module 24 storing & retrieving memories

Question 1

semantic memory

Answer 1

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).

Question 2

episodic memory

Answer 2

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory)

Question 3

hippocampus

Answer 3

a neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit (conscious) memories—of facts and events—for storage

Question 4

memory consolidation

Answer 4

the neural storage of a long-term memory.

Question 5

flashbulb memory

Answer 5

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 6

long term potentiation

Answer 6

an increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

Question 7

priming

Answer 7

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

Question 8

encoding specificity principles

Answer 8

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.

Question 9

mood congruent memory

Answer 9

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

Question 10

serial position effect

Answer 10

our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.