Cuing my partner’s memory: Role of cue content and cue source

Previous research indicates that couples can experience ‘collaborative facilitation’, overcoming the typical memory inhibition seen in other groups. However, there are a range of potential mechanisms for this effect, and the role of personalised and distinctive cue content in facilitating recall has not been directly tested. We aimed to examine how cues provided by a romantic partner are similar or different to those provided by a stranger. Across two experiments involving a word list recall task, we compared the qualities and effectiveness of self-generated, partner-generated, and stranger-generated cues. Results showed that partner-generated cues were more idiosyncratic and personalized than those from strangers, resembling self-generated cues. In Experiment 1, we found that partner-generated cues were significantly more effective than stranger-generated cues in supporting recall performance. In Experiment 2, the perceived source of the cues influenced their effectiveness, highlighting the interplay of content and context. These findings suggest that the cues that couples provide for each other can enhance memory performance, offering personalised cue content as a potential mechanism for the theorised benefits of transactive memory systems in established groups.