Lecture 3: The Retrieval Process Flashcards
What is retrieval?
The ability to retrieve information
What is Tip-of-the-Tongue state?
A feeling that one knows a response yet is unable to produce it.
What is target memory trace?
The particular memory we are searching for
What are retrieval cues?
Bits of information about the target memory that guide the search
What are associations?
Bonds that link together items in memory [vary in strength]
What is activation level?
The internal state of a memory, reflecting its level of excitement. [determines accessibility of the item]. It increases when something relating to the memory is encountered.
What is spreading activation?
The automatic transmission of ‘energy’ from one memory to related items via associations. It is proportional to the strength of connections.
What is pattern completion?
The process by which spreading activation from a set of cues leads to the reinstatement of a memory.
There are 7 factors determining retrieval success, what are they?
Attention to cues, relevance of cues, cue-target associative strength, number of cues, strength of target memory, retrieval strategy, retrieval mode
How does attention to cues determine retrieval success?
Reduced attention to a cue impairs its ability to guide retrieval
How does relevance of cues determine retrieval success?
Retrieval cues are most effective when they are strongly related to the target
How does cue-target associative strength determine retrieval success?
Retrieval success depends on the strength of cue-target association
How does the number of cues determine retrieval success?
Access to additional, relevant cues facilitates retrieval (such as elaborative encoding)
How does the strength of a target memory determine retrieval success?
Weakly encoded targets are more difficult to retrieve
How does the retrieval strategy determine retrieval success?
Retrieval success is increased by:
- The organisation of materials at encoding
- Adopting efficient strategies of memory search
