Chapter 1. Spreading Activation

1.1 Introduction

Cognitive Tool Kit
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Spreading Activation

This experiment replicates the work done by Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) with regard to semantic memory organization. Specifically, their work supports the spreading activation theory of semantic memory organization. Psychologists, particularly Endel Tulving, demonstrated a distinction in long-term memory between episodic and semantic memory. Episodic memory is memory for events in your life; semantic memory is memory for facts. While the organization of episodic memory is fairly straightforward in that it follows a timeline within an individual’s life, the organization of semantic memory has been less clear. A good deal of memory research has been devoted to determining how this part of our memory storage is organized. The spreading activation theory seeks to explain semantic memory organization by explaining how the activation of one concept leads to an activation, albeit lesser in magnitude, of concepts associated with it.

References:

Meyer, D. E., & Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1971). Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words: evidence of a dependence between retrieval operations. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 90(2), 227-234.

Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407-428.

Collins, A. M., & Quillian, M. R. (1969). Retrieval time from semantic memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 8, 240-247.

1.2 Experiment Setup

1.3 Instructions

Instructions

You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. A fixation mark will then appear in the center of the screen. Please look at this mark. After a brief period, pairs of letter strings will appear on the screen two at a time, one over the other. Your task will be to determine whether these letter strings are English words. If both letter strings are words, please press the G on your keyboard.If either of the letter strings is a nonword, please press the H.

There will be four blocks of 24 pairs of letter strings. There will be a two-minute rest between each block of trials.

Keyboard Responses

Key What Response Means
G Yes, both strings are words.
H No, one or both of the strings are nonwords.
Table

1.4 Experiment

Begin Experiment

1.5 Results

Results

1.6 Quiz

Quiz

Question 1.1

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1
Correct.
Incorrect.
Meyer and Schvaneveldt were interested in examining spreading activation theory. The comparison between associated word pairs and unassociated word pairs addressed whether the main assumption of spreading activation theory was correct, namely that concepts in semantic memory were more likely to activate related concepts.

Question 1.2

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1
Correct.
Incorrect.
Long-term memory can be divided into episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memory refers to memory for events, whereas semantic memory refers to memory for facts. Spreading activation theory, not memory, provides an explanation for the organization of semantic memory.

Question 1.3

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1
Correct.
Incorrect.
The main independent variable was whether words (associated or unassociated), nonwords, or both appeared in each pair.

Question 1.4

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Correct.
Incorrect.
The main dependent variable was the reaction time to associated word pairs and unassociated word pairs.

Question 1.5

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Correct.
Incorrect.
Meyer and Schvaneveldt found that associated word pairs were responded to faster than unassociated word pairs, and concluded that concepts in semantic memory activate related concepts, thus speeding reaction time.