How are exemplar representations transformed by encoding, retrieval, and explicit knowledge? A commentary on Ambridge (2020)

The radical exemplar model resonates with work on perceptual classification and categorization highlighting the role of exemplars in memory representations. Further development of the model requires acknowledgment of both the fleeting and fragile nature of perceptual representations and the gist-based, good-enough quality of long-term memory representations. Retrieval operations potentially serve as a mechanism for abstraction as representations of exemplars are distorted through reconstructive processes. As a framework applicable to both first and second language acquisition, the model needs to account for how explicit knowledge arises and its role in filtering input via selective attention.