ch7 vocab* Flashcards
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information
Encoding
Forming a memory code
Retrieval
recovering information from memory stores
Storage
Maintaining encoded information in memory over time
Retention
The proportion of material remembered
procedural memory
a part of the long-term memory that is responsible for knowing how to do things, also known as motor skills
long-term memory
An unlimited capacity store that can hold information over lengthy periods of time
short-term memory
A limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds
spacing effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
Rehearsal
The process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information to be stored in memory
serial position effect
In memory tests, the fact that subjects show better recall for items at the beginning and end of a list than for items in the middle
mnemonic devices
Strategies for enhancing memory
iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units
echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
long-term potentiation
an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
flashbulb memories
Unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events
anterograde amnesia
Loss of memories for events that occur after a head injury
retrograde amnesia
Loss of memories for events that occurred prior to a head injury
nondeclarative memory
the repository for memories for actions, skills, conditioned responses, and emotional memories. Also called procedural memory
declarative memory
Memory for factual information
Recall
measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
Recognition
a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned
relearning measure
A memory test that requires a subject to memorize information a second time to determine how much time or effort is saved by having learned it before
Priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations memory
State-dependent memory
What we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state
mood congruent memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
proactive interference
A source of forgetting that occurs when previously learned information interferes with the retention of new information
Repression
Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious
misinformation effect
Phenomenon that occurs when participants’ recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading post-event information
acoustic encoding
The encoding of sound
effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Amnesia
loss of memory
hindsight bias
The tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out
forgetting curve
A graph showing retention and forgetting over time
hippocampus
Curved structure located within each temporal lobe
parallel processing
processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information
photographic memory
Powerful and enduring visual images
retrospective memory
ability to remember events from the past or previously learned information
decay theory
forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time
Deja vu
Eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.”
prospective memory
Narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
interference theory
The idea that people forget information because of competition from other material
levels of processing theory
The theory holding that deeper levels of mental processing result in longer-lasting memory codes
visual encoding
encoding of picture images
schema
An organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or sequence of events
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
The temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it’s just out of reach
retroactive interference
source of forgetting that occurs when new information impairs the retention of previously learned information
working memory
model of short-term memory consisting of a modular system for temporary storage and manipulation of information
