retrieval

Question 1

what is retrieval?

Answer 1

the progression from retrieval cues to a target memory trace through associative connections

Question 2

what is a target memory trace?

Answer 2

the memory we are looking for

Question 3

what are retrieval cues?

Answer 3

information about the target memory that guides our search

Question 4

what are associations?

Answer 4

the bonds that link items in memory, they vary in strength

Question 5

what is activation level?

Answer 5

memory traces have a level of excitement which determines the accessibility of memories

Question 6

how does activation level increase?

Answer 6

it increase with cues

Question 7

what is spreading activation?

Answer 7

the automatic transmission of energy from a memory to associations

Question 8

how does activation spread?

Answer 8

cues activate the trace memory, spreading activation to other associations

Question 9

what is spreading activation proportional to?

Answer 9

the strength of connections

Question 10

what is pattern completion?

Answer 10

spreading activation from cues leads to reinstatement of a memory

Question 11

what sort of mechanism is pattern completion?

Answer 11

a hippocampal mechanism

Question 12

how does the relevance of cues determine retrieval?

Answer 12

recall is better when cues are strongly related to the target e.g. present at encoding

Question 13

how does attention to cues determine retrieval?

Answer 13

increased attention to cues helps guide retrieval

Question 14

how does cue-target associative strength determine retrieval?

Answer 14

being more familiar with the link between the cue and target aids retrieval

Question 15

how does the number of cues determine retrieval?

Answer 15

additional relevant cues aids retrieval

Question 16

how does the strength of the target memory determine retrieval?

Answer 16

it easier to retrieve a strongly encoded memory compared to a weakly encoded memory

Question 17

how does retrieval strategy determine retrieval?

Answer 17

retrieval is better when information is organised during encoding and you use effective strategies of memory search

Question 18

how does retrieval mode determine retrieval?

Answer 18

having intention to later retrieve a memory increases the chance of retrieval

Question 19

what are direct/explicit retrieval tasks?

Answer 19

recalling experiences, requires contextual cues, impaired in amnesics

Question 20

what are indirect/implicit retrieval tasks?

Answer 20

measure influence of past experiences which guide behaviour, normal in amnesics

Question 21

what is priming?

Answer 21

recent experience with stimulus improves performance

Question 22

what are the 4 contextual cues?

Answer 22

cognitive, physiological, mood, spatio-temporal

Question 23

what are cognitive contextual cues?

Answer 23

the thoughts that you have about a target

Question 24

what are physiological contextual cues?

Answer 24

the physical state you were in during the event e.g. drunk

Question 25

what are mood contextual cues?

Answer 25

the emotional state you were in during the event

Question 26

what are spatio-temporal contextual cues?

Answer 26

the environment you were in during the event

Question 27

what does context do to help retrieval?

Answer 27

it reinstates the original encoding environment

Question 28

what did gooden & baddeley (1975) find in their diving study?

Answer 28

retrieval is best when you are testing in the same environment as encoding e.g. underwater

Question 29

what did grant et al (1998) find about study environments?

Answer 29

retrieval is best when tested in the same noise conditions as encoding (noisy or quiet)

Question 30

what is state dependent memory?

Answer 30

recall depends on the match between physiological state at encoding and retrieval e.g. drunk, under influence

Question 31

why does state dependent memory not apply to recognition tests?

Answer 31

we don’t rely on context as much

Question 32

what is mood dependent memory?

Answer 32

recall depends on match in mood states at encoding and retrieval

Question 33

what is mood congruent memory?

Answer 33

it is easier to recall events with the same emotional tone as your current mood e.g. depressed person recalls more depressive memories

Question 34

what did eich, macaulay & ryan (1994) discover about mood dependent memory?

Answer 34

retrieval improves when music or story matches mood of participant

Question 35

what is cognitive context dependent memory?

Answer 35

retrieval is better if the same cognitive features and tasks are involved as encoding e.g. thoughts, concepts

Question 36

what did marian & neisser (2000) discover about cognitive context dependent memory?

Answer 36

language guides retrieval of memories from a specific background e.g. russian interview = russian memory

Question 37

what is recognition memory?

Answer 37

decide whether you have previously seen stimuli or not

Question 38

what is signal detection theory?

Answer 38

decide whether you have heard a signal (tone) presented against background noise, with varying intensities

Question 39

what is the response criterion in signal detection theory?

Answer 39

answers to the right of the response criterion are ‘old’ stimuli that have been encountered previously

Question 40

what does mandler (1980) say about recognition memory?

Answer 40

recognition is based on familiarity and recollection

Question 41

what is familiarity?

Answer 41

automatic recognition of seeing item, described by signal detection

Question 42

what is recollection?

Answer 42

retrieve additional contextual details

Question 43

what did yonelinas (2002) say about recollection?

Answer 43

it is disrupted by divided attention during encoding and retrieval

Question 44

what is tulving’s (1980) remember/know procedure?

Answer 44

remembering involves recollecting contextual details, knowing is familiarity of an item