Chapter #6: Attention & Memory

Question 1

Information Processing Model

Answer 1

a computer metaphor to explaoin how people process stimuli

Question 2

What 3 assumptions is the Information Processing Model based on?

Answer 2

1. People are active participants in the process
2. Quantitative and qualitative aspects of performance
3. Processed through a series of processes

Question 3

Sensory Memory

Answer 3

brief and an almost identical representation of the stimuli that exists in your mind in the abscence of the stimuli itself

Question 4

Speed of Processing

Answer 4

how quickly and efficiently the early steps in information processing are completed

Question 5

Processing Resources

Answer 5

the amount of attention one has to apply to a particular situation

Question 6

Inhibitory Los

Answer 6

older adults have difficulty inhibiting the processes of irrelevant information

Question 7

Attentional Resources

Answer 7

issues through lens of attention

Question 8

Divided Attention

Answer 8

concerns how well people perform multiple tasks simultaneously
* Age differences appear when tasks become complex
* Can be minimalized with training/practice
* older adults focus on the task more important to them

Question 9

Automatic Processing

Answer 9

Memory processing that requires minimal demands of attention, and can be encoded without consciously being aware of it

Question 10

Effortful Processing

Answer 10

requires all of the available attention, deliberate effort, and rehearsal

Question 11

Encoding

Answer 11

the process of gathering information into the memory system

Question 12

Storage

Answer 12

involves the manner in which information is represented and kept on/in memory

Question 13

Retrieval

Answer 13

pulling information back out of memory

Question 14

Short Term/Working Memory

Answer 14

the active proccesses and structures involved in holding information in the mind and simultaneously using that information
* short capacity

Question 15

Rehearsal

Answer 15

the process by that information is held in working memory, either by repeating items over and over by making meaningful connections
* decrease in spatial memory than visual

Question 16

Implicit Memory

Answer 16

a.ka. Procedural Memory
involves retrievl of information without conscious or intentional recollection

Question 17

Explicit Memory

Answer 17

a.k.a. Declarative Memory
intentional and conscious remembering of information learned and rembmered at a specific point in time

Question 18

Long-Term Memory

Answer 18

the ability to remember rather extensive amounts of information from a few seconds to a few hours to decades

Question 19

Semantic Memory

Answer 19

conscious learning and remembering the meaning of simple words and concepts

Question 20

Episodic Memory

Answer 20

the generla class of memory having to do with the conscious recollection of information from a specific event ir point in time

Question 21

What are 2 phenomenons of knowing the information but unable to recall it?

Answer 21

Tip of the Tongue
Feeling of Knowing

Question 22

Recall

Answer 22

a test where people are asked to remember information without hints or cues
* Older adulst are more likely to include more intrusions and repeat

Question 23

Recognition

Answer 23

involves selecting previously learned information from among several items; multiple choice tests, picking out names
* Older adults are more likely to recognize items that were never presented

Question 24

Strategy

Answer 24

anything people do to make the task easier and increase the efficiency of encoding or retrieval
* Older adults tend to use fewer

Question 25

Prospective Memory

Answer 25

involves remembering to remember something in the future
* Event Cue - completing an event before moving onto another
* Time Cue - doing an event at a certain time

Question 26

Autobiographical Memory

Answer 26

involves remembering information and events from our own life
* Combines episodic and semantic memory

Question 27

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 27

memories for personally traumatic or unexpected events
* tend to feel real, believe they are highly accurate down to small details

Question 28

Source Memory

Answer 28

the ability to remember the source of a familiar event as well as the ability to determine if an event was imagined or actually happened

Older adults are less accurate
* Have issues connecting the item to be remembered within context

Question 29

False Memory

Answer 29

is when one remembers items or events that did not occur
* people tend to recognize false information and be confident in it

Question 30

Cognitive Reserve

Answer 30

factors that provide flexibility in responding and adapting to changes in the environment

Question 31

What are the factors of Cognitive Reserve?

Answer 31

1. Exercise
2. Multilingualism & Cognitive Functioning
3. Semantic Memory in service of Episodic Memory
4. Negative Stereotypes & Memory Performance

Question 32

How does Exercise help preserve memory?

Answer 32

• increased neural plasticity
• increase gray matter volume
• reduces brain atrophy

Question 33

How does Multilingualism preserve memory?

Answer 33

• stronger functional connecting in parietal-frontal network

Question 34

How does Semantic Memory help preserve memory?

Answer 34

older adults perform better when using previously learned semantic information to support episodic knowledge

Question 35

How does Negative Stereotypes impact memory preservation?

Answer 35

• older adulst may not perform at optimal levels because they are aware and threatened by stereotypes
• The belief that age hampers memory ability

Question 36

External Aids

Answer 36

memory aids that rely on environmental resources
e.g. notebooks, calendars

Question 37

Internal Aids

Answer 37

memory aids that rely on mental processes
e.g. imagery

Question 38

Metamemory

Answer 38

memory about how memory works and what one believes to be true about it

Question 39

Memory Monitoring

Answer 39

the awareness of what we are doing with our memory right now

Question 40

Age differences in Metamemory

Answer 40

Older adults….
* seem to know less about internal workings of memory and capacity
* view memory as less stable
* perceive they have less direct control over memory

Question 41

Memory Self-Efficacy

Answer 41

the belief one will be able to perform a specific task
* Older adulst with lower memory self-efficacy perofmr worse