Long Term Memory (from notes)

Question 1

What is long term memory’s:

• Function?
• Capacity?
• Duration?

Answer 1

Function: hold information (the file cabinet)
Capacity: large (unlimited?)
Duration: long

Question 2

What is maintenance rehearsal?

Answer 2

The direct recycling of information in order to keep it active in short term memory

Question 3

What is elaborative rehearsal?

Answer 3

A form of rehearsal in which the to-be-learned information is related to other information (allows for deeper level of processing/encoding as compared to the shallow maintenance rehearsal)

Question 4

What are three characteristics of increasing the odds of having something saved in LTM?

Answer 4

• Time in WM
• Number of times it enters WM
• Meaningfulness, i.e. more connections

Question 5

What is declarative knowledge?

Answer 5

“Knowing that”

Question 6

What are the two types of declarative knowledge?

Answer 6

Episodic and semantic knowledge

Question 7

What is episodic knowledge/memory?

Answer 7

Autobiographical memory, what you have personally experienced in your life. “Movie reel” in your head

Question 8

What is semantic knowledge?

Answer 8

General world knowledge, e.g. vocabulary, language, relating concepts and ideas to one another.

Question 9

What are the three types of long-term memory?

Answer 9

Declarative, Procedural, Conditional

Question 10

What is procedural knowledge?

Answer 10

“Knowing how,” e.g. riding a bike

Question 11

What is conditional knowledge?

Answer 11

Knowing “when” and “why” to use declarative and procedural knowledge

Question 12

What are three means of making information meaningful in LTM?

Answer 12

Organization - Impose order and connections in new information
Elaboration - expand on existing schemas
Level of Activity - Put learner in the most active (not passive) role possible in makign connections

Question 13

How do we organize information?

Answer 13

• Hierarchies: Show progress from broad to specific
• Sequences/outlines: Show linear progression of information
• Matrices: Show relationships between elements
• Models: Unified representations, shows how parts are related
• Concept maps

Question 14

What is the process of elaboration?

Answer 14

Connecting new information to information you already know

Question 15

What are some examples of elaboration?

Answer 15

• Analogies: Recognizing similarities (“it’s like…), examples/illustrations, stories
• Activating prior knowledge: “What do we already know about…”
• Mnemonics: Generated connections (use when there is no background knowledge)

Question 16

What are some processes that exhibit a deeper levels of activity? (vs. a shallow level)

Answer 16

• Finding similarities, differences, and generalizing
• Explaining “why”
• Providing evidence (“How do you know?)
• Hypothesizing (“What would happen if…”)

Question 17

How can we enhance LTM encoding capacity?

Answer 17

• Strategic deliberate practice
• Encode visually and verbally (takes advantage of both the imaginal and verbal systems in LTM)
• Block out interference
• Focus on organization, elaboration, and activity
• Learn in depth
• Learn in many contexts
• Use mnemonics for facts (for which you have little or no prior knowledge)
• Build schemata & interconnections

Question 18

What are schemata?

Answer 18

The mental frameworks that influence how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved based on the contents of the information that enters the memory system.