Human Memory Flashcards

Question

What is the power law of learning?

Answer 1

Suggests that the more you practice something, the faster you learn at first, but as you keep practicing, the rate of improvement slows down

Answer 2

A process in the brain that strengthens the connections between neurons, making it easier for them to communicate (remembering something over and over makes it stronger, and easier to remember next time)

Answer 3

Learning is more effective when study sessions are spread out over time, rather than crammed into a short period

Answer 4

A way of remembering things by connecting new information to what you already know

Answer 5

Incidental learning happens without trying to learn something, like picking up information naturally while doing something else. Intentional learning is when you purposely focus on learning something, like studying for a test.

Answer 6

Vivid, detailed, long-lasting memories of major, important and emotionally charged events

Answer 7

Involved stimulating parts of the brain during surgery, which triggered memories or sensations, helping to map brain functions. (Forgotten memories are still there even though we cant retrieve them) Nelson later found and supported that forgotten memories actually exist

Answer 8

Suggests that we forget information quickly at first, but the rate of forgetting slows down over time. The more you try to remember something, the slower you forget it

Answer 9

An experiment that studies memory control. Participants are shown pairs of words and asked to either think about one word when prompted or not think about it. This helps researchers understand how we can intentionally suppress memories or actively bring them to mind

Answer 10

The ability to keep information in memory over time

Answer 11

Suggests that memories fade or weaken over time if they are not used or rehearsed

Answer 12

Suggests that forgetting happens because other information gets in the way. There are two types: Proactive interference: Older memories interfere with new ones. Retroactive interference: New memories interfere with older ones.

Answer 13

When the more facts or associations you have linked to a particular concept, the slower it becomes to recall any one of them

Answer 14

Exact retrieval is when you remember something exactly as it was, like recalling a specific fact or event with no mistakes. Plausible retrieval is when you remember something that seems likely or reasonable, but it might not be completely accurate

Answer 15

When someone describes what they saw during an event, like a crime or accident, to help investigators. However, it can be unreliable because memories can be influenced by factors like stress, time, or leading questions

Answer 16

When a person believes they remember something that didn’t actually happen

Answer 17

An experiment that shows how false memories can be created. Participants are shown a list of words related to a central theme (like “bed,” “rest,” “sleep”). Afterward, many participants mistakenly remember a word that wasn’t on the list but fits the theme (like “dream”), demonstrating how false memories can form. (Activation in the hippocampus is about the same for false memories and true memories)

Answer 18

Refers to the tendency to remember information that matches your current mood. For example, when you’re happy, you’re more likely to recall happy memories

Answer 19

The idea that you remember things better when you’re in the same physical or emotional state as when you learned them

Answer 20

Suggests that memory is improved when the context during encoding (learning) matches the context during retrieval (remembering)

Answer 21

Memory loss, often due to brain injury, trauma, or illness.

Answer 22

He had a brain surgery to treat epilepsy, where part of his hippocampus was removed, which caused him to develop anterograde amnesia, unable to form new long-term memories. His case helped scientists understand the hippocampus’s role in memory

Answer 23

The inability to form new long-term memories, but can still remember old memories

Answer 24

Cannot remember past memories A type of memory loss where a person cannot remember events that occurred before a specific point in time, however they can form new memories

Answer 25

A man with severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia due to a brain infection. He can’t form new memories or recall much from the past but can still play music and recognize his wife

Answer 26

The type of memory you can consciously recall and describe, like facts, events, or experiences. It includes two subtypes: Episodic memory (personal experiences) Semantic memory (general knowledge or facts)

Answer 27

The type of memory that influences your behavior without conscious awareness. It includes skills, habits, and conditioned responses, like riding a bike

Answer 28

Procedural memory: Memory for skills and tasks, like riding a bike or playing an instrument. Priming: Being influenced by prior experiences without conscious awareness, like recognizing a word faster if you’ve seen it before. Classical conditioning: Learning through associations, like feeling nervous when you hear a certain sound because it’s linked to something scary. Non-associative learning: Changes in behavior due to repeated exposure to a stimulus, like getting used to a loud noise over time

Answer 29

The understanding of how to perform specific tasks or actions, but it can be difficult to explain to others

Answer 30

Shows how memory changes over time. It describes how much information we can remember after different amounts of time have passed

Answer 31

Words that were deeply processed (focusing on the word's meaning) were remembered better than those that were shallowly processed (focusing on the words font)

Answer 32

They found that people can remember fewer long words than short words. Baddeley and Vallar explained it in terms of working memory processes, linking the word length effect to the capacity limitations of the phonological loop

Answer 33

Studied semantic priming, finding that people recognize related words faster (e.g., “bread” and “butter”) than unrelated ones. This supports the idea that related concepts are linked in memory, contributing to the spreading activation model

Answer 34

That Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) strengthens the connections between neurons, especially in the hippocampus, which is important for memory