Ch. 7 Flashcards
The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
Memory
The process of getting information into the memory system
Encoding
The process of retaining 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
Long-term memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory
Working memory
Retention of learned skills, or classically conditioned associations, without conscious awareness
Implicit memory
Unconscious encoding of everyday information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings
Automatic processing
Retention of facts and personal events you can consciously retrieve
Explicit memory
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Effortful processing
The processing of many aspects of a problem at the same time; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions
Parallel processing
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Chunking
Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Mnemonics
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
Spacing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information
Testing effect
Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems
Semantic memory
Explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems
Episodic memory
A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage
Hippocampus
The neural storage of a long-term memory
Memory consolidation
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Flashbulb memory
An increase in a cell’s firing potential. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
Memory demonstrated by retrieving information learned earlier, as on a fill in the blank test
Recall
Memory demonstrated by identifying items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test
Recognition
Memory demonstrated by time saved when learning material a second time
Relearning
Any stimulus (event, feeling, place, and so on) linked to a specific memory
Retrieval cue
The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Priming
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with your current good or bad mood
Mood-congruent memory
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
Serial position effect
Literally “without memory” - a loss of memory, often due to brain trauma, injury, or disease
Amnesia
Lasting physical change in the brain as a memory forms
Memory trace
The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information
Proactive interference
The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information
Retroactive interference
In psychoanalytical theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness the thoughts, feelings, and memories that arouse anxiety
Repression
A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
Reconsolidation
When a memory has been corrupted by misleading information
Misinformation effect
Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined
Source amnesia
That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Déjà vu
