PSYC 1010 Chapter : Module 25.doc

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Heather Jenkin

Document Summary

The process of retrieving memory follows the principle of a spider webs. This is because memories are held in storage by a web of associations, each piece of information interconnected with others. When you try to remember a person"s name, you associate with it other bits of information about your surroundings, mood, seating position and so on. These bits serve as retrieval cues that you use to access the information later. More retrieval cues you have, the better your chances of finding a route to the suspended memory. The best retrieval cues come from associations we form at the time we encode memory- smells, tastes, and sights that can evoke our memory of the associated person or event. To call up visual cues when trying to recall something, we may mentally place ourselves in the original context. Often our associations are activated without our awareness. William james called this process priming: the activation often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.