Memory Flashcards
Processing
The operations we perform on sensory information in the brain.
Input
For human memory, this refers to the sensory information we receive from our environment.
Storage
The retention of information into a form that can be used and stored by the brain
Acoustic encoding
The process of storing sound in our memory system
Visual encoding
The process of storing something that is seen in our memory system
Semantic encoding
The process of storing the meaning of information in our memory system, rather than the sound of a word, we store the definition/ meaning of that word
Output
For memory, this refers to the information we recall; in a broader sense, output can refer to behavioural response.
Retrieval
The recall of stored memories
Short- term memory
Our initial memory store that is temporary and limited
Long- term memory
A memory store that holds potentially limitless amounts of information fr up for a lifetime
Duration
The length of time information can be stores in a short-term and long-term memory
Capacity
The amount of information that can be stored in short-term and long-term memory
Rehearse
When we repeat information over and over again to make it stick
Displacement
When the short-term memory becomes ‘full’ and new information pushes out older information
Interference
When new information overwrites older information, for example when a new phone number takes the place of an old number in your memory
Amnesia
Memory loss, often through accident, disease or injury
Anterograde amnesia
A memory condition that means new long-term memories cannot be made; this is typically caused by injury to the brain
Retrograde amnesia
A memory condition that affects recall of memories prior to an injury to the brain
Active reconstruction
Memory is not an exact copy of what we experienced, but an interpretation or reconstructed or events that are influences by our schema (expectation) when we remember them again
Schema (memory)
A packet of knowledge about an event , person or place that influences how we perceive and remember
Omission
When we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details when remembering something
Transformation
When details are charged to make them more familiar and rational
Familiarisation
When unfamiliar details are changed to align with our schema
Rationalisation
When we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema
Cognitive interview
A police interview designed to ensure a witness to a crime does not actively reconstruct their memory
Ecological validity
The extent to which the findings still explain the behaviour in different situations
Subjective
Based on personal opinion or feeling
Sensory register
Our immediate memory of sensory information
Attention
Focus on certain sensory information
Trigram
A set of three letters such as GPX that makes a meaningless string of letters rather than a word
Iconic memory
The sensory register for visual information
Echoic memory
The sensory register for auditory (sound) information
Modality free
Not linked to a specific type of sensory information
Primacy
The tendency to recall words at the beginning of a list when asked to remember it.
Recency
The tendency to recall words at the end of a list when asked to remember
Serial reproduction
A technique where participants retell something to another participant to form a chain; this is how folk stories are passed down through cultures
Repeated reproduction
A technique where participants are asked to recall something again and again
Reliable
When the outcomes of a study are consistent.
Statistical analysis
Mathematical calculations performed on data to see whether to findings could be due to chance
Standardised procedure
Where the procedure of a study is the same across all conditions
Extraneous variables
Variables that could affect the results of a study
Reductionism
The theory of explaining something according to its basic constituent parts
Reductionist
The practice of reductionism
Holism
The theory of explaining something as a whole
Holistic
The practice of holsim
