Extra Vocabulary Flashcards
encoding
The process of getting information into the memory system - for example, by extracting meaning.
testing effect or retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information.
sensory memory
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.
shallow processing
Encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words.
short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten.
storage
The process of retaining encoded information over time.
spacing effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
recognition
A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as a multiple-choice test.
relearning
A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.
retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
parallel processing
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions.
memory
The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
mnemonics
Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
long-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
implicit memory or non-declarative memory
Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.
It uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them.
working memory
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.
deep processing
Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.
chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.
explicit memory or declarative memory
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.
automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.
echoic memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
episodic memory
Explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory.)
encoding specificity principle
The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.
mood-congruent memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
serial position effect
Our tendency to recall best last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.
hippocampus
A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories - of facts and events - for storage.
flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
amygdala
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.
long-term potentiation (LTP)
An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.
synapse
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.
cerebellum
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.
frontal lobes
Each of the paired lobes of the brain lying immediately behind the forehead, including areas concerned with behavior, learning, personality, and voluntary movement.
basal ganglia
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.
semantic memory
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
memory consolidation
The neural storage of a long-term memory.
reconsolidation
A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.
storage decay
Type of forgetting that occurs when memories fade over time.
déjà vu
That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
misinformation effect
Occurs when misleading information has corrupted one’s memory of an event.
source amnesia or misattribution
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.
retroactive interference
The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.
retrograde amnesia
An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.
proactive interference
The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.
repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
Ebbinghaus “forgetting curve”
Describes the decrease in ability of the brain to retain memory over time.
anterograde amnesia
An inability to form new memories.
encoding failure
Refers to the brain’s occasional failure to create a memory link.
