Chapter 6: Memory

Question 1

memory

Answer 1

The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information.

Question 2

sensory memory

Answer 2

The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant.

Question 3

short-term memory

Answer 3

Memory that holds information for 15 to 25 seconds

Question 4

long-term memory

Answer 4

Memory that stores information on a relatively permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.

Question 5

chunk

Answer 5

A group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit in short-term memory.

Question 6

rehearsal

Answer 6

The repetition of information that has entered short-term memory.

Question 7

working memory

Answer 7

A memory system that holds information temporarily while actively manipulating and rehearsing that information.

Question 8

declarative memory

Answer 8

Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates,

and the like.

Question 9

procedural memory

Answer 9

Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball; sometimes referred to as nondeclarative memory.

Question 10

semantic memory

Answer 10

Memory for general knowledge and facts about the

world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are used to deduce other facts

Question 11

episodic memory

Answer 11

Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or context.

Question 12

semantic networks

Answer 12

Mental representations of clusters of interconnected

information

Question 13

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Answer 13

The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows—a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from long-term memory.

Question 14

recall

Answer 14

Memory task in which specific information must be retrieved.

Question 15

recognition

Answer 15

Memory task in which individuals are presented with a stimulus and asked whether they have been exposed to it in the past or to identify it from a list of alternatives.

Question 16

levels-of-processing theory

Answer 16

The theory of memory that emphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally analyzed.

Question 17

explicit memory

Answer 17

Intentional or conscious recollection of information.

Question 18

implicit memory

Answer 18

Memories of which people are not consciously aware but that can affect subsequent performance and behavior.

Question 19

priming

Answer 19

A phenomenon that occurs when exposure to a word or concept (called a prime) later makes it easier to recall information related to the prime.

Question 20

flashbulb memories

Answer 20

Memories of a specific, important, or surprising emotionally significant event that are recalled easily and with vivid imagery.

Question 21

constructive processes

Answer 21

Processes in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events

Question 22

schemas

Answer 22

Organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored,
and recalled.

Question 23

autobiographical memory

Answer 23

Our recollections of our own life experiences

Question 24

decay

Answer 24

The loss of information in memory through its nonuse

Question 25

interference

Answer 25

The phenomenon by which information in memory disrupts the recall of other information.

Question 26

cue-dependent forgetting

Answer 26

Forgetting that occurs when there are insufficient

retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory.

Question 27

proactive interference

Answer 27

Interference in which information learned earlier disrupts the recall of material learned later.

Question 28

retroactive interference

Answer 28

Interference in which material that was learned later

disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier.

Question 29

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 29

A progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual

and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities.

Question 30

amnesia

Answer 30

Memory loss that occurs without other mental difficulties.

Question 31

retrograde amnesia

Answer 31

Amnesia in which memory is lost for occurrences

prior to a certain event, but not for new events.

Question 32

anterograde amnesia

Answer 32

Amnesia in which memory is lost for events that follow an injury.

Question 33

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Answer 33

A disease that afflicts long-term alcoholics, leaving

some abilities intact but including hallucinations and a tendency to repeat the same story.