Mental Categories Help Unlock Deeper Memory Connections

A study by researchers at the University of Geneva has found that when people recall past events, they are more likely to retrieve memories that share a conceptual structure with the current situation – rather than those that merely resemble it on the surface. However, this only occurs when the current situation can be associated with a familiar mental category, such as "making excuses" or "avoiding conflict." When such categories are absent, people default to recalling memories based on superficial details like specific places or individuals.

The findings, published in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, suggest that conceptual connections between events are more likely to guide memory retrieval when existing cognitive frameworks support them. This work may inform future efforts to improve analogical learning, particularly in education.

When memory favors meaning

The research builds on earlier studies exploring how structural similarities – those involving similar intentions, actions or problems – can influence how we recall past experiences. These deeper similarities contrast with surface-level cues, such as the same people or settings. While both types of similarity can trigger memory retrieval, the Geneva-based team set out to determine when and why structural matches take precedence.

For instance, consider someone declining a dinner invitation by citing another commitment. This might bring to mind a previous dinner with that same person at the same restaurant (a surface match). Alternatively, it could recall a different scenario altogether – such as using knee pain to avoid sports practice – where the underlying intention (providing an excuse) is similar. The second type of memory involves a structural match, with emphasis on the purpose rather than the context.

A synthesis of decades of research

To explore these patterns, the Instruction, Development, Education and Learning (IDEA) team at the University of Geneva analyzed nearly 100 studies on memory conducted over the past 50 years. Their review revealed consistent trends and led to the formulation of a model describing the conditions under which people draw on structural versus surface-level memories.

According to the team, structural memories are more likely to be retrieved when individuals can interpret the current experience through a recognizable conceptual lens. If the person has a well-established mental category for the situation – such as instances involving superstition, negotiation or conflict – they are more likely to access a memory that shares the same underlying logic. When such a category is missing, surface similarities take over.

Implications for education and learning

These findings could help explain why students often struggle to apply previously learned concepts to new problems. For example, if a learner has studied a math problem involving a bakery scenario but is then asked to solve a similar problem framed around a sports event, they may not recognize the structural similarity if the contexts differ too much. Without an established conceptual link between the problems, the structural match may be missed.

The researchers emphasize the importance of equipping learners with the cognitive tools to identify these deeper similarities. Teaching strategies that introduce and reinforce new mental categories could help learners build more durable connections between different contexts and improve their ability to transfer knowledge across domains.

Reference: Raynal L, Sander E. ADAPTER: A conceptual model of category-driven analogical retrieval. WIRES Cognitive Science. 2025;16(3). doi: 10.1002/wcs.70005

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