Chapter 8: Memory

Question 1

memory

Answer 1

• the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrieval of information.

Question 2

recall

Answer 2

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

Question 3

recognition

Answer 3

• a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Question 4

relearning

Answer 4

• a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Question 5

encoding

Answer 5

• the process of getting information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning. - the process of getting information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Question 6

storage

Answer 6

• the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Question 7

retrieval

Answer 7

• the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Question 8

parallel processing

Answer 8

• processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem at once.

Question 9

sensory memory

Answer 9

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

Question 10

short-term memory

Answer 10

• activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Question 11

long-term memory

Answer 11

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

Question 12

working memory

Answer 12

• a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Question 13

explicit memory

Answer 13

• retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare.” (Also called declarative memory.)

Question 14

effortful processing

Answer 14

• encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Question 15

automatic processing

Answer 15

• unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-earned information, such as word meanings.

Question 16

implicit memory

Answer 16

• retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection. (Also called non-declarative memory.)

Question 17

iconic memory

Answer 17

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

Question 18

echoic memory

Answer 18

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

Question 19

chunking

Answer 19

• organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Question 20

mnemonics

Answer 20

• memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Question 21

spacing effect

Answer 21

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

Question 22

testing effect

Answer 22

• enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

Question 23

shallow processing

Answer 23

• encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words.

Question 24

deep processing

Answer 24

• encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.

Question 25

semantic memory

Answer 25

• explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).

Question 26

episodic memory

Answer 26

• explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory).

Question 27

hippocampus

Answer 27

• a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories—of facts and events—for storage.

Question 28

memory consolidation

Answer 28

• the neural storage of a long-term memory.

Question 29

flashbulb memory

Answer 29

• a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 30

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 30

• an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

Question 31

priming

Answer 31

• the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

Question 32

encoding specificity principle

Answer 32

• the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.

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

serial position effect

Answer 34

• our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.

Question 35

anterograde amnesia

Answer 35

• an inability to form new memories.

Question 36

retrograde amnesia

Answer 36

• an inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Question 37

proactive interference

Answer 37

• the forwardacting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

Question 38

retroactive interference

Answer 38

• the backward- acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.

Question 39

repression

Answer 39

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

Question 40

reconsolidation

Answer 40

• a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.

Question 41

misinformation effect

Answer 41

• occurs when misleading information has corrupted one’s memory of an event.

Question 42

source amnesia

Answer 42

• faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. (Also called source misattribution .) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Question 43

déjà vu

Answer 43

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