Chapter 7: Memory

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The capacity 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 in 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

Chunking

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Working memory

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Rehearsal

Answer 13

The holding of information in the brain through mental repetition.

Question 14

Amnesia

Answer 14

The loss of memory due to brain damage or trauma.

Question 15

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 15

The inability to transfer information from short+term to long-term memory, preventing new long-term memories from forming.

Question 16

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 16

A form of amnesia in which access to memories prior to brain damage is impaired, but the individual can store new experiences in long-term memory.

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

Self-referential encoding

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Explicit memory

Answer 21

A form of memory that involves intentional and conscious remembering.

Question 22

Implicit memory

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Procedural memory

Answer 23

A type of implicit memory related to the acquisition of skills.

Question 24

Priming

Answer 24

The increased ability to process a stimulus because of previous exposure.

Question 25

Affective conditioning

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Episodic memory

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Semantic memory

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Retrospective memory

Answer 28

Memory for things we have done in the past.

Question 29

Prospective memory

Answer 29

Memory for things we need to do in the future.

Question 30

Consolidation

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Reconsolidation

Answer 31

Reactivation of consolidation by retrieving a memory, making the memory susceptible to change.

Question 32

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Flashbulb memories

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Free recall

Answer 34

Accessing information from memory without any cues to aid your retrieval.

Question 35

Retrieval cues

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Cued recall

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Recognition

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 38

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

Question 39

State-dependent retrieval

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Mood-dependent retrieval

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Forgetting curve

Answer 41

The retention of information over various delay times.

Question 42

Retroactive interference

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Proactive interference

Answer 43

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

Question 44

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Motivated forgetting

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Misinformation effect

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Infantile amnesia

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Reminiscence bump

Answer 48

A time prominent memory making between adolescence and early adulthood.

Question 49

Spacing effect

Answer 49

The enhanced ability to remember information when encoding is disrupted over time.