Superposition of episodic memories: overdistribution and quantum models

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Quantum Physics
• Psychology

Background:

• Memory recall involves retrieving specific past events (episodic memory).
• Current models struggle to explain how memory states exist before retrieval.
• Fuzzy-trace theory distinguishes between verbatim (exact) and gist (general) memory representations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and model episodic superposition in memory.
• To introduce a quantum episodic memory (QEM) model.
• To compare QEM with the overdistribution (OD) model.

Main Methods:

• Developing a quantum episodic memory (QEM) model based on quantum probability theory.
• Implementing fuzzy-trace theory's concepts within the QEM framework.
• Comparing predictions of the QEM model with the existing overdistribution (OD) model.

Main Results:

• Episodic superposition, where memory items exist in multiple potential states before a cue, is proposed.
• A novel quantum episodic memory (QEM) model is formulated, integrating quantum probability with memory processes.
• Both OD and QEM can model episodic superposition, but possess distinct predictive strengths.

Conclusions:

• Memory's pre-retrieval state can be conceptualized as a superposition.
• Quantum probability offers a novel framework for understanding memory.
• Further research is needed to empirically differentiate between the QEM and OD models.