Memory Flashcards
Memory
Both structures and processes involved in both strange and retrieval of info
A memory
Recollection of a specific event
Search metaphor
Describes processes involved in memory using terms and phrases that relate them to looking around in physical/virtual space
Failure of search
Way that inability to remember something is often described but doesn’t adequately describe many kinds of memory loss
Reconstruction metaphor
Describes how we primarily use memory to create useful response using both what we know and the situation around us
Encoding
Process of how info is initially learned
Encoding problem
Problem brain must solve to transform experience into memory
Storage
Process of maintaining info about event over time
Sensory memory
- System that keeps info translated by sense briefly active in relatively unaltered, unexamined form
- Perceive world as unified whole rather than staggered images and sounds
Iconic memory
Fleeting afterimages (icon)
Echoic memory
Lingering echo
Immediate memory
System that actively holds on to a limited amount of info so it can be manipulated and processed
3 main properties of immediate memory
Representation: Kind of info a memory system contains and described how info is represented/”coded”
Duration
- How long a memory can contain info before it’s forgotten
- Indefinite w/ rehearsal but w/o rehearsal is about 3 secs
Capacity
How much info can be held in memory system at one time (typically what can be rehearsed in 2 secs)
Memory span
items that can be kept active in immediate memory at one time
Chunking
Process of arranging info into compact meaningful “chunks” so they can be more easily rehearsed in immediate memory (meaningful structure = effectively increase capacity)
Working memory model
Model of immediate memroy that emphasizes its role as a system for manipulating info in consciousness
Phonological loop
System that temporarily stories and manipulates auditory and verbal info
