Memory Flashcards
Define Memory
The retention of information over time
Define the Paradox of Memory
The same mechanisms that serve us well can cause us problems.
What are the 3 memory systems?
Sensory, STM and LTM
Explain the memory system journey
Sensory - STM - LTM - STM
Define STM
Working memory
Can retain information for limited durations
How do we lose information in our STM?
Decay - fades over time
Interference - loss of information due to competition of new incoming information
What are the two types of Interference?
Retroactive - happens when learning new information tampers something previously learned.
Proactive - happens when earlier learning gets in the way of learning new things.
What is the span of information in the STM system and how can it be extended?
7+2 pieces of information - can extend using chunking
Define Rehearsal
Repeating information in STM (extends duration)
What are the two main parts within rehearsal?
Maintenance - repeating the stimuli in the same form
Elaborative - links stimuli to each other in a meaningful way
What are the characteristics (shallow, deepest) and levels of being Elaborative?
Visual (most shallow), Phonological (somewhat less) and Less Sematic (deepest)
Define LTM
Enduring store of information (facts, experiences and skills)
Define the Primacy Effect and state which memory system it’s associated with
Shows up in remembering stimuli that were presented 1st, LTM
Define the Recency Effect and state which memory system it’s associated with
Shows up in remembering stimuli that were presented most recently, STM
Define Explicit memories
Recalling information that we don’t remember deliberately (semantic & episodic)
Define Implicit memories
Process of recalling information intentionally (procedual, priming, conditioning and habituation)
What is the difference between semantic and episodic memories?
Semantic - knowledge of facts
Episodic - events in our lives
Give a procedural memory example
Motor skills and habits
Define Priming
Ability to identify a stimulus more easily and quickly after similiar stimuli.
What are the three processes of memory and their keywords?
Encoding - Getting information into memory
Storage - Keeping information in our memory
Retrival - Reactivation of information from our memory
What is the main component of Encoding and an example?
Mnemonics - learning aids to help enhance recall
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
What is the main component of Storage and the definition?
Schema - organized knowledge structure
What are the 3R’s within Retrieval?
RECALL - generating previously remembered information (PRI)
RECOGNITION - selecting PRI from an array of options
RELEARNING - reacquiring something learned before much faster
Define Encoding Specificity
More likely to remember when conditions at the time of encoding are also present at retrieval.
What are the two types of Encoding Specificity?
Context-dependent learning and State-dependent learning
Define Long-term Potentiation (LTP) and where it’s used?
Gradual strengthening of the connections among neurons form repetitive stimulation (hippocampus).
What are the two types of Amnesia and their definitions?
RETROGRADE - loss of past memeories
ANTEROGRADE - loss of ability to make new memories
What is the bottom line of Clive Wearing?
Destroying the hippocampus will leave the implicit memory intact.
Define Flashbulb memories
Very vivid, able to be recalled in detail much later (they change over time).
Define Source Monitoring Confusion
Lack of clarity about the origins of a memory (illusions)
