Chapter 6 Flashcards
The Acquisition of Memories and the Working-Memory System
Acquisition
Gaining information and placing it into memory
Storage
To hold information until it is needed
Retrieval
Locate information stored and bring it into active use
Modal Model
Architecture of memory. Working memory as both the storage site and loading platform for long-term memory.
Iconic Memory
Part of sensory memory for visual inputs
Echoic Memory
Part of sensory memory for auditory inputs
Short-Term Memory
Where information is held while working on it
Long-Term Memory
Repository containing all of my knowledge and all of my beliefs
Free Call Procedure
Participant is free to report the words in any order they choose as heard
Primacy Effect
Recalling the first few words on the list of many words
Recency Effect
Recalling the last few words on the list of many words
Serial Position
U-shaped curve describing the relation between position within the series (primacy and recency effect)
Serial Position
U-shaped curve describing the relation between position within the series (primacy and recency effect)
Memory Rehearsal
As participants hear the list of words, they typically repeat it over and over to themselves
Digit-Span Task
Participants read a series of digits and must immediately repeat them back. Usually go to 7-8 words.
7 +/- 2
Capacity of memorization at a single given time, ranging from 5-9 words.
Chunking
Hypothetical storage unit in working memory; chunk the information into sets.
Operation Span
Procedure designed to measure working memory when it is “working.”
Articulatory Rehearsal Loop
Verbal material
Visuospatial Buffer
Visual materials such as images
Maintenance Rehearsal
Participants focus on the to-be-remembered items themselves, with little thought about what the items mean or how they are related to each other.
Elaborative Rehearsal
Thinking about what the to-be-remembered items mean and how they’re related to each other and to other things you already know.
Intentional Learning
Learning that is deliberate, with an expectation that memory will be tested later.
Incidental Learning
Learning in the absence of any intention to learn.
Shallow Processing
Participants engaged in material in a superficial fashion.
Deep Processing
Processing that requires thought about what the word mean.
Level of Processing
How deeply newly learned materials are engaged.
Retrieval Paths
Paths that can guide your thoughts toward the content to be remembered.
Mnemonic Strategies
Technique used to improve memory accuracy and to make learning easier.
Peg-Word Systems
Type of mnemonic strategy using words or locations as pegs on which to hang the materials to be remembered.
Reading Span
Participant reads sentences and remembers the last work in each sentence. The number of words remembered is the reading span.
Central Executive
Controls thoughts and actions, launch responses, plan and set goals, and breaks habits and routines.
