In psychology, context-dependent memory is the improved recall of specific episodes or information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same. In a simpler manner, "when events are represented in memory, contextual information is stored along with memory targets; the context can therefore cue memories containing that contextual information". One particularly common example of context-dependence at work occurs when an individual has lost an item (e.g. lost car keys) in an unknown location. Typically, people try to systematically "retrace their steps" to determine all of the possible places where the item might be located. Based on the role that context plays in determining recall, it is not at all surprising that individuals often quite easily discover the lost item upon returning to the correct context. This concept is heavily related to the encoding specificity principle.
This example best describes the concept of context-dependent forgetting. However, the research literature on context-dependent memory describes a number of different types of contextual information that may affect recall such as environmental context-dependent memory, state-dependent learning, cognitive context-dependent memory and mood-congruent memory. Research has also shown that context-dependence may play an important role in numerous situations, such as memory for studied material, or events that have occurred following the consumption of alcohol or other drugs.
Some of the earliest
research on this topic was conducted by researchers in the 1930s who analyzed how changes in context affect an individual's memory for nonsense syllables. These early studies were unable to demonstrate an effect of context-dependent memory. Such non-significant results encouraged the development of new methods, such as a retroactive interference paradigm, to analyze the effect of context on memory. By the 1950s, this technique was used to demonstrate an effect of contextual information on memory recall.
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thumb|350px|Les formes et fonctions de la mémoire en sciences. En psychologie, la mémoire est la faculté de l'esprit d'enregistrer, conserver et rappeler les expériences passées. Son investigation est réalisée par différentes disciplines : psychologie cognitive, neuropsychologie, et psychanalyse. thumb|Pyramide des cinq systèmes de mémoire. Le courant cognitiviste classique regroupe habituellement sous le terme de mémoire les processus dencodage, de stockage et de récupération des représentations mentales.
Un souvenir est quelque chose dont on se remémore, un élément de la mémoire. Paul Valéry Pour René Descartes, la description des mécanismes psychologiques permet de définir certaines de nos facultés. Ainsi le souvenir des choses matérielles est-il la conservation de certaines traces de mouvements provoqués dans notre cerveau. De même, l'imagination ne s'explique que par des mouvements corporels joints à une certaine activité de l'âme.
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The formation and storage of memories has been under deep investigation for several decades. Nevertheless, the precise contribution of each brain region involved in this process and the interplay between them across memory consolidation is still largely de ...