Key terms & definitions

Recovering information that has been stored in memory.

Information that helps someone access something stored in memory.

An inability to access stored information because an appropriate cue is absent.

Actively recalling information from memory to strengthen later recall, rather than only reading or looking at it again.

Adding improvements to an existing building, such as insulation or more efficient heating, to reduce its energy use.

A style that draws on older imagined versions of the future.

Loss of memories formed before the onset of an illness or injury.

The apparent backwards movement of a planet against the background stars for part of its journey across the sky.

A return to earlier events through narration or a character’s recollection.

Storytelling that looks back on past events, allowing the narrator to reflect on what their younger self experienced.

An account that looks back on events from a later point in time.

A first-person account that looks back on an earlier experience, allowing the perspective of the remembering speaker to shape its meaning.

A narrator who tells events after they have happened, with knowledge of their later consequences. Jane tells her story after ten years of marriage.

The gradual disclosure of earlier events through dialogue, allowing an audience to reconstruct what happened.

A speaker’s account of past experiences, told from a later point in their life.

The estimated average interval, in years, between events reaching or exceeding a specified size. It is not a guaranteed gap between events.

A value passed back from a function to the code that called it.

Bringing territories previously governed separately under a single national government.

The reabsorption of a released neurotransmitter into the nerve cell that released it.

The movement of people back into central urban areas, often associated with regeneration and new housing.

Using a product or material again, for the same purpose or a different purpose, without processing it into a new material.

Using a product again without turning its material into a new product.

Using a product again without processing its material into a new product.

Using a product or material again without processing it into a new raw material.

God’s communication of divine truth to human beings, including messages given to prophets.

Lively, noisy celebration, especially involving drinking, singing and dancing.

Retaliation against someone who has caused injury or harm, usually driven by personal anger rather than impartial judgement.

Retaliation against someone for an injury or wrong suffered by oneself or others.

Money or other income received by a government or ruler, including income from land and taxation.

Income earned from selling goods or services, before costs are deducted.