I once told my mother about a specific incident that occurred in my highschool French class.
Eight years later, she mentions this incident again and this is one of those things that I would have never remembered unless someone else brought it up. Even if I tried my hardest to remember everything that happened in my French class, I would have never remembered this one because frankly, it was so inconsequential to my life.
Is there a word or phrase for this type of memory (where you don't remember something until someone else mentions it)?
Best Answer
Forgotten memory - memories that are technically still there as signals in your brain, but where you've lost the ability to consciously recall it. They can sometimes be retrieved with aid or certain triggers.
Cued recall is the act of recalling such forgotten memories off a trigger.
The thing that causes you to remember that forgotten memory could be referred to as a memory trigger.