Transactive memory is a psychological speculation first proposed by Daniel Wegner in 1985 as a response to earlier theories of "group mind" akin to groupthink. A transactive memory system is a mechanism by which teams collectively encode, retailer, and retrieve data. A transactive memory system contains memory saved in each individual, the interactions between memory within the individuals, as well as the processes that update this memory. Transactive memory, then, is the shared store of knowledge. In accordance with Wegner, a transactive memory system consists of the knowledge stored in every individual's memory combined with metamemory containing data regarding the totally different teammate's domains of experience. The transactive memory system works similarly to exterior memory, where other members of the group are the external memory assist. Just as an individual's metamemory allows them to pay attention to what info is on the market for retrieval, so does the transactive memory system provide teammates with info concerning the knowledge they have access to within the group.

Group members study who knowledge specialists are and how one can entry expertise via communicative processes. In this manner, a transactive memory system can present the group members with extra and better information than any particular person could access on their own. This concept proposed that when two people spend a lot of time around each other and work collectively, they create a shared retailer of data between the members. In essence, one member of the couple may store info within their associate and Memory Wave then recall that information by asking their companion about it. This concept was different and distinctive from other descriptions of socially distributed cognition in that it describes a state of affairs where people hold different knowledge in comparison with shared information, and members of the group interact in transactions to assist in recall of the saved data. In a latest overview, Ren and Argote described transactive memory as present of both a structural component (the linkages of individual memory to the collective) and transactive processes that make the transactive memory dynamic.

Wegner first proposed these three processes which happen in teams that lead to the formation and reification of transactive memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval described extra under. The explanation for these findings are that couples know the way greatest to remind one another of the knowledge they've, and that couples have a great conception of the opposite's data and will subsequently avoid memorizing phrases inside their accomplice's domain. Strangers do not have access to this similar shared information which ends up in poorer performance in these sorts of duties. Transactive memory was additional prolonged by Diane Liang and colleagues into the realm of labor teams. In this work, the development of transactive memory was conceived of as a manner to improve group's efficiency when engaging in interdependent tasks. After this extension, transactive memory turned extra prolific in organizational behavior amongst different disciplines. Just like human memory, the development of a transactive memory system involves three stages: encoding, storage and retrieval. These processes are transactive, which means that they are updated as members trade information with each other.

Within the encoding stage, Memory Wave the teammates acquire data on the opposite workforce members' domains of knowledge and categorize it by ascribing each knowledge area to the corresponding group member. Generally, this acquaintance can emerge by means of "who did what" or "who knows what" conversation, or even via direct instruction reminiscent of by telling a teammate to recollect certain info. There might also be dialogue and negotiation of the place and in what kind to store info within the group. The encoding process is very important in the event of transactive memory. Encoding occurs by interplay between teammates: by means of sharing data and looking for information from other crew members, teammates be taught the experience of each team member as a primary essential step towards specialization. These experts then are accountable for continuing to encode new and related information of their domains of knowledge. Within the storage stage, the related info is stored within the possession of the workforce member, or members, with the corresponding expertise