Cognitive psychology Flashcards
Memory
the storage of information in the brain for later access
Encoding
the process of taking information from the world, as well as our internal thoughts and feelings, and creating a storage-ready version
Storage
The maintenance of encoded information in the brain for later access
Retrieval
The process of bringing to mind previously encoded and stored information
When vs. How
When: a personal life event, fixed in time
How: procedure, can use anytime (exists outside of when you learnt it)
Sensory memory
Information entering the brain, accomplished through sensory organs.
For a very brief period, usually less than 1 second, a very detailed memory is produced, quickly lost/ forgotten
Short-term memory
Further processing of an item in sensory memory (not all sensory memories are processed into short-term memory; many are forgotten).
Last less than 1 minute.
Long-term memory
Information in short-term memory is either forgotten or brought into long-term memory
Well-maintained memories in long-term storage can be retrieved multiple times
Storage in long-term memory may last for a few hours, decades, or anywhere in between
Active re-encoding…
alters but also strengthens memory
How do we know about memory phases?
Dissociation studies, looking at patients with impaired memory
Post-categorical processing
when information is processed at the level of its category
Digit span task
People tend to be able to remember 7 digits at a time, plus or minus 2. Tells us about verbal short term memory capacity
Working memory
short-term memory storage plus the manipulation of information
Serial positioning effect
Smile curve: words at beginning and end better remembered → primacy effect (long-term memory) and recency effect (short-term memory)
Amnesia
the loss of memory due to brain damage or trauma
Retrograde amnesia
access to memory prior to the traumatic event causing amnesia is hindered. New memories made after the event can be stored in long-term memory
Anterograde amnesia
The ability to encode information into long-term memory after the traumatic event causing amnesia is hindered. Old memories made before the event can be retrieved
Explicit memories
Purposely brought into awareness (episodic and semantic)
Episodic memory
the recollection of a personal experience, involving piecing together information such as time and place of that experience (managed by hippocampus)
Semantic memory
the recollection of knowledge about the world, including concepts and facts
Implicit memory
memories are used automatically, without conscious awareness
Procedural memory
related to the acquisition of skills, managed by cerebellum and basal ganglia
Priming
the increased ability to process a stimulus because of previous exposure
Classical conditioning
when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus that produces a behaviour
