Blasts from the past: Novel encoding can stimulate retrievals of prior memories
When we encounter new stimuli, prior episodes are often brought to mind and can influence what we remember, how we categorize, and whether we appropriately generalize. Remindings, retrievals of past specific episodes prompted by encoding new information, are a fundamental component of cognition that underlie a broad array of vital cognitive skills, including problem solving, interpretation, frequency judgments, and even number representation. Yet, remindings may happen when we do not want them to (e.g., cause mind wandering) or fail to happen when they would be useful (e.g., miss connections between related physics problems). In this talk, I will examine the cognitive processes underlying remindings, the factors that influence whether remindings occur, and the consequences of remindings on memory, integration, and generalization. I will present a theoretical account of remindings that suggests that memory for the earlier/reminded episodes is boosted through practice retrieval. Second, I will show that remindings can cause interference among memory for stimuli characteristics. Finally, I will address how remindings can provide an effective avenue for generalizing and creating transferable knowledge. Overall, I will argue that remindings allow the past to be used in the present and shape what we learn.
Dial-In Information
Please contact Graduate Administrator, frs38@pitt.edu, for Zoom link.
Wednesday, October 28 at 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Virtual EventBlasts from the past: Novel encoding can stimulate retrievals of prior memories
When we encounter new stimuli, prior episodes are often brought to mind and can influence what we remember, how we categorize, and whether we appropriately generalize. Remindings, retrievals of past specific episodes prompted by encoding new information, are a fundamental component of cognition that underlie a broad array of vital cognitive skills, including problem solving, interpretation, frequency judgments, and even number representation. Yet, remindings may happen when we do not want them to (e.g., cause mind wandering) or fail to happen when they would be useful (e.g., miss connections between related physics problems). In this talk, I will examine the cognitive processes underlying remindings, the factors that influence whether remindings occur, and the consequences of remindings on memory, integration, and generalization. I will present a theoretical account of remindings that suggests that memory for the earlier/reminded episodes is boosted through practice retrieval. Second, I will show that remindings can cause interference among memory for stimuli characteristics. Finally, I will address how remindings can provide an effective avenue for generalizing and creating transferable knowledge. Overall, I will argue that remindings allow the past to be used in the present and shape what we learn.
Dial-In Information
Please contact Graduate Administrator, frs38@pitt.edu, for Zoom link.
Wednesday, October 28 at 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Virtual Event