Semantic Network

Learned in PSYCH101.

Information seems to be stored in information networks according to semantic meaning. An example of such a Semantic Network is depicted below.

I'm not convinced that this is how our brain works

Evidence for semantic networks comes from priming studies. Presenting a concept, such as “Apple”, activates the appropriate node in the network and makes it more available to respond to. Once primed, participants are able to identify the concept even when flashed briefly (less than 20 msec) and followed by a mask.

So I did this experiment and it seems to be the case? https://contensis.uwaterloo.ca/sites/courses/PSYCH-101/lecture-content/module-1/1d.aspx They flash the word, I could see it more easily if I was primed a related word beforehand.

What is interesting is that other concepts related to the prime are also identifiable using the same procedure, but accuracy of unrelated concepts is poor. This suggests that priming one concept also activates other related concepts in the network, a process called Spreading Activation.