Chapter 8 Flashcards
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Encoding
Getting info into memory
Storage
retaining memories by retention for further use
Retrieval
Recalling memories for when we need them at a given moment
What are the two major models of memory?
information-processing model & parallel distributed-processing (PDP) (or connectionist) model
How do we encode info into memeory?
Effortful and automatic processing
Automatic processing
encoding of information with little conscious awareness or effort.
Effortful processing
encoding of information through careful attention and conscious effort.
Transferring from Sensory Memory into Working Memory
Sensory memory
memory involving a detailed, brief sensory image or sound retained for a brief period of time.
Transferring from Sensory Memory into Working Memory
Working memory
a short-term memory store that can hold five to nine items at once.
Transferring from Sensory Memory into Working Memory
Rehersal
conscious repetition of information in an attempt to make sure the information is encoded.
Transferring Working Memory into Long-Term Memory
long-term memory
the memory system in which we hold all of the information we have previously gathered, available for retrieval and use in a new situation or task.
Transferring Working Memory into Long-Term Memory
spaced practice effect
facilitated encoding of material through rehearsal situations spread out over time.
In What Form Is Information Encoded?
semantic code
cognitive representation of information or an event based on the meaning of the information.
In What Form Is Information Encoded?
eidetic memories
photographic memory
In What Form Is Information Encoded?
phonological or visual codes
visualizaing images and sounds
In What Form Is Information Encoded?
mnemonic devices
techniques used to enhance the meaningfulness of information as a way of making them more memorable.
In What Form Is Information Encoded?
schemas
knowledge bases that we develop based on prior exposure to similar experiences or other knowledge bases.
Why is it more effective to study all term long, rather than in one massive session right before a final exam?
Which type of coding would most people use to remember someone’s face? Which type would most people use to remember a person’s name?
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
retrieval cues
words, sights, or other stimuli that remind us of the information we need to retrieve from our memory.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
priming
activation of one piece of information, which in turn leads to activation of another piece, and ultimately to the retrieval of a specific memory.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
recognition tasks
memory tasks in which people are asked to identify whether or not they have seen a particular item before.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
recall tasks
memory tasks in which people are asked to produce information using no or few retrieval cues.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
context
the original location where you first learned a concept or idea, rich with retrieval cues that will make it more likely you will be able to recall that information later if you are in that same location or context.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
encoding specificity principle
a theoretical framework that asserts that memory retrieval is more efficient when the information available at retrieval is similar to the information available at the time of encoding.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
state-dependent memory
memory retrieval facilitated by being in the same state of mind in which you encoded the memory in the first place.
How Do We Retrieve Memories?
flashbulb memories
detailed and near-permanent memories of an emotionally significant event, or of the circumstances surrounding the moment we learned about the event.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
forgetting
the inability to recall information that was previously encoded into memory.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
decay theory
theory of forgetting, suggesting that memories fade over time due to neglect or failure to access over long periods of time.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
interference theory
theory that forgetting is influenced by what happens to people before or after they take information in.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
proactive interference
competing information that is learned before the forgotten material, preventing its subsequent recall.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
retroactive interference
learning of new information that disrupts access to previously recalled information.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
repression
process in which we unconsciously prevent some traumatic events from entering our awareness so that we do not have to experience the anxiety or blows to our self-concept that the memories would bring.
Why Do We Forget and Misremember?
source misattribution
remembering information, but not the source it came from; can lead to remembering information from unreliable sources as true.
What Is the Anatomy of Memory?
prefrontal cortex
important brain structure located just behind the forehead and implicated in working memory.
What Is the Biochemistry of Memory?
memory consolidation
process by which memories stabilize in the brain.
What Is the Biochemistry of Memory?
potentiation
synchronous networks of cells firing together.
What Is the Biochemistry of Memory?
long-term potentiation (LTP)
a phenomenon where repeated stimulation of certain nerve cells in the brain greatly increases the likelihood that the cells will respond strongly to future stimulation.
prospective memory
ability to remember content in the future.
retrospective memory
ability to remember content from the past.
Organic Memory Disorders
amnestic disorders
organic disorders in which memory loss is the primary symptom.
Organic Memory Disorders
retrograde amnesia
inability to remember things that occurred before an organic event.
Organic Memory Disorders
anterograde amnesia
ongoing inability to form new memories after an amnesia-inducing event.
Organic Memory Disorders
dementia
severe memory problems combined with losses in at least one other cognitive function, such as abstract thinking or language.
Organic Memory Disorders
Alzheimer’s disease
most common form of dementia, usually beginning with mild memory problems, lapses of attention, and problems in language, and progressing to difficulty with even simple tasks and recall of long-held memories.
neurofibrillary tangles
twisted protein fibres found within the cells of the hippocampus and certain other brain areas.
senile plaques
sphere-shaped deposits of a protein known as beta-amyloid that form in the spaces between cells in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and certain other brain regions, as well as in some nearby blood vessels.
