Devin DeMeritt & Brett Doolin: Section 2

Unleveled psychology memory project

A memory that Brett and I recalled was the time that I injured and dislocated my shoulder during a Duxbury High School football game. To recall this information from our memory storage (retrieval), Brett and I walked to the Duxbury High School turf field and positioned ourselves right in the spot where the injury occurred. What we were doing was a context-dependent memory. With context-dependent memories information is more easily retrieved in the context in which it was encoded and stored. When Brett and I positioned ourselves exactly in the spot and environment of where our memory took place at the turf field, this made it easier to recall information and certain details that happened during that specific memory. Additionally, the shoulder dislocation injury is an example of an episodic memory. An episodic memory is a memory of a specific event that you experienced yourself. I experienced the shoulder dislocation injury myself, but Brett was still right there on the sideline to witness the injury and drama firsthand as well. Overall, when someone is brought back to a specific spot, area, or environment of where a specific event took place, it is easier to recall and retrieve memories and specific details from that occurrence.