Then, they had people retrieve the word lists in an environment that was either the same or different from the one at learning. Godden and Alan Baddeley conducted a study where they had people learn word lists either on land or while scuba diving. To be clear, context-dependent memory effects have indeed been demonstrated in controlled experiments. Although this makes sense through the lens of the aforementioned anecdotal example, experimental evidence to support this hypothesis has been sparse. This phenomenon was coined more than 40 years ago as the “environmental reinstatement effect” and it is oftentimes explained by the following hypothesis: The more overlap there is between where a memory is formed and where it is retrieved, the easier it should be to successfully bring the memory to mind. It goes without saying that contexts-like an old high school cafeteria or gym-can trigger a flood of memories, including memories you thought were permanently gone. (Full disclosure: Both of these things happened to me.) Or maybe, going past the gym might bring back the memory of when you face planted in front of the entire class while attempting to do the high jump. Walking through your old high school might release a flood of memories that were locked away for years, perhaps even a decade (or more)! Walking through the cafeteria might remind you of the time you almost scared the timid new girl when you boldly walked up to her to invite her to join your friend group for lunch.
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