Retrieval Cues In Long Term Memory

A retrieval cue is a stimulus that assist in the recall or recognition of information stored in memory. The presence of retrieval cues can make memory retrieval much easier by accessing memories stored in long-term memory and bringing them to your conscious awareness. However, the ability to effectively retrieve these cues depends on the extent to which an individual could tap into the information that was encoded at the time of learning. For instance, while you are out shopping, you ran into a female acquaintance who hugs you and proceeds to tell you all about her day and weekend. Although you know her, but you cannot remember her name or where you knew her from. You do not want to seem rude, you let her continue with her conversation. Then you look around, hoping for some clue as to her identity, and you look into her shopping cart and spotted a pack of juices. The image of your daughter drinking one of those juice at her last soccer practice pops in your head. Suddenly you remember that her name is …show more content…
Before now, the memory had been stored into long-term memory and you were not consciously aware of it, but through retrieval cue, you were able to take the memory out of storage.
In addition, there are two crucial factors to consider in retrieval cues, these are recall and recognition. Recall is a memory task which involves the ability to retrieve information that an individual has previously learned such as a fill-in-the-blank questions tests recall or on essay tests. Recall tests such as essay tests have poor retrieval cues. For example, if you are asked to discuss the factors that caused the war in Afghanistan. Another example of Recall is writing out the words of a song with the music of the song playing in the