Memories Flashcards
- What is the basic concept of memory?
Answer: Memory is the effect of learning, where knowledge is encoded into the brain through experience and can be later accessed.
- What are the two major types of knowledge in the brain?
Answer: Hardwired knowledge (genetically encoded) and acquired knowledge (learned through experience).
- What is the main difference between declarative and non-declarative memory?
Answer: Declarative memory refers to facts and events we can consciously describe, while non-declarative (or implicit) memory involves skills and actions that we perform without conscious awareness (e.g., riding a bike).
- What is sensory memory and its timescale?
Answer: Sensory memory stores sensory information for a very short period, from fractions of a second to several seconds.
- What was the full and partial report paradigm designed to demonstrate?
Answer: It demonstrated that sensory memory briefly retains the entire visual display (for about 50 milliseconds), but participants can only report part of it after the display disappears.
- How does short-term memory differ from sensory memory?
Answer: Short-term memory holds information for minutes to seconds, while sensory memory only holds information for fractions of a second to a few seconds.
- What is the “digit span” task and what does it measure?
Answer: The digit span task involves remembering a sequence of digits and measuring the capacity of short-term memory. On average, people can remember about 7 digits.
- What is the modal model of memory?
Answer: It proposed that memory operates as a single system where experiences first go through sensory memory, then short-term memory, and eventually long-term memory.
