Chapter 6: Memory Flashcards
Memory is?
Ability to store and retrieve information over time
3 key functions of memory
Encode- process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory, store- maintaining information in memory over time, and retrieve- process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded. And stored
What gets encoded?
Semantic coding- process of actively relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already in memory, visual imagery encoding- process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures, organizational encoding- process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items
Survival-encoding
Survival encoding yields better memory.
What type of encoding yields better memory?
Survival-encoding
Sensory storage
Iconic memory- fast decaying store of visual information
Echoic memory- fast decaying store of auditory information
Short-term storage
Storage that holds non sensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute. It can hold 7 items
Types of short term storage
Rehearsal- process of keeping information in STM by mental repeating it
chunking- combining small pieces of information into larger clusters/chunks that are more easily held in STM
working memory- STM storage that actively maintains information
Long-term memory
Storage that holds for hours, days, weeks, or years. No known capacity.
Hippocampus’ role in memory
‘Indexes’ information to make memory concrete
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to transfer new information form the short-term store into the long-term store
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation
Semantic encoding
Process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory
Visual imagery encoding
The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures
What is the process of putting new information into memory?
Encoding
What is the self-reference effect?
The fact that the best recall is when we put something into the context of our own lives
Mnemonics
Acronyms that can be used to help memorize information
Method of loci
Associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
Where is short term memory housed?
The hippocampus
What are the two types of long term memory?
Implicit (nondeclarative) memory and explicit (declarative) memory
What is declarative memory
Memories that require conscious recall. Divided into semantic memory and episodic memory
No declarative memory
Consists of our skills and conditioned responses
Semantic memory
Declarative memory type that involves all of the facts that we know
Episodic memory
Explicit memory type that involve our experiences
Retrieval-induced forgetting
Process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs later recall of related items
Suggestibility
Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections
What is the spacing effect?
Phenomenon that spacing out the time between “relearning” helps later recall
Persistence
The intrusive recollection of events we wish we could forget
Flashbulb effect
Detailed recollections of when and where we hard about shocking events
Confabulation
Process of creating vivid but fabricated memories
Consolidation
Process by which memories become stable in the brain. Takes place in the hippocampus
Reconsolidation
Memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, requiring them to be consolidate again
Long term potentiation
Process whereby communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier
Retrieval cue
External information associated with stored information that helps bring that information to mind
Retrieval-induced forgetting
Process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items
Explicit memory
Act of cobsoiusnesly or intentionally retrieving past experiences
Implicit memory
Influence of past experiences on later behavior, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection
Procedural memory
Gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice
Priming
Enhanced ability to think of a stimulus as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus; less cortical activiation
Semantic memory
Network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world
Episodic memory
Collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place
Collaborative memory
How people share in groups
Transience
Memories fade (they are transient)
Retroactive interference
Situations where information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier
Proactive interference
Situations where information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later
Absent mindedness
Lapse in attention results in memory failure
Blocking
Failure to retrieve
Memory misattribution
Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
Source memory
Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired
False recognition
Feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before
Suggestibility
Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections
Bias
Distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences
Consistency bias
Tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present
Change bias
Tendency to exaggerate differences between what we feel or believe now and what we felt or believed in the past
Egocentric bias
Tendency to exaggerate the change between the past and the present in order to make ourselves look good in retrospect
Persistence
Intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget
Flashbulb memories
Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events
7 sins of memory
Misattribution, persistence, bias, suggestibility, false recognition, blocking, absent mindedness
