Memory Flashcards
Memory
Memory is an active information-processing system that receives , stores, organizes and recovers information.
Processes of Memory
Encoding = set of mental operations that people perform on sensory information to convert that information into a form useable in the brain’s storage systems. [convert sensory information into a form/ code that can be processed by the brain].
Storage = holding onto information for periods of time. [retention of information via a network of neurons]
**Encoded information is held/retained in storage for a period of time for later usage.
Retrieval = getting information in storage into a form that can be used. [cues are used to recover information from the storage].
Models of memory
- Information processing model = memory processing similar to a computer.
- Parallel distributed processing (PDP) model = memory processes take place at same time over a large network of neural connections.
- Levels of processing model = information is remembered when you deeply process it accordance to its meaning.
Information-Processing Model: Three Memory Systems
- Sensory Memory = information lost within a second or so.
- Short-term Memory = unrehearsed information lost in about 15 to 30 seconds.
- Long-term Memory = information retrieved indefinitely although some may be difficult to retrieve.
Each Memory stage is categorized by what three differences? (Characteristics)
Duration = how long can the information be stored.
Capacity = how much information can be stored.
Function = what is done with the stored information.
Types of encoding
Semantic - encoding words
Acoustic - encoding sounds
Visual - encoding images and pictures
Sensory Memory
New sensory information in the form of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch enters memory through registration. [raw information from the senses is held briefly]
**
Duration
Capacity
Function
Types of sensory registers in memory
Iconic memory = visual sensory memory, lasting only a fraction of a second (1 second or less).
** duration and capacity
Echoic memory = auditory sensory memory, lasting only 2-4 seconds.
** duration and capacity
Eidetic memory = the rare ability to access a visual memory for thirty seconds or more.
Short-term Memory
Also known as working memory - memory system which information is held for brief periods of time while being used (around 20 secs).
Chunking
bits of information are combined into meaningful units, or chunks, so that more information can be held in the STM.
Maintenance rehearsal
Repeating information over and over in one’s head to remember and maintain it in the STM.
**STM is likely to be interrupted by interference
Elaborative rehearsal
Involves linking new information in some meaningful way with information already stored in the LTM, or with other pieces of new information.
Zeigarnik effect
People remember unfinished tasks better than completes tasks.
Long-term memory
The system of memory into which all information is placed to be kept more or less permanently.
Non-declarative memory
Implicit memory [procedural] = type of long-term memory for skills, habits, procedures, and conditioned responses.
**automatic - not a conscious memory process
Retrograde Amnesia
loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma, or the inability to recall old memories.
[can’t remember things that happened before the event that caused their amnesia, but they can form new Emory’s after that injury or traumatic event.]
Anterograde Amnesia
loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward, or t inability to form new long-term memories.
[can remember what happened before the event, but can’t form any new memories after the injury or traumatic event].
**usually does not affect procedural memory
Declarative Memory
A type of long-term memory also known as explicit memory that contains information that is conscious and known.
**it is called explicit because it requires a conscious effort for retrieval.
Types of declarative memory?
Semantic memory - declarative memory containing general knowledge [knowledge of language, concepts or terms]
**acts an encyclopedia of memory that stores knowledge of facts and information, based on the understanding and interpretation of spoken or written material (stores the mental representation of the world).
Episodic memory - declarative memory containing personal information not readily available to others.
**holds information about specific events or personal experiences, and often includes details of the time, place, and psychological and physiological state of the person when an event occurred.
**considered to be like a mental diary recoding autobiographical episodes.
Encoding Specifity
The information of a memory is improved if related information that as available when the memory was first formed is also available upon time of retrieval.
**context-dependent learning = the actual physical environment in which you lear information can latter be used as a cue fr retrieval.
**state-dependent learning = memories formed during a particular physiological or psychological state will be easier to recall in a similar state.
Recall
Retrieving (pulling) information from memory with very few to no external cues.
**testing how much someone remembers
Recognition
The ability t match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact [identify the correct information from a number of given alternatives]
**tests how much someone remembers
***like multiple choice questions
Serial position effect
Information at the beginning and end of a body of information is more accurately remembered than information in the middle.
**primary effect - tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than what follows.
**recency effect - tendency to remember information at the end of a body of information better than what’s ahead of it.
Automatic encoding
The tendency of certain kinds of information to enter the long-term memory with little or no effort full encoding.
**Flashbulb memories: automatic encoding that occurs because of an unexpected event that has strong emotional association for person remembering it.
[info easily Evers the LTM because of a tragic event that happen]
Constructive processing
How reliable are memories?
With each retrieval, memories may be altered, revised, or influenced by newer information.
Hindsight Bias
How reliable are memories?
The tendency to falsely believe, through revision of older memories and including newer memories, that one could have predicted the outcome of an event.
Misinformation effect
How reliable are memories?
The tendency of misleading information presented after an event to alter memories of the event itself.
False memory syndrome
How reliable are memories?
Creation of inaccurate or false memories.
Forgetting
This is the inability to retrieve information previously stored in the LTM.
**some information that is suppressed makes it easier to remember content you need.
Reasons we forget?
- Encoding failure = failure to process information into memory.
- Memory Trace = physical change in the brain that occurs when memory is formed.
- Interference theory = proactive and retroactive interference.
Consolidation
Changes that take place in the structure and functioning of neuron when a memory is formed.
