Retrieval of responding: a review of data and the information retrieval model

Abstract

Response retrieval phenomena (i.e., context renewal, reinstatement and spontaneous recovery) suggest that despite reduction in responding, the associations established during acquisition are left intact by extinction. This paper presents a review of evidence related to these phenomena, and introduces Bouton’s Information Retrieval Model that proposes that the context may be seen as an occasion setter. Then, some shortcomings of the information retrieval model are discussed, and the attentional theory of context processing is presented, this theory proposes that attention to contextual cues promotes context dependency of information. Finally, we present some considerations that must be incorporated into these models and in the ongoing research in the area.