spreading activation

Spreading activation is a concept from cognitive psychology describing how our brain retrieves related information. When you think of a particular idea or word, it activates a network of connected ideas or concepts nearby in your memory. This activation then spreads to related topics, making it easier to recall or recognize related information. For example, thinking of the word "dog" might also prime related concepts like "bark," "pet," or "animal," because they are connected in your mental network. This process helps our brains efficiently organize and access vast amounts of knowledge by linking related ideas.