1. the process of interpreting or embellishing information to be remembered or of relating it to other material already known and in memory. The levels-of-processing model of memory holds that the level of elaboration applied to information as it is processed affects both the length of time that it can be retained in memory and the ease with which it can be retrieved. See activation–elaboration. See also chunking; deep processing; recoding.

2. the process of scrutinizing and thinking about the central merits of attitude-relevant information. This process includes generating inferences about the information, assessing its validity, and considering the implications of evaluative responses to the information. See also central route to persuasion; elaboration-likelihood model; peripheral route to persuasion. —elaborate vb.