What concept involves the activation of one node leading to the activation of another connected node?

The concept of spreading activation involves the process where the activation of one node in a network activates related nodes that are connected to it. This idea is often associated with cognitive psychology and models of memory, where concepts are represented as nodes in a network. When a specific node is activated—perhaps by recalling a specific word or idea—it can trigger the subsequent activation of other related nodes. For example, if the concept of "dog" is activated, related concepts such as "pet," "animal," or "bark" may also be activated, facilitating easier access to those related ideas.

This mechanism highlights how interconnected our knowledge structures are and illustrates the way information is retrieved from memory. Spreading activation is fundamental to understanding how we make connections between ideas and access information efficiently in cognitive tasks.