Reenacting the route to interpretation: Enhanced perceptual identification without prior perception

Memory for processing a stimulus event may be expressed indirectly through more fluent processing of that stimulus on a later occasion. In 11 experiments, enhanced identification of words presented under visual masking was measured following events that involved reading target words or generating them from semantic cues. Amount of enhancement was related not to whether a word was actually seen on its first presentation, but to the degree to which it was integrated with its encoding context—integration led to less enhancement. It is proposed that 2 sets of operations are carried out during encoding. Interpretive encoding operations construct a context-sensitive interpretation of the stimulus and are optionally followed by elaborative encoding operations. Enhanced word identification due to memory for a prior episode is determined by the fluent reenactment of interpretive encoding operations applied during that episode. In their everyday use of the word, people usually think of remembering as a single act. This is evident in the frequent analogy to locating a book on a library shelf: The routine is done essentially the same way every time. But cognitiv