Human memory: Retention and retrieval Flashcards
Amnesia
Loss of memory.
Anterograde amnesia
Loss of the ability to form new longterm memories.
Decay theory
The theory that forgetting is caused by the spontaneous decay of memories over time.
Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm
A paradigm for creating false memories of words by presenting associatively related words.
Dissociations
A demonstration that a manipulation has an effect on performance of one task but not another. Such demonstrations are thought to be important in arguing for different cognitive systems.
Encoding-specificity principle
Tulving’s principle that memory is better when the encoding of an item at study matches the encoding at test.
Explicit memory
Or declarative memory; knowledge that we can consciously recall.
False-memory syndrome
A condition in which a person falsely remembers traumatic events that never occurred, such as false memories of childhood abuse.
Fan effect
The increase in the time it takes to retrieve a memory as the number of associated memories increases.
Implicit memory
Knowledge implied by our actions but inaccessible to conscious recall.
Interference theory
The theory that forgetting is caused by interference among memories.
Korsakoff syndrome
An amnesia resulting from chronic alcoholism and nutritional deficit.
Mood congruence
A match between the mood associated with the content of a memory and the person’s mood when recalling the memory; such a match is associated with better memory.
Power law of forgetting
The principle that memory performance deteriorates as a power function of the delay interval.
Priming
Enhancement of the processing of a stimulus as a function of prior exposure.
