Final answer:
The spreading activation model proposes that people organize general knowledge based on semantic similarities. When one concept is activated, the related concepts are also partially activated, making it easier to access them.
Step-by-step explanation:
The spreading activation model proposes that people organize general knowledge based on semantic similarities. In a semantic network, concepts are linked together based on their relatedness, and when one concept is activated, the related concepts are also partially activated. This makes it easier to access the associated concepts and improves memory retrieval. For example, if you think of the concept 'dog,' it will activate related concepts such as 'animal,' 'pet,' and 'barking.'