Chapter 6: Memory Flashcards
Memory
The retention of information or experience over time as a result of three key processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval
Encoding
The first step in memory; the process by which information gets into memory storage
Divided attention
Concentrating on more than one activity at a time
Sustained attention
The ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time
Executive attention
The ability to plan action, allocate attention to goals, detect errors and compensate for them, monitor progress on tasks, and deal with novel or difficult circumstances
Levels of processing
A continuum of memory processing from shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory
Elaboration
The formation of a number of different connection around a stimulus at a given level of memory encoding
Storage
The retention of information over time and how this information is represented in memory
Atkinson-shiffrin theory
Theory stating that memory storage involves three separate systems: sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory
Sensory memory
Memory systems that involve holding information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses
Echotic memory
Refers to auditory sensory memory, which is retained for up to several seconds
Iconic memory
Refers to visual sensory memory which is only retained for around 0.25 second
Short-term memory
Limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless strategies are used to retain it longer
Chunking
Involves grouping or packing information that exceeds the 7+/-2 memory span into higher order units that can be remembered as single units
Working memory
A combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow individuals to hold memory temporarily as they preform cognitive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to guide problem solving, understanding, and decision making
Phonological loop (working memory)
Specialized to briefly store speech based information about the sound of language
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Stores visual and spatial memory, including visual imagery
Central executive (working memory)
Integrates information not only from the phonological loop and the visual-spatial sketchpad, but also from long term memory
Long-term memory
A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time
Explicit (declarative) memory
The conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated
Episodic memory
The retention of information about where, when, and what of life’s happenings- that is, how individuals remember life’s episodes
Semantic memory
A person’s knowledge about the world
Implicit (nondeclarative) memory
Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience
Procedural memory
A type of implicit memory for skills
Priming
The activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster
Schema
A preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information. Schemas from prior encounters with the environment influence the way individual encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information
Retrieval
The memory process that occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage
Serial position effect
The tendency to recall the items at the beginning and the end of a list more readily than those in the middle
Recall
A memory task in which the person must retrieve previously learned information, as on an essay test
Recognition
A memory task in which a person must identify (recognize) learned items, such as multiple choice on a test
Encoding specificity principle
States that information present at the time of encoding or learning, tends to be an effective retrieval cue
Context dependent memory
The principle that people remember better when they attempt to recall information in the same context as when they learned (encoded) it
Autobiographical memory
A special form of episodic memory, consisting of a person’s recollections of their life experiences
Flashbulb memory
The memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than every day events
Motivated forgetting
Forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering it is intolerable
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve
The principle that most forgetting occurs quickly after encoding, and then continues to decline as time passes
Inference theory
The theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember
Proactive interference
Situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material that was learned later
Retroactive interference
Situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier
Decay theory
Theory stating that when an individual learns something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates; suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
A type of effortful retrieval associated with a person’s feeling that they know something (say, a word or a name) but cannot quite pull it out of memory
Amnesia
The loss of memeory
Anterograde amnesia
A memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events
Retrograde amnesia
Memory loss for a segment of the past, but not for new events
