Dr Tobias Sommer | The assimilation of novel information into schemata and its efficient consolidation

Whether and how we encode, consolidate and later retrieve novel information is heavily influenced by our prior-knowledge. The impact of prior-knowledge on memory has been studied in the framework of schemata which are previously acquired and continuously developing associative networks. A prominent line of research on the prior-knowledge effect investigates how the congruency of information with schema-driven expectations affects memory, e.g. remembering a palm-tree vs. a polar bear at a beach. However, prior-knowledge also enhances memory for novel, previously unknown - and hence expectation-neutral - information that can be related to it, for instance when we learn new facts in our academic field. In my talk, I will present two studies on the latter effect of prior-knowledge and how it differs on the neural and behavioral level from the effects of schema-driven expectations on memory formation.