Ch 5: Learning & Long-term Memory

Question 1

self-reference effect

Answer 1

enhanced long-term memory for information if it is related to the self at the time of learning

Question 2

distinctiveness

Answer 2

this characterizes memory traces that are distinct or different from other memory traces stored in long-term memory; it leads to enhanced memory

Question 3

transfer-appropriate processing

Answer 3

the notion that long-term memory will be greatest when the processing at the time of retrieval is very similar to the processing at the time of learning

Question 4

testing effect

Answer 4

the finding that long-term memory is enhanced when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving the to-be-remembered information

Question 5

implicit learning

Answer 5

a form of learning producing long-term memory in which there is no conscious awareness of what has been learned

Question 6

declarative memory

Answer 6

aka explicit memory; memory that involves conscious recollection of information

Question 7

nondeclarative memory

Answer 7

aka implicit memory; memory that doesn’t involve conscious recollection of information

Question 8

priming

Answer 8

form of nondeclarative memory involving facilitated processing of (and response to) a target stimulus because the same or a related stimulus was presented previously

Question 9

procedural memory

Answer 9

a form of nondeclarative memory involving learned skills and concerned with “knowing how”

Question 10

episodic memory

Answer 10

a form of declarative memory concerned with personal experiences or episodes occurring in a given place at a given time

Question 11

recognition memory

Answer 11

deciding whether a given stimulus was encountered previously in a particular context (ex: the previous list)

Question 12

semantic memory

Answer 12

a form of declarative memory consisting of general knowledge about the world, concepts, language, and so on

Question 13

schemas

Answer 13

organized knowledge of various kinds (ex: about the world; typical sequences of events) stored in long term memory; schemas facilitate perception and language comprehension, and allow us to form expectations (ex: of likely events in a restaurant)

Question 14

rationalization

Answer 14

in Bartlett’s theory, the tendency in story recall to produce errors conforming to the cultural expectations of the rememberer; it is attributed to the influence of schemas

Question 15

amnesia

Answer 15

a condition caused by brain damage in which there are serious impairments of long-term memory (especially declarative memory)

Question 16

retrograde amnesia

Answer 16

impaired ability of amnesic patients to remember information and events (so declarative memory) from the time period prior to the onset of amnesia

Question 17

anterograde amnesia

Answer 17

impaired ability of amnesic patients to learn and remember information acquired after the onset of amnesia

Question 18

encoding specificity principle

Answer 18

the notion that retrieval depends on the overlap between the information available at retrieval and the information within the memory trace; memory is best when the overlap is high

Question 19

proactive interference

Answer 19

disruption of memory by previous learning (often of similar material)

Question 20

retroactive interference

Answer 20

disruption of memory for what was learned originally by other learning or processing during the retention interval

Question 21

consolidation

Answer 21

a physiological process involved in establishing long-term memories; this process lasts several hours or more, and newly formed memories that are still being consolidated are fragile

Question 22

reconsolidation

Answer 22

this is a new consolidation process that occurs when a previously formed memory trace is reactivated; it allows that memory trace to be updated

Question 23

hindsight bias

Answer 23

the tendency for people to exaggerate how accurately they would have predicted some event in advance after they know what actually happened