memorable by linking it to pre-existing knowledge?

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