Memory Flashcards
Input
Sensory information we receive from our environment.
Storage
The retention of information in our memory system.
Encoding
Turning sensory 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 has been 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.
Output
The information we recall, output can refer to a behavioural response.
Retrieval
The recall of stored memories.
Short - Term Memory (STM)
Our initial memory store that is temporary and limited.
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
A memory store that holds potentially limitless amounts of information for up to a lifetime.
Duration
The length of time information can be stored in STM and LTM.
Capacity
The amount of information that can be stored in STM and LTM.
Rehearse
When we repeat information over and over again to make it stick.
Displacement
When the STM becomes full and new information pushes out older information.
Interference
When new information overwrites older information
Amnesia
Memory loss, often through accident, disease or injury.
Anterograde Amnesia
A memory condition that means new long-term memories cannot be made
Retrograde Amnesia
A memory condition that affects recall of memories prior to an injury to the brain.
Schema
A packet of knowledge about an event, person or place that influences how we perceive and remember.
Active Reconstruction
Memory is not an exact copy of what we experienced, but an interpretation or reconstruction of events that are influences by our schema when we remember them again.
Omission
When we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details when remembering something.
Transformation
When details are changed to make them more familiar and rational.
Familiarisation
When unfamiliar details are changes to align with our
own schema.
Rationalisation
When we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may have not originally fitted with the schema
Sensory register
Our immediate memory of sensory information
Primary
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 it.
Serial Reproduction
A technique where participants retell something to another participant to form a chain.
Repeated Reproduction
A technique where participants are asked to recall something again and again.
Reductionism
The theory of explaining something according to its basic constituent parts
Holism
The theory of explaining something as a whole.
