4: Retrieval Process

Question 1

define: retrieval

Answer 1

a progression from one or more retrieval cues to a target memory trace from associative connections

Question 2

define: activation level

Answer 2

The internal state of a memory reflecting its levels of excitement, determines the accessibility of the item

Question 3

define: spreading activation

Answer 3

The automatic transition of ‘energy’ from one memory to related items via association. Proportional to strength of connection

Question 4

define: pattern completion

Answer 4

the process by which spreading activation from a set of cues leading to the reinstatement of energy. Takes place in the hippocampus

Question 5

What are the 7 factors determining retrieval success?

Answer 5

attention to cues
relevance of cues
cure-target strength
number of cues
target strength
retrieval strategy
retrieval mode

Question 6

what are the 3 encoding specifity principles?

Answer 6

Cues are most useful if:
Present at encoding
Encoded with the target
Similar to the original cue available at encoding

Question 7

What part of the brain is impaired in amnesiacs and used for explicit memory tests.

Answer 7

Hippocampus

Question 8

what do implicit/indirect memory tasks test?

Answer 8

Measure the unconscious influence of experience without asking the subject to recall the past

Question 9

give an example of a stem completion task

Answer 9

fill in the missing letters with a word that fits AP___

Question 10

give an example of a fragment completion memory test

Answer 10

fill in the letter to make a word: A_P_E

Question 11

give an example of a conceptual fluency task

Answer 11

name as many birds as you can

Question 12

what are the 3 types of implicit memory task

Answer 12

stem completion
fragment completion
conceptual fluency

Question 13

what are the 4 types of cue

Answer 13

spatio-temporal/ environmental
mood
physiological
cognitive

Question 14

what is a spatiotemporal cue?

Answer 14

location and time cues during an event

Question 15

what is a mood cue?

Answer 15

emotional state similar to during the memory

Question 16

what is a physiological cue?

Answer 16

physical or pharmacological state similar to the event (eg tired, drunk)

Question 17

what is a cognitive cue

Answer 17

collection of concepts one has thought about the event

Question 18

What pharmacological states have been found to improve recall if present at retrieval and encoding

Answer 18

Drunk, Stoned, Caffeinated, Exercising or at rest
- this state dependency disappears under recognition tests

Question 19

define: mood dependant memory

Answer 19

sorting of memory when mood at retrieval is the same as encoding

Question 20

define: mood congruent memory

Answer 20

when you can match an emotion to a specific memory

Question 21

How do cognitive feature/tasks influence memory?

Answer 21

Retrieval is better if the same cognitive features/ tasks are involved. Memory facilitated when cognitive context at encoding matches retrieval

Question 22

How does language at encoding effect recall?

Answer 22

Memories are easier to access when retrieval takes place in the same language mode as they were encoded.

Question 23

what does does “memory is reconstructive” mean?

Answer 23

Retrieved memories are not entirely intact. “Figure out” some aspects of the recalled experience. Reconstructive memory: inferential aspect of memory.

Question 24

What is signal detection theory?

Answer 24

Looking at memory and false memories by seeing if people correctly identify stimuli they’ve seen before and reject unfamiliar stimuli

Question 25

How is signal detection theory useful?

Answer 25

It allows us to quantify how familiar memories and stimuli are.

Question 26

define: response criterion

Answer 26

Items that surpass a familiarity score from signal detection theory are judged old. It can be more liberal or strict. Works as a cut off point for familiar vs unfamiliar stimuli.

Question 27

How do dual process theory and signal detection theory clash?

Answer 27

SDT cannot account for all recognition memory
phenomena.
§ Word frequency effect: Low frequency words are better recognised (although high frequency words are better recalled!).
§ SDT incorrectly predicts low-frequency words should be less familiar

Question 28

What two types of memory/processes is recognition based on?

Answer 28

familiarity & recollection

Question 29

what is familiarity in retrieval?

Answer 29

A sense of memory without being able to remember contextual information

Question 30

what characterises familiarity in retrieval?

Answer 30

Described by signal detection
Faster and more automatic

Question 31

what is recollection in retrieval?

Answer 31

Retrieving contextual details about a stimulus - like cued recall

Question 32

what characterises recollection in retrieval?

Answer 32

slower and more attention demanding