HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-I, 2005-2006

 

Recognition is Recall: Paraphrasing the Heuristic

 

Dr. Dinesh S. Katre

Article INS-4./May 2006
There is a need to clarify the popular usability heuristic 'recognition rather than recall' proposed by Molich and Neilson (1990) from the perspective of cognitive psychology. Here is the studied response to develop greater conceptual clarity.
 
In my understanding, this heuristic should be paraphrased as it's present form is tending to suggest that 'recognition' is not a memory recall but something else. But in reality 'recognition' is also a type of memory recall. As per the Oxford English Dictionary, to recognize means, to identify as already known or knowing it again. Let me elaborate this further as there are two types of memory recalls (relevant in this context) in human cognition, namely-
 
  • Free Recall
This is purely mental activity, in which you scan through your memory and try to recall the desired information. It does not involve any external sensory stimulus or a cue to hint you. Naturally, it is quite taxing on the user's memory and may not be successful every time.
 
  • Cued Recall
It is a memory recall triggered by an external sensory stimulus or a cue, which is also referred as 'recognition'. We see or hear or touch or smell or taste something and then we have a natural tendency to identify the experience. The process of identification involves scanning through the memory. We recognize the sensory experience when we find the matching memory reference.
 
Example of free recall:
After a robbery, usually the eye witness is asked about how the Robers looked like. It is difficult. This type of memory recall is independent of the sensory stimulus.

Example of recognition:
After the police have captured the suspects, they invite the eye-witness, where he/she is able to recognize the robber. This is a memory recall triggered by sensory stimulus (i.e. by looking at the suspects or the photographs of the suspects)
 
Implicit memory system can help you recognize things without conscious effort and you may not recall some of the associated attributes such as when, where and so on. However, I believe that any memory recall or recognition does not have to be a result of conscious intentional effort.

Also, it can be a result of verbal and non-verbal cues both. For example: I recognize a familiar person without seeing his/her face, but by just looking at the walking style or hearing the voice or even by smelling the body odor. Of course, subsequently the associative memory also comes into play to arrive at the recognition.
 
My main contentions on the said heuristic 'recognition rather than recall' are as under- (I accept that recognition is most preferred.)

The heuristic is too deterministic as it postulates that recognition has nothing do with memory recall. It is an integral part of recognition process. Also it assumes that every memory recall is a free recall which is incorrect. Actually, the desirable differentiating factor between the two options stated in the heuristic is- one lead by sensory stimulus is more preferred than the other, which is independent of it (i.e. free recall).
Basically, 'the cued recall leads to recognition' and therefore the heuristic 'recognition rather than recall' sounds self-contradictory. It indirectly presupposes that recognition is not a memory recall. It also assumes that recall is always 'free'. Therefore, it is better to paraphrase it as under- 
'Recognition rather than free recall'
OR 
'Cued recall rather than free recall'
 
In this we explicitly state that recall by sensory stimulus or cued recall is preferred over free recall. It leaves no room for ambiguity. I hope that this clarification will be helpful to those who teach usability heuristics and the usability practitioners who apply them. I hope that the ardent fans of Jacob Neilson in India and abroad will accept this slight enhancement to the usability heuristic in right spirit.
 
 

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Perspectives
You make some good points. And I think you are using the term recognition in a slightly different manner than I was. I read your original article (finally!). And I do broadly agree with the point you are making.

Now here is another way to challenge that heuristic - does the rise of search engines (where we type in terms based on recall. Google has been called a return to command line interface) and the reduction in popularity of browse (which is much more recognition based) mean that we could actually have an inverse to the "recognition rather than recall".

Are we seeing a rise of "recall rather than recognition"?
 
Dr. Rashmi Sinha, Uzanto, USA
I love all heuristics and academic papers that "create" these heuristics--they are completely devoid of any real life examples or possible areas of implementation.
The authors of these heuristics hide behind the big wall of academics and poor practitioners like us keep eliciting semantics from such academic outbursts.

I suggest that the papers must bring in practitioners' perspective. If they don't, the wider audience would not benefit. Dinesh, could you please explain with a
solid example what you mean to say.

In eCommerce, one of the biggest problems vendors/users face is recall of user-names and passwords. They are loosing millions of dollars due to this. Using "Recognition rather than free recall" heuristics, please explain:

1. What kind of memory aids are required for particular user name for a particular site?

2. What type of cues can be given to users so that they recall passwords easy and secure?

Ripul Kumar. Director, User Research and Usability Consulting
Kern Communications Pvt. Ltd.