Chapter 8 - Retrieval Flashcards
Tip-of-the-tongue
An extreme form of pause, where the word takes a noticeable time to come out - although the speaker has a distinct feeling that he/she knows exactly what he/she wants to say.
Retrieval
The process of recovering a target memory based on one or more cues, subsequently bringing that target into awareness.
Target memory
The particular memory (fact, idea, experience) we are seeking during retrieval.
Retrieval cues
Snippets of information that allows you to access a memory.
Associations/links
Structural linkages between traces in memory that vary in strength.
Content addressable memory
Any aspect of the content of a memory can serve as a reminder that could access the experience.
Activation level
The variable internal state of a memory trace that contributes to its accessibility at a given point. High activation → Highly accessible.
Cue-specification
The careful specification of what we are trying to remember
Cue-maintenance
Maintenance of a cue in working memory
Interference resolution process
Help to overcome interference from competing memories brought to mind instead of the target.
Post-retrieval monitoring
Decision processes that evaluate whether what we have retrieved is what we are seeking.
Retrieval mode
The cognitive set, or frame of mind, that orients a person towards the act of retrieval, ensuring that stimuli are interpreted as retrieval.
Encoding specificity principle
The more similar the cues available at retrieval are to the conditions present at encoding, the more effective the cues will be.
Context cues
Retrieval cues that specify aspects of the conditions under which a desired target was encoded, including (for example) the location and time of the event.
Direct/explicit memory tests
Any of a variety of memory assessments that overtly prompt participants to retrieve past events.
Cryptomnesia
When a person believes they are creating something new, such as a piece of artwork, but is recalling a similar work they have encountered.
Repetition priming
Enhanced processing of a stimulus arising from recent encounters with that stimulus, a form of implicit memory.
Repetition suppression
Stimulus repetitions are typically associated with reduced neural activity in the brain region that responds to the stimulus.
Context-dependent memory
The finding that memory benefits when the spatio-temporal, mood, physiological, or cognitive context at retrieval matches that present at encoding.
Mood-congruent memory
Bias in the recall of memories such that negative mood makes negative memories more readily available than positive, and vice versa. Unlike mood dependency, it does not affect the recall of neutral memories.
Mood-dependent memory
A form of context dependent effect whereby what is learnt in a given mood, whether positive, negative or neutral, is best recalled in that mood.
Reconstructive memory
An active and inferential process of retrieval whereby gaps in memory are filled-in based on prior experience, logic, and goals.
Recognition memory
A person’s ability to correctly decide whether he/she has encountered a stimulus previously in a particular context.
Distractors/lures/foils
Non-studied items that are part of recognition tests, forcing the rememberer to show their skill at making good discriminations.
