3. Memory
What Is Memory?
Colloquially, when talking about memory, we usually refer to episodic memory. Episodic memory includes memories of specific events or information we encountered in a particular context.
Episodic memory examples include:
- your high school graduation;
- a big fight you had with your partner last week;
- the horrific car accident you read about in the news this morning.
In addition to episodic memory, there is a second type of long-term memory called semantic memory. Semantic memory is colloquially referred to as our “knowledge” of the world. For example, while your high school graduation is an episodic memory, your knowledge of what high school graduations are like — in general — is a semantic memory.
Semantic memory is not tied to a specific time or context and can include:
- concrete objects (e.g., a wrench; tools);
- specific individuals and social categories (e.g., Serena Williams; athletes);
- events (e.g., graduation);
- abstract concepts (e.g., education).
This type of memory shapes and supports our:
- perceptions and interpretations of the world around us;
- thoughts and emotions;
- decisions and behaviours.
What Makes a Memory Available and Accessible?
Episodic and semantic memory are both types of long-term memory. They are “stored” (for a lack of a better term) in our brains, and we can activate or retrieve them when needed.
In the scientific study of memory, we make a distinction between availability and accessibility:
- If a memory is successfully encoded and stored, then it is available.
- If the same memory can also be activated, then it is accessible.
A memory can be available but not accessible; however, the reverse cannot occur.
How Does Memory Accessibility Work?
Accessibility is not all or nothing; instead, it is graded.
Some memories are very easily accessible, such as:
- important life events (e.g., the birth of your child);
- conceptual categories you routinely use (e.g., cars or dogs);
- social categories you routinely use (e.g., children / age or women / gender);
- cultural knowledge personally relevant to you (e.g., the celebration of baba Marta if you are Bulgarian).
Conversely, other memories are less accessible or not accessible at all, such as:
- specific events that share context with many other events (e.g., who did the dishes last Thursday)
- knowledge that hasn’t been retrieved for a long time (e.g., the capital of Greenland)
Again, it is important to keep in mind that we can only talk about accessibility given availability. The memory has to have been encoded and stored at some point; otherwise, it would be impossible to access.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Another example of memories that are available but not accessible is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon occurs when we try and fail to remember something (e.g., someone’s name) that we know we have a memory of. In this case, the memory is available — and we are even aware it is available — but not accessible.
Cues
Accessibility relies heavily on the cues we use to retrieve the memory. A cue is the information or context available in the present that matches the memory we are trying to retrieve or activate. The greater the number of cues and the more unique they are (that is, specific to the memory/concept), the higher the likelihood of accessibility.
Example: Math
When you were in middle school, you struggled with math. Luckily, a girl in your class, who was really good at it, often helped you understand how to do the math problems. It’s been many years since then, and you parted ways when you went to different high schools. You haven’t thought about her in a long time, but your child is now struggling with math just like you did, and you are suddenly remembering the girl who helped.
The context of middle school math and struggling with it are the cues that made this seemingly long-forgotten memory accessible. However, it’s still not fully accessible — you can’t remember the girl’s name.
What could you do? You could try to increase accessibility by providing more cues, such as remembering:
- where she sat in the classroom (perhaps you can “read” the name tag on her desk!),
- what she looked like, or
- recall a specific instance where you spoke to her or called her by her name
You can even try asking her for math help right now (yes, saying it out loud) and use that as a cue to trigger access to the memory of her name.
Priming
Another way to increase accessibility is priming. Priming is when prior stimuli have already activated the memory or a related one (e.g., Bargh, 2006; Molden, 2014). It can be achieved through:
- External stimuli — experiences with things out in the world.
- Internal stimuli — thoughts inside your head.
Example: Math (continued)
Imagine that just before you engaged with your kid about math, you heard on a show running in the background, “Anita, can you please help me with this?” Now, you may be primed to think, “Anita!” which may or may not be the name you are trying to remember.
This priming would be helpful if “Anita” is indeed the correct name; however, it would be detrimental if it is not.
Why isn’t the incorrect name neutral if it is not relevant? Why is it detrimental?
Because this stimulus activated a knowledge representation that is, in a sense, competing with the representation of the memory you actually want to activate.[2]
