Extra Vocabulary

Question 1

encoding

Answer 1

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

Question 2

testing effect or retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning

Answer 2

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information.

Question 3

sensory memory

Answer 3

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.
Is the shortest-term element of memory.
For example, the ability to look at something and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation is an example of sensory memory.

Question 4

shallow processing

Answer 4

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

Question 5

short-term memory

Answer 5

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 6

storage

Answer 6

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Question 7

spacing effect

Answer 7

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

Question 8

recall

Answer 8

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

Question 9

recognition

Answer 9

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

Question 10

relearning

Answer 10

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

Question 11

retrieval

Answer 11

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Question 12

parallel processing

Answer 12

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

Question 13

memory

Answer 13

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

Question 14

mnemonics

Answer 14

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

Question 15

long-term memory

Answer 15

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

Question 16

iconic memory

Answer 16

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

Question 17

implicit memory or non-declarative memory

Answer 17

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.
It uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them.

Question 18

working memory

Answer 18

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

Question 19

deep processing

Answer 19

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

Question 20

chunking

Answer 20

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

Question 21

explicit memory or declarative memory

Answer 21

Retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.”
For example, remembering the time of an appointment or recollecting an event from years ago.
It involves conscious recollection.

Question 22

automatic processing

Answer 22

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

Question 23

echoic memory

Answer 23

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

Question 24

effortful processing

Answer 24

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Question 25

episodic memory

Answer 25

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

Question 26

encoding specificity principle

Answer 26

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

Question 27

mood-congruent memory

Answer 27

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

Question 28

serial position effect

Answer 28

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

Question 29

hippocampus

Answer 29

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

Question 30

flashbulb memory

Answer 30

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 31

amygdala

Answer 31

The amygdala is an almond-shaped section of nervous tissue located in the temporal (side) lobe of the brain.
They are thought to be a part of the limbic system within the brain, which is responsible for emotions, survival instincts, and memory.

Question 32

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 32

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

Question 33

synapse

Answer 33

In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell.

Question 34

cerebellum

Answer 34

The cerebellum is a major structure of the hindbrain that is located near the brainstem. This part of the brain is responsible for a number of functions including motor skills such as balance, coordination, and posture.

Question 35

frontal lobes

Answer 35

Each of the paired lobes of the brain lying immediately behind the forehead, including areas concerned with behavior, learning, personality, and voluntary movement.

Question 36

basal ganglia

Answer 36

Region on the underside of the brain that plays a very important role in muscle coordination and movement.
The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including control of voluntary motor movements, procedural learning, habit learning, eye movements, cognition, and emotion.

Question 37

semantic memory

Answer 37

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

Question 38

memory consolidation

Answer 38

The neural storage of a long-term memory.

Question 39

reconsolidation

Answer 39

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

Question 40

storage decay

Answer 40

Type of forgetting that occurs when memories fade over time.

Question 41

déjà vu

Answer 41

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

Question 42

misinformation effect

Answer 42

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

Question 43

source amnesia or misattribution

Answer 43

Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Question 44

retroactive interference

Answer 44

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

Question 45

retrograde amnesia

Answer 45

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Question 46

proactive interference

Answer 46

The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

Question 47

repression

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Ebbinghaus “forgetting curve”

Answer 48

Describes the decrease in ability of the brain to retain memory over time.

Question 49

anterograde amnesia

Answer 49

An inability to form new memories.

Question 50

encoding failure

Answer 50

Refers to the brain’s occasional failure to create a memory link.