Retrieval Cues Josh Rubin

In this blog, I am going to discuss retrieval cues, which is when memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations will help the person retrieve the memory. For example, Jimmy is at a family reunion and is speaking to his cousins that he hasn’t seen him in years. One of his cousins, Jamie, brings up a time when Jimmy ran around the house naked during a Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone laughs as they remember the funny moment, but Jimmy doesn’t remember this event happening at all. They then explain that it was the Thanksgiving at Aunt Linda’s house when they first moved to Pennsylvania. These pieces of information required Jimmy to think about the time in the past and he then makes associations to the event and remembers the scene. I have had many experiences when associations have helped me retrieve a memory such as taking tests. In high school, I specifically remember taking biology tests that were mainly based off the textbook reading. During the test, I would always think back to the pages I read and where the information would be. I had studied so much that when I thought of a page, I could remember what piece of info was on it and even where it was on the page. This would allow me to recall it and answer the questions correctly on the test. These instances relate to retrieval cues because when ever I forgot something like a definition or example, I would think back to the pages I read. Then I would make associations and remember where the piece of information was in the book and then recall it. This is a fascinating topic and technique for remembering things that you might have forgotten. Making associations is the most important part of being able to retrieve the info from your memory.