Ecological validity and the real-life/laboratory controversy in memory research: A critical (and historical) review

This paper examines the nature and the origins of almost twenty years of controversy between ecological (i.e., real-life) and traditional (i.e., laboratory) approaches to memory research and critically analyses the concept of ecological validity a core issue in this controversy which has received surprisingly little attention. The analysis of ecological validity suggests that it is comprised of two closely related aspects: representativeness and generalizability. While both aspects contribute to the ecological validity of a particular study, generalizability may play a more important role. Therefore, it is argued that the differences between the concepts of ecological validity and external validity are very small, and the appropriateness of re-introducing the former into the literature in the 1970s is questioned. Finally, it is argued that although the controversy between traditional and ecological approaches in memory psychology was practically over by the end of 1980s, the debates persistently recurred throughout the 1990s. The reasons for this paradoxical situation are discussed. Ecological validity 3