Origins and Mechanisms of Semantic Memory Retrieval Inhibition
View/ Open
Author
Hoot, Nathan Rollins
Subject
Washington and Lee University -- Honors in Neuroscience
Memory
Cognition
Human information processing
Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Retrieval blocks can be induced in semantic memory by a variety of
methods, including part-list cuing or priming with information
semantically related to a target. Mechanisms underlying retrieval
blocks may involve automatic spreading inhibition, but other
interfering cognitive processes seem to play a role in this
phenomenon as well. The first study attempted to evoke memory
retrieval blocks using an indirect means of priming. Subjects
studied a part list of United States with their capitols and were asked
to recall the capitol of a given state after being primed with a studied
or non-studied state. Results showed that studied primes inhibited
retrieval more than non-studied primes, indicating that significant
retrieval blocks may indeed be induced by indirect means. A new
model was devised using a connectionist approach to illustrate one
possible means of such retrieval inhibition. In the second study,
studied and non-studied capitols were included as the possible
primes. The results showed that state primes tended to inhibit
retrieval more than capitol primes. To explain this finding, the
concept of immediate memory was proposed to explain a possible
mechanism underlying the cognitive process of memory retrieval.