ABSTRACT
This chapter considers several factors that affect retrieval of information from memory. A number of network models have been proposed to illustrate the storage of general knowledge in semantic memory. The patterns of knowledge loss found with neurological injuries also say something about the organization of semantic memory. The chapter emphasizes the importance of retrieval cues to access memories. Reconstructive memory describes retrieval as being more like a reconstruction of what happened on the basis of some stored fragments of information, cues, and knowledge we have about similar events. The use of a schema during retrieval of a specific event can lead to recall of what typically occurs rather than what actually occurred in a specific instance. Memory reconstructed according to the schema is not accurate in this instance.
