<s>
Spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
method	O
for	O
searching	O
associative	O
networks	O
,	O
biological	B-General_Concept
and	O
artificial	B-Architecture
neural	I-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
,	O
or	O
semantic	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
weights	O
are	O
discrete	O
this	O
process	O
is	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
marker	B-Algorithm
passing	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
in	O
semantic	O
networks	O
as	O
a	O
model	O
were	O
invented	O
in	O
cognitive	O
psychology	O
to	O
model	O
the	O
fan	O
out	O
effect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
can	O
also	O
be	O
applied	O
in	O
information	B-Library
retrieval	I-Library
,	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
nodes	O
representing	O
documents	O
and	O
terms	O
contained	O
in	O
those	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
it	O
relates	O
to	O
cognitive	O
psychology	O
,	O
spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
theory	O
of	O
how	O
the	O
brain	O
iterates	O
through	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
associated	O
ideas	O
to	O
retrieve	O
specific	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
theory	O
presents	O
the	O
array	O
of	O
concepts	O
within	O
our	O
memory	O
as	O
cognitive	O
units	O
,	O
each	O
consisting	O
of	O
a	O
node	O
and	O
its	O
associated	O
elements	O
or	O
characteristics	O
,	O
all	O
connected	O
together	O
by	O
edges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
network	O
can	O
be	O
represented	O
schematically	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
sort	O
of	O
web	O
diagram	O
with	O
shorter	O
lines	O
between	O
two	O
nodes	O
meaning	O
the	O
ideas	O
are	O
more	O
closely	O
related	O
and	O
will	O
typically	O
be	O
associated	O
more	O
quickly	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
concept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
memory	O
psychology	O
,	O
Spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
model	O
means	O
people	O
organize	O
their	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
personal	O
experience	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
saying	O
those	O
personal	O
experiences	O
form	O
the	O
network	O
of	O
ideas	O
that	O
is	O
the	O
person	O
's	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nodes	O
receiving	O
a	O
new	O
activation	O
value	O
that	O
exceeds	O
the	O
firing	O
threshold	O
F	O
are	O
marked	O
for	O
firing	O
on	O
the	O
next	O
spreading	B-Algorithm
activation	I-Algorithm
cycle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
procedure	O
terminates	O
when	O
either	O
there	O
are	O
no	O
more	O
nodes	O
to	O
fire	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
marker	B-Algorithm
passing	I-Algorithm
from	O
multiple	O
origins	O
,	O
when	O
a	O
node	O
is	O
reached	O
from	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
path	O
.	O
</s>
