memory Flashcards
sensory register
our immediate memory of sensory information.
short-term memory
our initial memory store that is temporary and limited.
capacity
- seven units of information
duration
- 18 seconds without rehearsal
encoding
- acoustic
forgetting
- displacement
- decay
long-term memory
a memory store that holds potentially limitless amounts of information for up to a lifetime.
capacity
- potentially limitless
duration
- a few minutes to a lifetime
encoding
- semantic
forgetting
- decay
- interference
- retrieval failure
duration
the length of time information can be stored in short-term and long-term memory.
capacity
the amount of information that can be stored in short-term and long-term memory.
encoding
turning sensory information into a form that can be used and stored by the brain.
rehearse
when we repeat information over and over 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 phone number in your memory.
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.
output
for memory, this refers to the information we recall; in a broader sense, output can refer to behavioral response.
storage
the retention of information in our memory system.
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.
retrieval
the recall of stored memory.
amnesia
memory loss, often through accident, disease or injury.
