Module 24: Storing and Retrieving Memories Flashcards
memory consolidation
neural storage of long-term memories
semantic memory
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems
episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems
implicit memory system
cerebellum plays an important role in forming and storing memories created by classical conditioning. memories of physical skills are also implicit memories. the basal ganglia help form memories of these skills.
infantile amnesia
conscious memory of the first three years of life is blank. command of language and a well-developed hippocampus are needed to form memories
flashbulb memories
occur via emotion-triggered hormonal changes and rehearsal
long-term potentiation (LTP)
increase in a synapse’s firing potential.
after LTP, brain will not erase memories.
believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
what are the four retrieval cues?
priming, context-dependent memory, state-dependent memory, serial position effect
memory retrieval
memories are held in storage by a web of associations.
retrieval cues serve as anchor points for pathways to memories suspended in this web.
best retrieval cues come from associations formed at the time a memory is encoded
priming
activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations of memory
context-dependent memory
recall of specific information is improved when the contexts present at encoding and retrieval are the same.
encoding specificity principle
cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping recall
state-dependent memory/mood-congruent memory
tendency to recall events consistent with current good or bad mood
serial position effect
tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list
