Memory Flashcards
Retrograde Amnesia
people lose past memories about events, people, facts, etc
Anterograde Amnesia
people lose the ability to form new memories
Implicit Memory
unconscious or unintentional memory, memories we don’t know we know (riding a bike)
Procedural Memory
skilled and goal oriented actions that become automatic (stopping at a red light)
Explicit Memory
the information we can say we know, the processes we use to remember that info (the memory of learning to ride a bike)
Episodic Memory
a person’s memory of past experiences that can be identified as occurring at a time and place (a story, memories of past events)
Semantic Memory
knowledge of concepts, categories, and facts (fun facts)
Encoding
the process by which a stimuli gets transformed into a memory
Dual-coding hypothesis
information that can be coded verbally and visually will be remembered more easily than info only coded verbally
Storage
the actual storing of memories in your brain
Sensory memory
it’s a very temporary memory system that stores stimuli from your senses
Iconic memory
visual sensory memory, being able to look at a picture for a sec and remember some of the details -> lasts for 1/3 of a second
Echoic memory
being able to remember the last few words someone spoke even when you’re not paying attention
Retrieval
the expression of a memory after encoding and storage
Retrieval cue
anything that helps a person recall a memory
Encoding specificity principle
any stimulus that is encoded along with an experience can later trigger a memory of the experience if encountered again
Context-dependent memory
based on things such as physical location, odors, sounds, etc
State-dependent memory
based off of your mood and how you’re feeling
Reconsolidation
the process involved of storing memories again after they’ve been recalled
Reconsolidation functions
memory updating and memory strengthening
Maintenance Rehearsal
simply repeating something over and over again
Elaborative rehearsal
encodes information in more meaningful ways by connecting the info to oneself or to other things in the world
Schemas
cognitive structures that help us perceive and make sense of the info/stimuli that we receive
Chunking
breaking down information into meaningful units (breaking phone numbers into groups of 3)
Mnemonics
the memorization strategy of focusing attention on organizing incoming info and linking it to existing knowledge or familiar experiences
Method of Loci
associating items you want to remember with physical locations
Long-term potentiation
the strengthening of a synaptic connection, the more emotional a memory is, the more likely you’ll remember it
Prefrontal Cortex and memory
working memory
Hippocampus
spatial memory
Temporal lobe
declarative memory
Amygdala
fear learning
Cerebellum
motor action learning and memory
Long-term memory
the storage of information that lasts from minutes to forever
Serial position effect
items first and last in a list are remembered better than those in the middle
Primary effect
better memory for items at the beginning of a list
Recency effect
better memory for the most recent items or items last on a list
Consolidation
the process of forming lasting connections that represent long-term memory
Flashbulb memories
vivid episodic memories for the circumstances in which people first learned of a surprising or emotional event
Prospective memory
remembering to do something in the future
Retrieval- induced forgetting
when retrieving an item from long term memory impairs the ability to recall a related item in the future. When you’re only retrieving certain parts of a memory over and over and over again, other parts of the memory that aren’t being recalled begin to be forgotten
Saving
the different between the original learning and relearning
Proactive interference
old info inhibits the ability to remember new info
Retroactive intereference
new info inhibits the ability to remember old info
Blocking
when a person is temporarily unable to remember something
Persistence
when unwanted memories are remembered despite the desire not to have them
Memory bias
the changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with current beliefs
Source misattribution
when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with a memory
Source amnesia
when people have a memory for an event but cannot remember where they encountered the info
Crptomnesia
where people think they have come up with a new idea but instead they have retrieved an old idea from memory and failed to attribute the idea to its proper source
Suggestibility
the development of biased memories from misleading information
