Chapter 6 Terms

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The ability to store and retrieve information over time.

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

The process of transforming what we perceive , think, or feel into an enduring memory.

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

The process of maintaining information in memory over time.

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

The process of brining to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored.

Question 5

Semantic Encoding

Answer 5

The process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory.

Question 6

Visual Imagery Encoding

Answer 6

The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures.

Question 7

Organizational Encoding

Answer 7

The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items.

Question 8

Sensory Memory

Answer 8

A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less.

Question 9

Iconic Memory

Answer 9

A fast-decaying store of visual information.

Question 10

Echoic Memory

Answer 10

A fast-decaying store of auditory information.

Question 11

Short-term Memory

Answer 11

A type of storage that holds nonsensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute.

Question 12

Rehearsal

Answer 12

The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.

Question 13

Chunking

Answer 13

Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory.

Question 14

Working Memory

Answer 14

A type of short-term storage that actively maintains information.

Question 15

Long-term Memory

Answer 15

A type of storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years.

Question 16

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 16

The inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store.

Question 17

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 17

The inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery.

Question 18

Consolidation

Answer 18

The process by which memories become stable in the brain.

Question 19

Reconsolidation

Answer 19

The process whereby memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, thus requiring them to be consolidated again.

Question 20

Long-term Potentiation (LTP)

Answer 20

A process whereby repeated communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier.

Question 21

Retrieval Cue

Answer 21

External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind.

Question 22

Encoding Specificity Principle

Answer 22

The idea that a retrieval cue can be an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded.

Question 23

State-Dependent Retrieval

Answer 23

The process whereby information tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval.

Question 24

Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Answer 24

The process whereby memory is more likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding and retrieval contexts of the situation match.

Question 25

Retrieval-Induced Forgetting

Answer 25

A process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items.

Question 26

Explicit Memory

Answer 26

The act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences.

Question 27

Implicit Memory

Answer 27

The influence of past experience on later behavior and performance, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection.

Question 28

Procedural Memory

Answer 28

The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or “knowing how” to do things.

Question 29

Priming

Answer 29

An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of a recent exposure to that stimulus.

Question 30

Semantic Memory

Answer 30

A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world.

Question 31

Episodic Memory

Answer 31

The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place.

Question 32

Transience

Answer 32

Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time.

Question 33

Retroactive Interference

Answer 33

Situations in which information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier.

Question 34

Proactive Interference

Answer 34

Situations in which information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later.

Question 35

Absentmindedness

Answer 35

A lapse in attention that results in memory failure.

Question 36

Prospective Memory

Answer 36

Remembering to do thing in the future.

Question 37

Blocking

Answer 37

A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory, even though you are trying to produce it.

Question 38

Memory Misattribution

Answer 38

Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source.

Question 39

Source Memory

Answer 39

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired.

Question 40

Suggestibility

Answer 40

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections.

Question 41

Bias

Answer 41

The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences.

Question 42

Persistence

Answer 42

The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget.

Question 43

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 43

Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events.