Cognition: Memory

Question 1

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

Answer 1

Memory

Question 2

The processing of information into the memory system-for example, by extracting meaning

Answer 2

Encoding

Question 3

The retention of encoded information over time

Answer 3

Storage

Question 4

The process of getting information out of memory storage

Answer 4

Retrieval

Question 5

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

Answer 5

Sensory memory

Question 6

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.

Answer 6

Short-term memory

Question 7

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of he memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experience

Answer 7

Long-term memory

Question 8

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

Answer 8

Working memory

Question 9

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of info processing for many functions. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and conscious problem solving

Answer 9

Parallel processing

Question 10

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

Answer 10

Automatic processing

Question 11

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Answer 11

Effortful processing

Question 12

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

Answer 12

Rehearsal

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Spacing effect

Question 14

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

Answer 14

Serial position effect

Question 15

The encoding of picture images

Answer 15

Visual encoding

Question 16

The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words

Answer 16

Acoustic encoding

Question 17

The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Answer 17

Semantic encoding

Question 18

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

Answer 18

Imagery

Question 19

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

Answer 19

Mnemonics

Question 20

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Answer 20

Chunking

Question 21

A few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

Answer 21

Hierarchies

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Iconic memory

Question 23

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

Answer 23

Echoic memory

Question 24

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

Answer 24

Long-term potentiation

Question 25

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Answer 25

Flashbulb memory

Question 26

The loss of memory

Answer 26

Amnesia

Question 27

Retention independent of conscious learning; processed by brain parts except hippocampus; with skills and classical conditioning. Also called nondeclarative or procedural memory.

Answer 27

Implicit memory

Question 28

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare” processed in hippocampus. Also called declarative memory

Answer 28

Explicit memory

Question 29

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

Answer 29

Recall

Question 30

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

Answer 30

Recognition

Question 31

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

Answer 31

Relearning

Question 32

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Answer 32

Priming

Question 33

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

Answer 33

Deja vu

Question 34

What we learn in one state, may be easily recalled when we are in that state again

Answer 34

State-dependent memory

Question 35

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

Answer 35

Mood-congruent memory

Question 36

The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information (forward-acting)

Answer 36

Proactive interference

Question 37

The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information (backward-acting)

Answer 37

Retroactive learning

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Repression

Question 39

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

Answer 39

Misinformation effect

Question 40

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Answer 40

Source amnesia