Transactive Memory

Definition

An important function of relationships is information sharing. People often look to their interpersonal and work relationships for needed information: the forgotten name of a common acquaintance, an opinion on possible investment strategies, or help with an unfamiliar task such as setting up a wireless network. People in relationships often share the burden for learning and remembering information by dividing responsibility for different knowledge areas; for example, in a work team, one member may be responsible for all information related to Client X while another member may be responsible for all information related to Client Y. When one person needs information in another's area, they can simply ask the person responsible rather than taking the time and energy to learn the information themselves. The knowledge sharing system that often develops in relationships and in groups where people assume responsibility for different knowledge areas and rely on one another for information is called transactive memory.

Transactive memory refers to the idea that people in continuing relationships often develop a specialized division of labor; that is, specific roles with respect to the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information from different knowledge domains. Each member of the relationship becomes a “specialist” in some areas but not others, and members rely on one another for information. For example, among life partners, one partner might be responsible for knowing the couples' social calendar and car maintenance schedule, while the other might be responsible for knowing when the bills need to be paid and what is in the refrigerator. Such specialization reduces the memory load for each individual, yet each individual has access to a larger pool of information collectively. For transactive memory to function effectively, individuals must also have a shared conceptualization of “who knows what” in the group.

Transactive memory is more than knowing who to ask for information in different knowledge areas. It also involves retrieval and communication processes: knowing how to ask for information from others in the system, knowing how to communicate information effectively to those who need it, and knowing how to use retrieved information in collective decisions. What makes transactive memory “transactive” are the “transactions” (i.e., communications) among individuals to encode, store, and retrieve information from their individual memory systems. Transactive memory theory and research borrows heavily from what is known about the memory processes of individuals and applies it to groups.

Evidence of transactive memory systems has been demonstrated in a variety of relationships and groups, including married couples, dating couples, families, friends, coworkers, and project teams in both organizational and laboratory settings.

Transactive Memory Development

One necessary condition for transactive memory development is cognitive interdependence: Individuals must perceive that their outcomes are dependent on the knowledge of others and that those others' outcomes [Page 996]are dependent on their knowledge. Cognitive interdependence often develops in close interpersonal relationships, in which people share responsibilities, engage in conversations about many different topics, and make joint decisions. It can also arise as a result of a reward system or the structure of a group task.

Transactive memory develops as individuals learn about one another's expertise and begin to delegate and assume responsibility for different knowledge areas. The delegation process by which members are associated with knowledge areas is often implicit and informal, emerging through interaction. Individuals can become linked to knowledge-based relative expertise (the best cook is likely to become the person in charge of knowing what is in the refrigerator), negotiated agreements (one person agrees to keep track of car maintenance if the other will keep track of when bills are due), or through circumstance (the person who answered the phone when Client X called the first time becomes the “Client X” expert). In newly formed groups, individuals are likely to rely on stereotypes based on personal characteristics (such as age, gender, ethnicity, social class, and organizational role) to infer what others know. In some cases, these initial assumptions can become self-fulfilling prophecies: Individuals are assigned knowledge areas that are consistent with social stereotypes, even though they may not fit with their actual expertise, and eventually become experts as a result of those assignments. For example, a male group member might be assigned to set up a wireless network because the group assumes that he knows more about technology than his female group members when in fact he does not. Through the slow and cumbersome learning process of setting it up, he ultimately becomes an expert on wireless networks.

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