Chapter 7 - Human Memory

Question 1

What are the 3 memory system?

Answer 1

Sensory memory
Short term memory
Long term memory

Question 2

What is sensory memory; encoding?

Answer 2

-a brief imprint of what you have just experienced
-Registers an exact copy of what’s seen or heard
HUGE capacity, but not all that useful form remembering because it is BRIEF

Question 3

What is short term memory?

Answer 3

a limited capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed material for up to 20 seconds

Question 4

What is the “magical number” of how many separate entities you can remember?

Answer 4

7 (+/- 2)

Question 5

What is chunking?

Answer 5

when you group information together to increase your functional capacity of remembering

Question 6

What is maintenance rehearsal?

Answer 6

repetition to keep memory alive

Question 7

What are the 3 levels of encoding?

Answer 7

Structural encoding
Phonemic encoding
Semantic encoding

Question 8

What is structural encoding?

Answer 8

Encoding by what it LOOKS like

doesn’t stick around long

Question 9

What is phonemic encoding?

Answer 9

Encoding by the way it SOUNDS

(takes a little longer to process so typically you remember it a bit longer)

Question 10

What is semantic encoding?

Answer 10

Encoding by the meaning; takes more processing thus you remember it easiest

Question 11

What is elaboration?

Answer 11

Making a connection with what you already know in order to encode

Question 12

What is visual imagery?

Answer 12

When you create a mental image or visualize what you are trying to encode

Question 13

What is long term memory?

Answer 13

Long term memory is an unlimited capacity stare that can hold information over lengthy periods of time

Question 14

If long term memory is permanent than why do we sometimes have trouble remembering it?

Answer 14

We have the memory but can’r retrieve it

Question 15

What are 2 types of retrieval cues?

Answer 15

Descriptive cues

Context cues

Question 16

What are distinctive cues?

Answer 16

distinctive cures are flashbulb memories (an event that you can remember like a picture)

Question 17

What are flashbulb memories?

Answer 17

an event that you can remember like a picture; example the black out, or september 11.

Question 18

What are context cues?

Answer 18

cues within context (it is easier to remember something if you are in the same context that you encoded it in)

Question 19

Context cues can either be ______ ______ or ________ ____

Answer 19

external location

internal state

Question 20

How accurate is long term memory?

Answer 20

memory is a reconstructive process so sometimes we fill in the gaps with the wrong information

Question 21

Define schemas.

Answer 21

Knowledge of things, places, or events based on experience
Help us in unfamiliar situations, but can distort or change our memories
We remember seeing what we expect to see

Question 22

What is the misinformation effect by Elizabeth Loftus?

Answer 22

The misinformation effect happens when our recall of episodic memories (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual knowledge) becomes less accurate because of post-event information

Question 23

What is source monitoring?

Answer 23

A source monitoring error is a type of memory error where a specific recollected experience is incorrectly determined to be the source of a memory

Question 24

What are the 5 reasons for forgetting?

Answer 24

• encoding prolems
• decay theory
• interference
• retrieval failure
• emotion

Question 25

What occurs when there is an encoding problem?

Answer 25

could be an issue of attention, could be that you encoded the info but you didn’t rehearse it so it disappears; could be that you encoded it superficially

Question 26

What is decay theory?

Answer 26

Memories fade with time (happens naturally)

NOT FOR LONG TERM MEMORY

Question 27

What occurs when there is interference?

Answer 27

other material in long term memory interferes with remembering

Question 28

What are the 2 types of interference?

Answer 28

retroactive interference

proactive interference

Question 29

Define retroactive interference.

Answer 29

the interference is acting on the old memories; the interference is the new memory
(for example you may have difficulty skiing inf you just learned how to snow board)

Question 30

Define proactive interference.

Answer 30

The interference is acting on the new information

the memory of where I usually park is interfering with them memory of where I parked today

Question 31

What is retrieval failure?

Answer 31

When you an’t retrieve information; the tip of the tongue phenomena

Question 32

What is the “tip of the tongue” phenomena?

Answer 32

temporary inability to remember something that you know accompanied by a feeling that it is just out of reach

Question 33

In what ways can emotion, like anxiety, effect your memory?

Answer 33

emotion can cause you to forget; motivated forgetting is a controversial freudian theory with week evidence

Question 34

What are some ways of improving memory?

Answer 34

• use elaborative rehearsal (make it meaningful)
• organize information (easier to retrieve
• over learn the material (practice)
• distribute practice over time
• minimize interference
• use mnemonics