Chapter 7

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The ability to store and retrieve information in order to facilitate learning.

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

The process of taking information from the world, including our internal thoughts and feelings, and converting it to memories

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

The maintenance of information in the brain for later access

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

The process of bringing to mind previously encoded and stored information

Question 5

Multistore model of memory

Answer 5

A model proposing that information flows from our senses through three storage levels of memory: sensory, short-term, and long-term

Question 6

Sensory memory

Answer 6

A storage level of memory that holds sensory information on the order of milliseconds to seconds

Question 7

Short-term memory

Answer 7

A storage level of memory where information can be held briefly, from seconds to less than a minute

Question 8

Long-term memory

Answer 8

A storage level of memory where information can be held for hours to many years and potentially a lifetime

Question 9

Iconic memory

Answer 9

A rapidly decaying store of visual sensory information

Question 10

Echoic memory

Answer 10

A rapidly decaying store of auditory sensory information

Question 11

Neural persistence

Answer 11

Continued activity in neurons after a stimulus ceases, which rapidly fades

Question 12

Chunking

Answer 12

The process of grouping stimuli together in chunks in working memory to increase the amount of information stored in short-term memory

Question 13

Post-categorical

Answer 13

Information is processed to the degree we understand what category of object we are sensing

Question 14

Working memory

Answer 14

A component of memory that allows for both the short-term storage and manipulation of information in real life time

Question 15

Rehearsal

Answer 15

The holding of information in the brain through mental repitition

Question 16

Central executive

Answer 16

The control center that works with sensory stores

Question 17

Levels of processing

Answer 17

The multiple levels at which encoding can occur, ranging from shallow to deep

Question 18

Shallow encoding

Answer 18

Encoding based on sensory characteristics, such as how something looks or sounds

Question 19

Deep encoding

Answer 19

Encoding based on an event’s meaning as well as connections between the new event and past experience

Question 20

Elaboration

Answer 20

Associations between new information and old information already represented in your brain

Question 21

Semantic encoding

Answer 21

A form of deep encoding which operated on the meaning of events and yields better memory than merely processing what a stimulus sounds or looks like

Question 22

Self-referential encoding

Answer 22

Encoding based on an event’s relation to our self-concept, which leads to enhanced memory for the event

Question 23

Explicit (declarative) memory

Answer 23

A form of memory that involves intentional and conscious remembering

Question 24

Implicit (nondeclarative) memory

Answer 24

A form of memory that occurs without intentional recollection or awareness and can be measured indirectly through the influence of prior learning on behavior

Question 25

Hippocampus

Answer 25

Specializes in the formation of explicit memories

Question 26

Procedural memory

Answer 26

A type of implicit memory related to the acquisition of skills

Question 27

Priming

Answer 27

The increased ability to process a stimulus because of previous exposure

Question 28

Affective conditioning

Answer 28

A form of conditioning in which a previously neutral stimulus acquires positive or negative value

Question 29

Episodic memory

Answer 29

The explicit recollection of personal experience that requires piecing together the elements of that time and place

Question 30

Semantic memory

Answer 30

Explicit memory supporting knowledge about the world, including concepts and facts

Question 31

Semantic dementia

Answer 31

The loss of memory for meaning in both verbal and nonverbal domains following progressive degenerative disorders

Question 32

Retrospective memory

Answer 32

Memory for things we have done in the past

Question 33

Prospective memory

Answer 33

Memory for things we need to do in the future

Question 34

Consolidation

Answer 34

The process whereby memory storage is integrated and becomes stable in the brain

Question 35

Reconsolidation

Answer 35

Re activation of consolidation by retrieving a memory, making the memory susceptible to change

Question 36

Brain connectome project

Answer 36

The ultimate goal of this project is to study each neuron in the human brain and its connections, but neuroscientists are still working toward achieving this lofty goal

Question 37

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 37

A mechanism that creates enduring synaptic connections, which results in increased transmission between neurons

Question 38

Urbach-Wiethe Syndrome

Answer 38

A rare genetic condition in which the brain never develops an amygdala

Question 39

Flashbulb memories

Answer 39

A vivid memory for an emotionally significant event, thought to be permanent and detailed, as if frozen in time like a photograph

Question 40

Free recall

Answer 40

Accessing information from memory without any cues to aid your retrieval

Question 41

Retrieval cues

Answer 41

Information related to stored memories that helps bring the memories back to mind

Question 42

Cued recall

Answer 42

A form of recall that is facilitated by providing information related to the stored memory

Question 43

Recognition

Answer 43

A form of retrieval that relies on identifying previously seen or experienced behavior

Question 44

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 44

The idea that retrieval is best when the present context recreates the context in which information was initially encoded

Question 45

State-dependent retrieval

Answer 45

The increased likelihood of remembering when a person is in the same state during both encoding and retrieval

Question 46

Mood-dependent retrieval

Answer 46

The increased likelihood of remembering when a person is in the same mood during both encoding and retrieval

Question 47

Forgetting curve

Answer 47

The retention of information over various delay times

Question 48

Retroactive interference

Answer 48

The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Question 49

Proactive interference

Answer 49

The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Question 50

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Answer 50

A failure to retrieve information despite confidence that it is stored in memory

Question 51

Motivated forgetting

Answer 51

Willful forgetting of information so that it is less likely to be retrieved later

Question 52

Misinformation effect

Answer 52

The decreased accuracy of episodic memories because of information provided after the event

Question 53

Infantile amnesia

Answer 53

The inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories from the first few years of life

Question 54

Reminiscence bump

Answer 54

A time of prominent memory making between adolescence and early adulthood

Question 55

Spacing effect

Answer 55

The enhanced ability to remember information when encoding is distributed over time