7A- Cognition: Memory Flashcards
The processing of information into the memory systems
Encoding
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information
Memory
The retention of encoded information over time
Storage
The process of getting information out of memory storage
Retrieval
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
Sensory memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten
Short-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences; some information goes directly here
Long-term memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information and of information from long-term memory
Working memory
The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously
Parallel processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information and well-learned information; includes details of timing, space, and frequency
Automatic processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Effortful processing
The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage
Rehearsal
His curve showed that as rehearsal increases, relearning time decreases
Ebbinghaus
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
Spacing effect
Testing more times yields better long-term retention
Testing effect
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
Serial position effect
The last item in a list remembered
Recency effect
The first item in a list remembered
Primacy effect
The encoding of picture images
Visual encoding
The encoding of sound
Acoustic encoding
The encoding of meaning; the best way to remember things/terms later
Semantic encoding
Attaching things to relevant examples in one’s own life, these are remembered better
Self-reference effect
Mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding
Imagery
After something occurs, we remember it as more pleasant
Rosy retrospection
Memory aids such as vivid imagery and organizational devices
Mnemonic
Attaching information to a list you already have
Peg-word system
Type of chunking; ROY G BIV (colors); HOMES (Great Lakes)
Acronym
Dividing things into subsections, sections, and outlines
Hierarchies
We hang onto more information than we realize
Sperling’s memory experiment
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; photograph or image memory lasting for fewer than a few tenths of a second
Iconic memory
Auditory stimuli; sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds
Echoic memory
Magic number
7 plus or minus 2
Path to how people learn things
Memory trace
An increase in a synapse’s firing potential after a brief, rapid stimulation
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
Memory boosting drug that switches genes on and off
CREB
Memory boosting drug that enhances synaptic communication
Glutamate
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event; stored in long term memory
Flashbulb memory
The loss of memory
Amnesia
A study involving a man who had a part of his brain, that is involved in laying new conscious memories of facts and experiences, surgically removed; he was able to do tasks he had learned prior to the surgery, but could not convert new experiences to long-term storage
HM Studies
Retention independent of conscious recollection
Implicit memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Explicit memory
Processes explicit memories for storage
Hippocampus
Forms and stores implicit memories
Cerebellum
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, (fill-in-the-blank)
Recall
The person need only to identify items previously learned, (multiple choice)
Recognition
Assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time
Relearning
Anchor points you can use to access the target information when you retrieve it better; mnemonic devices; priming
Retrieval cues
The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Priming
The eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”
Deja vu
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood
Mood congruent memory
Absentmindedness, transience, and blocking
Sins of forgetting
Misattribution, suggestibility, and bias
Sins of distortion
Persistence
Sin of intrusion
Inattention to details leads to encoding failures
Absent-mindedness
Storage decay over time
Transience
Inaccessibility of stored information (tip of your tongue)
Blocking
Confusing the source of information
Misatteibution
The lingering effects of misinformation
Suggestibility
Belief-colored recollections
Bias
Unwanted memories
Persistence
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
Proactive interference
The disruption effect of new learning on the recall of old information
Retroactive interference
Remembering something the way we want to
Self-serving personal histories
The basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety- arousing thoughts, feelings, or memories
Repression
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; 1-800-HOLIDAY
Chunking
When asked the speed of the cars, those who were asked when they smashed into each other reported higher speeds than those who were asked when they hit each other
Loftus memory studies
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
Misinformation effect
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined; also called source misattribution
Source amnesia
Eyewitnesses express roughly similar self-assurance
Eye witness testimony
Study repeatedly, sleep more, make the material meaningful, activate retrieval cues, use mnemonic devices, minimize interference, and test your own knowledge
Way to Improve memory
