History Main / CongruentMemory

[[folder:Video Game]]

** [=SpongeBob=] practices driving [[ImposedHandicapTraining while blindfolded]]. When it comes time for him to take his driving test, he finds he can't drive without the blindfold. Oddly this one provides a justification: when he can see what he's doing, it terrifies him.
** Another episode had him forget where he put his nametag. So he repeats his morning routine ad infinitum, ''exactly'', until he remembers.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', Donut tries to recount to Grif the things he did during the day that led to him losing an important part for Simmons' cyborg operation. Among these steps was him asking himself where he could hang out with no pants on.

Congruent memory (also called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_learning state-dependent learning]] according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki) is the idea that someone who learns something in a certain environment or emotional or physical state is more likely to remember what they've learned when in that same state. For example, if a rat learns its way through a certain maze while drugged, it may be able to run the maze ''only'' while drugged -- or if you study for your math test while listening to a certain song, you may be more likely to remember the formulae when listening to that song.

** In an episode, Hal goes bowling and gets a strike every time. As the episode goes on, he develops an increasingly elaborate routine for throwing the ball, to the extent that toward the end, Hal refuses to let one of his observers go to the bathroom.

* Tedd of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' is [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2006-07-28 better at cooking]] when [[GenderBender female]]. He is, however, fully aware of how absurd this is. (The gender bending part, not congruent memory as a whole.) This doesn't stop him in the slightest.

* And in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' Roger sells a Senator's daughter to a drug lord and can't remember who he is or where to find him because he's always high when they interact. Sure enough, taking a hit (I think it was cocaine) enables him to give perfectly lucid directions.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Tatewaki Kunō once learns an absolutely devastating TornadoMove that can beat even Ranma Saotome after some TrainingFromHell. Problem is, it is intended purely as a [[SmashingWatermelons watermelon-cutting move]], and Tatewaki is only able to use it if there are watermelons around to target.

** [=SpongeBob=] practices driving while blindfolded. When it comes time for him to take his driving test, he finds he can't drive without the blindfold. Oddly this one provides a justification: when he can see what he's doing, it terrifies him.

* In book 9 of the ''Manga/GirlsBravo'' manga, LethalChef Kirie is taught how to cook properly by Fukuyama. Problem, since he's a LovableSexManiac, he forces her to do so while wearing a NakedApron. In the end, Kirie can only cook edible stuff while nude under her apron.

When this phenomenon shows up in fiction, it's often played for comedy: Usually a character will have to precisely replicate the circumstances in which he or she learned something in order to be able to recall it, or the circumstances themselves will be somewhat bizarre (or both).

* Marcel Proust's [[DoorStopper mammoth novel]] ''Literature/InSearchOfLostTime'' is centered on the flood of memories triggered by the scent of a madeleine (a particular kind of cookie).

* Marcel Proust's [[DoorStopper mammoth novel]] ''Remembrance of Things Past'' is centered on the flood of memories triggered by the scent of a madeleine (a particular kind of cookie).

* ''Franchise/ArchieComics''

* One of the pieces in Douglas Adams' ''The Salmon of Doubt'' says this is why you can't remember your New Year's resolutions. When you write them and put them away, you're in a post-party state: stuffed, hungover, dehydrated, possibly ashamed. Once you're back to normal, you forget them until the next time you're in the same state, next New Year's Day.

* In the ''Series/MrBean'' episode "Mr. bean Goes To Town" Mr. Bean has his camera stolen by a thief but manages to catch him by placing a wastebasket over his head and poking him with a pencil. Later on when he is asked to identify the thief in a police lineup he identifies him by poking him with a pencil while he has a wastebasket over his head.

* Played straight in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', in which Fred took ballet lessons to improve his bowling skills, and then find that he can only bowl perfectly to ballet music.

Obviously RealityIsUnrealistic, because while this is a legitimate idea in modern psychology, it's never taken to the [[ExaggeratedTrope absurd levels that fiction shows]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Have you ever tried to remember song lyrics with the melody removed? Or tried to recall song lyrics without humming the tune to yourself/singing it? Some people can't even recall the order of the alphabet without the song.
* Or had to mime entering in a telephone number on an invisible phone in order to recall a number?
* How about moving your fingers when trying to recall a web address?
* The above two are actually examples of procedural memory, or, colloquially, "muscle memory." It's what happens when you perform a specific action the same way so many times that the brain eventually just gives that particular action its own subroutine, so you don't have to consciously think about doing it anymore.
* Have you ever tried to remember why you went to a particular room by going back to a room where you knew? Often justified or subverted in that the objects or situation that made you go to the other room in the first place may still be there. Also subverted by the way your brain classifies short-term memory: it classifies memory by location and doors triggers in your mind a change of location, so you forget almost everything from the other room unless you go back.
* Being able to play certain drinking games only while drunk/drinking such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarters_%28drinking_game%29 Quarters]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_%28drinking_game%29 Baseball]].
* Often invoked as "study aids" for students. This is why, among other things, you're supposed to be sitting at a desk as you study the material -- so you can remember the material when you're sitting at a desk for the test. Many teachers also recommend studying in conditions that will exist during the exam. Set a time limit equal to how long you'll have on the exam. Use the exact same pencil. Depending on if the school allows it, you can even go to the classroom and sit in the seat you'll take the exam in and study there.
* On a related note, you're supposed to only use your bed for sleeping[[note]]and sex, of course[[/note]] because if you try studying in bed, you'll find yourself getting sleepy because you've strongly conditioned yourself to associate your bed with sleep. This works both ways: some people have problems with insomnia because they've stopped being conditioned to associate their bed/bedroom with sleep. The remedy for this is to move things like computers, TVS, and exercise equipment out of the bedroom and to minimize non-sleeping time spent there.
* This is also why is not a good idea to stoke yourself up on coffee or energy drinks to cram in your revision, as you won't remember it until you're stoked up on coffee or energy drinks -- probably not a good idea when you're about to go into an exam.
* Studies have shown that smells are also quite good at evoking memories. So study while wearing a ''highly unique'' perfume and then wear it again the day of the test. Legend has it the ancient Greeks were fond of rosemary.
* Averted with performance under extreme stress. It used to be approached under two theories: learn the action normally and then apply stress ''versus'' learn action under stress. Extensive research has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the former is a far better way. In the book ''Extreme Fear'', the author goes into the psychology, but essentially your brain shuts down too much in panic mode and focuses only on what it knows will work for it to learn successfully while under duress. So learn calmly, and then introduce distractions.
* There are people who become used to listening to a certain noise at night find it harder to get to sleep if it stops.
* Most men, when teaching how to tie a tie, must stand behind the person they're helping, because [[DamnYouMuscleMemory that's the only way they can remember how the knot goes.]] The opposite can true for women: because they're more likely to learn by tying someone else's tie, if they have to wear a tie themselves[[note]]for instance, some restaurant uniforms call for ties for both waiters and waitresses[[/note]], they [[DamnYouMuscleMemory essentially have to re-learn how to do it]].
* Many basketball players have a short ritual before shooting a free throw-- usually bouncing the ball a certain way-- in order to trigger their muscle memory.
[[/folder]]

Congruent memory (also called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_learning state-dependent learning]] according to TheOtherWiki) is the idea that someone who learns something in a certain environment or emotional or physical state is more likely to remember what they've learned when in that same state. For example, if a rat learns its way through a certain maze while drugged, it may be able to run the maze ''only'' while drugged -- or if you study for your math test while listening to a certain song, you may be more likely to remember the formulae when listening to that song.

* Cam Jansen, a girl detective from a series of kids' books, says "Click!" when hunting for clues, then later repeats it to help herself remember the details of what she saw. This is explained as her having a "photographic memory," but is closer to this trope in practice. [[DontExplainTheJoke Because "Cam" is short for "Camera", see?]]

* And in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ameri,'' Roger sells a Senator's daughter to a drug lord and can't remember who he is or where to find him because he's always high when they interact. Sure enough, taking a hit (I think it was cocaine) enables him to give perfectly lucid directions.