Chapter 7a- Memory

Question 0

Encoding

Answer 0

The processing of information into the memory system.

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Question 2

Storage

Answer 2

The retention of encoded information over time.

Question 3

Retrieval

Answer 3

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Question 4

Sensory memory

Answer 4

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Question 5

Short-term memory

Answer 5

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is lost or forgotten.

Question 6

Long-term memory

Answer 6

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Question 7

Working memory

Answer 7

A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Question 8

Parallel processing

Answer 8

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information for many functions.

Question 9

Automatic processing

Answer 9

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Question 10

Effortful processing

Answer 10

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Question 11

Rehearsal

Answer 11

The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.

Question 12

Spacing effect

Answer 12

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Question 13

Serial position effect

Answer 13

Our tendency to recall better the last and first items in a list.

Question 14

Visual encoding

Answer 14

The encoding of picture images.

Question 15

Acoustic encoding

Answer 15

The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.

Question 16

Semantic encoding

Answer 16

The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

Question 17

Imagery

Answer 17

Mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

Question 18

Mnemonics

Answer 18

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devises.

Question 19

Chunking

Answer 19

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Question 20

Iconic memory

Answer 20

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no longer than a few tenths of a second.

Question 21

Echoing memory

Answer 21

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds or words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Question 22

Long-term potentiation

Answer 22

An increase in a synapse’s firing potential after a brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Question 23

Flashbulb memory

Answer 23

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 24

Amnesia

Answer 24

The loss of memory.

Question 25

Implicit memory

Answer 25

Retention independent of conscious recollection.

Question 26

Explicit memory

Answer 26

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.”

Question 27

Hippocampus

Answer 27

A neural center that is located in the limbic system, helps process explicit memories for storage.

Question 28

Recall

Answer 28

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Question 29

Recognition

Answer 29

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as in a multiple-choice test.

Question 30

Relearning

Answer 30

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.

Question 31

Priming

Answer 31

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Question 32

Déjà vu

Answer 32

That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Question 33

Mood-congruent memory

Answer 33

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

Question 34

Proactive interference

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Retroactive interference

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Repression

Answer 36

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Question 37

Misinformation effect

Answer 37

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Question 38

Source amnesia

Answer 38

Attributing to the wrong source of an event we ha s experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. The heart of many false memories.