or not the findings of other research was accurate. The researchers decided to replicate an experiment with results that supported the idea that survival content is encoded better than other content. The findings of the experiment further suggested that survival content has a higher advantage of being encoded than other content. Retrieval Practice Studies have shown that an effective tool to increase encoding during the process of learning is to create and take practice tests. Using retrieval in order to enhance performance is called the testing effect, as it actively involves creating and recreating the material that one is intending to learn and increases one’s exposure to it. It is also a useful tool in connecting new information to information already stored in memory, as there is a close association between encoding and retrieval. Thus, creating practice tests allows the individual to process the information at a deeper level than simply reading over the material again or using a pre-made test. The benefits of using retrieval practice have been demonstrated in a study done where college students were asked to read a passage for seven minutes and were then given a two-minute break, during which they completed math problems. One group of participants was given seven minutes to write down as much of the passage as they could remember while the other group was given another seven minutes to reread the material. Later all participants were given a recall test at various increments (five minutes, 2 days, and one week) after the initial learning had taken place. The results of these tests showed that those who had been assigned to the group that had been given a recall test during their first day of the experiment were more likely to retain more information than those that had simply reread the text. This demonstrates that retrieval practice is a useful tool in encoding information into long term memory. Computational Models of Memory Encoding Computational models of memory encoding have been developed in order to better understand and simulate the mostly expected, yet sometimes wildly unpredictable, behaviors of human memory. Different models have been developed for different memory tasks, which include item recognition, cued recall, free recall, and sequence memory, in an attempt to accurately explain experimentally observed behaviors. Item recognition In item recognition, one is asked whether or not a given probe item has been seen before. It is important to