Memory Flashcards
Encoding
The process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory.
Storage
The retention of encoded information over time.
Retrieval
The process of accessing and bringing into consciousness information stored in memory.
Effortful Processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Automatic Processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency.
Levels of Processing
The concept that the depth (shallow to deep) of processing applied to information affects how well it is remembered.
Maintenance Rehearsal
Repeating information over and over to keep it active in short-term memory.
Elaborative Rehearsal
Linking new information to existing memories and knowledge to facilitate long-term storage.
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.
Schemas
Mental frameworks that help organize and interpret information.
Sensory Memory
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.
Explicit Memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.
Implicit Memory
Retention independent of conscious recollection.
Procedural Memory
A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits.
Semantic Memory
A type of explicit memory that includes general knowledge, facts, and concepts.
Episodic Memory
A type of explicit memory that includes personal experiences and events.
Retrieval Cues
Stimuli that aid the recall or recognition of information stored in memory.
Context-Dependent Memory
The improved recall of information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same.
State-Dependent Memory
The tendency to recall information better when in the same internal state as when the information was encoded.
Proactive Interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
Retroactive Interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.
Retrograde Amnesia
An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.
Anterograde Amnesia
An inability to form new memories.
Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.
Flashbulb Memory
A clear, strong, and persistent memory of a unique and highly emotional event.
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
An increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
Hippocampus
A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.
Prospective memory
Remembering something you have to do in the future
Repression
An unconscious defense mechanism where the brain blocks access to traumatic or anxiety-inducing memories, often associated with Freudian theory.
Reconstruction
The process where memories are actively rebuilt during recall, often influenced by current beliefs, expectations, or misinformation.
Decay theory
The idea that memory traces fade over time if they are not accessed or used.
Interference Theory
A theory stating that forgetting occurs because similar memories interfere with one another.
Schema Theory
A theory suggesting that we use mental frameworks (schemas) to organize knowledge, which can lead to memory distortions based on expectations.
Motivated Forgetting
Deliberately or unconsciously pushing unwanted memories out of awareness, which may include repression.
Priming
When exposure to one stimulus unconsciously influences your response to another
