Module 24: Forgetting, Memory Construction, and Improving Memory

Question 1

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 1

an inability to form new memories.

Question 2

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 2

an inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Question 3

Proactive Amnesia

Answer 3

the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

Question 4

Retroactive Amnesia

Answer 4

the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.

Question 5

Repression

Answer 5

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Question 6

Reconsolidation

Answer 6

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored
again.

Question 7

Misinformation Effect

Answer 7

occurs when misleading information has corrupted one’s memory of an event.

Question 8

Source of Amnesia

Answer 8

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. (Also called source
misattribution.) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false
memories.

Question 9

Deja Vu

Answer 9

that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously
trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Question 10

Storage Decay

Answer 10

memory fades due to the mere passage of time. Information is therefore less available for later retrieval as time passes and memory, as well as memory strength, wears away

Question 11

Encoding Failure

Answer 11

occasional failure to create and store a memory (i.e., because of a trauma).

Question 12

Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve

Answer 12

The theory is that humans start losing the memory of learned knowledge over time, in a matter of days or weeks, unless the learned knowledge is consciously reviewed time and again.