Behavioral Science: Memory Flashcards
Memory Storage: Sensory
First, most fleeting. Visual + auditory + etc. Whole-report is more difficult than partial-report.
Memory Storage: Short-Term
The info we actually pay attention to when exposed. Fades quickly ~30s w/o rehearsal. 7 +/- 2 rule. Primarily in hippocampus.
Memory Storage: Working
Enables us to keep a few pieces of info in our consciousness simultaneously and manipulate them. Integrate short-term memory, attention, executive function. Hippocampus.
Memory Storage: Long-Term (Implicit, Explicit (Semantic or Episodic))
“Limitless” warehouse for knowledge that we’re able to recall on demand (mostly). Very long-term memories moved over to cortex.
Implicit (nondeclarative/procedural): skills, conditioned responses.
Explicit (declarative): require conscious recall. Semantic: facts. Episodic: experiences.
Retrieval: Recognition
Identifying a piece of info previously learned (easier than recall).
Retrieval: Relearning
Learning something the second time is faster than the first time (info stored even though not readily available for recall). Spacing effect.
Retrieval: Semantic Network (Spreading Activation, Priming)
Memory is a network of interconnected ideas rather than a stockpile of unrelated facts. Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning.
Spreading activation: when 1 node of semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated.
Priming: recall aided by first being presented w/ a word/phrase close to desired fact (semantic).
Retrieval: Context Effects
Memory aided by being in physical location when encoding took place.
Retrieval: State-Dependent Memory
Person’s mental state affects recall.
Retrieval: Serial Position Effect
Tendency to remember early and late items in a list (primacy and recency effects).
Memory Construction: Confabulation
Creating vivid, but fabricated memories (maybe to fill in missing memory gaps).
Memory Construction: Misinformation Effect
Memories are influenced heavily by our thoughts and feelings both when the event is occurring and later during recall.
Memory Construction: Source-Monitoring Error
Confusion b/w facts and experiences. Remember details of event, but confuse context under which those details were gained.
Forgetting: Decay
Memories are lost naturally over time as the neurochemical trace of a short-term memory fades.
Forgetting: Interference (Proactive or Retroactive)
Retrieval error caused by existence of other info.
Proactive: old info interfering with new learning.
Retroactive: new info causes forgetting of old info.
