Forgetting & Remembering Flashcards
Forgetting
A failure to retrieve information that has previously been stored, or a failure to use information as it is required
Retrieval failure
Inability to retrieve a piece of information
Retrieval cues
Mental reminders (images, association, feelings, etc)
What are the two types of retrieval cues?
Contextual cues and emotional cues
Contextual cues
Cues used to trigger memories e.g a quiet well lit study area - increased retrieval in exam
Emotional cues
Decay
Simple fading away of memory over time
*more evident in STM, but does occur in LTM to a smaller extent
Motivated forgetting
Inability to retrieve information because there is an advantage of not remembering
A self-protection and defence mechanism which enables individuals to cope with unwanted memories
What are the two types of motivated forgetting?
Repression and supression
Repression
An unconscious act, where individuals subconsciously push unpleasant thoughts and feelings out of conscious awareness
Supression
A deliberate/conscious act, where individual uses conscious strategies and intentional context shifts
Inteference
Results from retrieval difficulties due to competing, similar information being stored - information is not lost, but rather cannot be successfully accessed
What are the two types of inteference?
Retroactive and proactive
Retroactive inteference
Newly acquired information interferes with retrieval of previously learned (old) information
Proactive interference
Previously learned (old) information interferes with acquiring/storing/retrieving new (more recent) information
Remembering
Accessing stored information
What are the three ways to remember?
Recall, recognition, relearning
Recall
Accessing stored information from long-term memory
What are the types of recall?
Free, serial, and cued
Free recall
Responses can be in any order, no hints or prompts given.
Serial recall
Responses must be in the order they were learnt/presented, with no hints or prompts given
Cued recall
Hints or prompts provided (retrieval cues)
Recognition
The ability to identify correct information from a number of alternatives - unconscious process
Relearning
Learning something a second time, which occurs faster (than the first time)
Who created the levels of processing model?
Craik and Lockhart (1972)
What is the levels of processing theory?
The theory focuses on the depth of processing involved in memory - the deeper the processing of information, the easier it is to recall
Processing of information creates a ‘memory trace’
What are the two levels of processing?
Shallow and deep
Shallow processing
Encoding involving physical properties of stimulus
- Structural: encoding based on appearance
- Phonemic: encoding based on sound/auditory information
Deep processing
Encoding that is meaning-based - creates a more durable memory trace
- Semantic: processing the meaning of a word
- Elaboration: processing involves a meaningful analysis of information (linking new knowledge with existing knowledge e.g personal experiences)
