LECTURE 4 - Memory Retrieval

Question 1

retrieval

Answer 1

• ability to retrieve information is critical
• memory failures lay in retrieval failure - the information is there but we can’t get it out
• tip-of-the-tongue state

Question 2

tip-of-the-tongue state

Answer 2

a feeling that one knows a response yet unable to produce it

Question 3

tip-of-the-tongue: sign

Answer 3

‘tip-of-the-finger’ has been reported in sign language users

Question 4

retrieval process

Answer 4

a progression from one or more retrieval cues to target memory trace through associative connections
- aim is to make target available

Question 5

target memory trace

Answer 5

the particular memory we are searching for

Question 6

retrieval cues

Answer 6

bits of information about the target memory that guide the search

Question 7

associations

Answer 7

bonds that link together items in memory (e.g. cue - target)

can vary in strength

Question 8

activation level in memories

Answer 8

• internal state of (trace) memory, reflecting its level of excitement
• determines accessibility of item
• increases when something related to the memory is encountered, persists for some time

Question 9

spreading activation in memories

Answer 9

• automatic transmission of ‘energy’ from one memory to related items via associations
• proportional to the strength of connections

Question 10

reinstatement

Answer 10

retrieval via spreading activation of features that represent memory

• features provided as cues will spread activation to other features, completing the missing components

Question 11

pattern completion

Answer 11

the process by which spreading activation from a set of cues leads to the reinstatement of memory

• regarded as a hippocampal mechanism

Question 12

factors determining retrieval success (for cues + target memory)

Answer 12

1. attention to cues
2. relevance of cues
3. cue-target strength
4. number of cues
5. target strength
6. retrieval strategy
7. retrieval mode

Question 13

attention to cues

Answer 13

reduced attention to cue impairs its ability to guide retrieval

• divided attention task reduces memory performance if secondary task is:
  1. related to primary task
  2. attentionally demanding

Question 14

dividing attention study on memory retrieval

Answer 14

Fernandes and Moscovitch 200/3

task 1: recall lists of words presented auditorily
task 2: make judgments about visually presented items e.g. words, pictures, numbers

• completing task 2 reduced task 1 performance by 30-50%
• interference of task 2 greater when they were words
• larger effect when tested with recall than recognition

supporting evidence for impaired attention to cue impairs access to memory

Question 15

relevance of cues

Answer 15

retrieval cues are most effective when they are strongly related to the target

• encoding specificity principle
• the right cues enhances retrieval

Question 16

encoding specificity principle

Answer 16

retrieval cues are most useful if:
- present at encoding
- encoded with target
- similar to original cue available at encoding

Question 17

cue-target associative strength

Answer 17

retrieval success depends on strength of cue-target association

• determined by length of time and attention spent on encoding relationship
• encoding cue and target separately is unhelpful, must be associated (e.g. face-name)

Question 18

number of cues

Answer 18

• access to additional relevant cues facilitates retrieval (activation spreads from both cues to target)
• Dual-cuing

Question 19

dual-cuing - RUbin and Wallace

Answer 19

• cuing multiple access route to a target (extra cues) can provide a super-additive recall benefit
• abortive encoding maximizes the number of retrieval routes