Chapter 6 Key Terms

Question 1

Explicit memory

Answer 1

Memory that clearly and distinctly expresses (explicates) specific information.

Question 2

Episodic memory

Answer 2

Memories of events that happen to a person or that take place in the person’s presence.

Question 3

Semantic memory

Answer 3

General knowledge, as opposed to episodic memory.

Question 4

Implicit memory

Answer 4

Memory that is suggested (implied) but not plainly expressed, as illustrated in the things that people do but do not state clearly.

Question 5

Priming

Answer 5

The activation of specific associations in memory, often as a result of repetition and without making a conscious effort to access the memory.

Question 6

Retrospective memory

Answer 6

Memory of past events, activities, and learning experiences, as shown by explicit (episodic and semantic) and implicit memories.

Question 7

Prospective memory

Answer 7

Memory to perform an act in the future, as at a certain time or when a certain event occurs.

Question 8

Encode

Answer 8

Modifies information so that it can be placed in memory; encoding is the first stage of information processing.

Question 9

Storage

Answer 9

The maintenance of information over time; the second stage of information processing.

Question 10

Maintenance rehearsal

Answer 10

Mental repetition of information to keep it in memory.

Question 11

Elaborative rehearsal

Answer 11

The kind of coding in which new information is related to information that is already known.

Question 12

Retrieval

Answer 12

The location of stored information and its return to consciousness; the third stage of information possessing.

Question 13

Memory

Answer 13

The processes by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.

Question 14

Sensory memory

Answer 14

The type or stage of memory first encountered by a stimulus; sensory memory holds impressions briefly, but long enough so that series of perceptions are psychologically continuous.

Question 15

Memory trace

Answer 15

An assumed change in the nervous system that reflects the impression made by a stimulus.

Question 16

Short-term memory

Answer 16

The type or stage of memory that can hold information for up to a minute or so after a trace of the stimulus decays; also called working memory.

Question 17

Chunk

Answer 17

A stimulus or group of stimuli that are perceived as a discrete piece of information.

Question 18

Long-term memory

Answer 18

The type or stage of memory capable of relatively permanent storage.

Question 19

Repression

Answer 19

In Freud’s psycodynamic theory, the ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from conscious awareness.

Question 20

Retroactive interference

Answer 20

The interference of new learning with the ability to retrieve material learned previously.

Question 21

Proactive interference

Answer 21

The interference by old learning with the ability to retrieve material learned recently.

Question 22

Dissociative amnesia

Answer 22

Loss of memory of personal information that is thought to stem from psychological conflict or trauma.

Question 23

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 23

Failure to remember events that occurred after physical trauma because of the effects of trauma.

Question 24

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 24

Failure to remember events that occurred prior to physical trauma because of the effects of trauma.

Question 25

Working memory

Answer 25

Another term for short-term memory.