Chapter 7: Human Memory: Retention and Retrieval Flashcards
Amnesia
Book definition: “A memory deficit due to brain damage. See also anterograde amnesia; retrograde amnesia; Korsakoff syndrome. (p. 173)”
Anterograde amnesia
Book definition: “Loss of the ability to learn new things after an injury. Contrast with retrograde amnesia. (p. 124, 173)”
Anterograde amnesia involves a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories created prior to the injury are lost, but new memories can still be created.
Causes include damage to the hippocampus or surrounding cortices, but is also known to result from ingestion of benzodiazepines (also known as “date rape drugs”) or the so-called “black-out” that can follow alcohol intoxication.
Decay theory
Book definition: “The theory that forgetting is caused by the spontaneous decay of memory traces over time. Contrast with interference theory. (p. 154)”
Declarative memory
Book definition: “Explicit knowledge of various facts. Contrast with procedural knowledge. (p. 179)”
Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm
Book definition: “A paradigm for creating false memories of words by presenting associatively related words. (p. 167)”.
Dissociation
Book definition: “A demonstration that a manipulation has an effect on performance of one task but not another. Such demonstrations are thought to be important in arguing for different cognitive systems. (p. 175)”
Encoding-specificity principle
Book definition: “Tulving’s principle that memory is better when the encoding of an item at study matches the encoding at test. (p. 172)”
Explicit memory
Book definition: “Knowledge that we can consciously recall. Contrast with implicit memory. (p. 175)”
False-memory syndrome
Book definition: “A term used to describe the condition of false memories of childhood abuse. (p. 166)”
Fan effect
Book definition: “The phenomenon that the retrieval of memories takes longer as more things are associated with the items composing the original memories. (p. 157)”
Implicit memory
Book definition: “Knowledge that we cannot consciously recall but that nonetheless manifests itself in our improved performance on some task. Contrast with explicit memory. (p. 175)”
Interference theory
Book definition: “The theory that forgetting is caused by other memories interfering with the retention of the target memory. Contrast with decay theory. (p. 154)”
Korsakoff syndrome
Book definition: “An amnesia resulting from chronic alcoholism and nutritional deficit. (p. 173)”
Mood congruence
Book definition: “The phenomenon that one’s memory is better for studied material whose emotional content matches one’s mood at test. (p. 170)”
Power law of forgetting
Book definition: “The phenomenon that memory performance deteriorates as a power function of the retention interval. (p. 153)”
