What Is Encoding in Memory?

Encoding is the process by which something you perceive, such as a new word on a page, is turned into a memory trace your brain can store. It is the first of three stages of memory, followed by storage and retrieval. What you do in the few seconds after meeting a new word largely determines how much of it can be remembered later.

How encoding works

Psychologists often distinguish types of encoding by what aspect of the information you process:

• Visual (what the word looks like),
• Acoustic (what it sounds like),
• Semantic (what it means and how it relates to other things you know).

Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart's levels-of-processing framework (1972) proposed that deeper, meaning-based processing produces more durable memories than shallow processing of surface features. In a classic follow-up, Craik and Tulving (1975) asked people questions about words: was it in capital letters, did it rhyme with another word, or did it fit in a sentence? On a surprise memory test, words processed for meaning were remembered far better.

Encoding also depends on attention and on working memory: if you are distracted or overloaded, little is encoded at all.

Encoding in vocabulary learning

Batia Laufer and Jan Hulstijn's Involvement Load Hypothesis (2001) applied similar ideas to second-language vocabulary. They proposed that retention depends on three factors in a task:

• Need: do you actually need the word to complete the task?
• Search: do you have to find its meaning (for example, look it up)?
• Evaluation: do you have to compare it with other words or decide whether it fits a context?

Tasks with higher involvement, such as writing a sentence with the word, tend to lead to better retention than tasks with lower involvement, such as reading a text with the word glossed in the margin.

A vocabulary example

Encoding vs consolidation vs retrieval

Retrieval also feeds back into encoding: each time you recall a word, you re-encode it, which is one reason retrieval practice works.

How to encode new words more deeply

1. Pay full attention for a few seconds. Do not just scan the definition.
2. Read it in a real sentence and notice what it typically goes with (collocations).
3. Connect it to something you know: a related word, a root, an experience.
4. Say it aloud to encode the sound as well as the spelling.
5. Produce something: your own example sentence or a short explanation in your words.
6. Add an image or a mnemonic for words that refuse to stick (see dual coding).

A tool can make the first step frictionless. In Wordie, selecting a word shows its definition, part of speech, synonyms and related words right in the page where you found it, so you can process its meaning without leaving the context. For more, see how the brain learns new words.

Common misconceptions

• "Repetition alone encodes words." Repeating a word mechanically is shallow; it helps far less than thinking about its meaning.
• "Good encoding means you'll never forget." Deep encoding slows forgetting but does not stop it. Reviews are still needed.
• "Intent to learn is what matters." In Craik and Tulving's studies, the type of processing mattered more than whether people knew they would be tested.

Sources: Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. Craik, F. I. M., & Tulving, E. (1975). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics.