Abstract: Encoding and retrieval are two important phases of memory. Though transfer-appropriate- processing accounts of memory emphasize the similarity of encoding and retrieval processes, exceptions to this claim are debatable, single dissociations between encoding and retrieval. We evaluate the asymmetry between encoding and retrieval that were produced by studies using behavior or neuroimage methods, and the accounts of a dual-process model and a two-phase neuropsychological model of memory. Finally, we conclude that the relationship between encoding and retrieval may be complicated.

Key words: memory, encoding, retrieval, asymmetry