Modules 31-33 Vocabulary

Question 1

• the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Answer 1

Memory

Question 2

• the processing of information into the memory system- for example, by extracting meaning

Answer 2

Encoding

Question 3

• the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Answer 3

Storage

Question 4

• the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Answer 4

Retrieval

Question 5

• the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously.

Answer 5

Parallel Processing

Question 6

• the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Answer 6

Sensory memory

Question 7

• activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing before the information is stored or forgotten

Answer 7

Short-term memory

Question 8

• the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Answer 8

Long-term memory

Question 9

• a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Answer 9

Working memory

Question 10

• memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare” (aka declarative memory)

Answer 10

Explicit memory

Question 11

• encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Answer 11

Effortful processing

Question 12

• unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Answer 12

Automatic processing

Question 13

• retention independent of conscious recollection. We are unaware that this happens.
  (aka non-declarative memory)

Answer 13

Implicit memory

Question 14

• a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Answer 14

Iconic memory

Question 15

• a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Answer 15

Echoic memory

Question 16

• organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Answer 16

Chunking

Question 17

• memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Answer 17

Mnemonics

Question 18

• the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through masses study or practice.

Answer 18

Spacing effect

Question 19

• enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning

Answer 19

Testing effect

Question 20

• encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.

Answer 20

Shallow processing

Question 21

• encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.

Answer 21

Deep processing

Question 22

• a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

Answer 22

Hippocampus

Question 23

• a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Answer 23

Flashbulb memory

Question 24

• an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Answer 24

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Question 25

• a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

Answer 25

Recall

Question 26

• measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Answer 26

Recognition

Question 27

• a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Answer 27

Relearning

Question 28

• the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Answer 28

Priming

Question 29

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

Answer 29

Mood-congruent memory

Question 30

• our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Answer 30

Serial position effect

Question 31

• an inability to form new memories.

Answer 31

Anterograde amnesia

Question 32

• an inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Answer 32

Retrograde amnesia

Question 33

• the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

Answer 33

Proactive interference

Question 34

• the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Answer 34

Retroactive interference

Question 35

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

Answer 35

Repression

Question 36

• incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Answer 36

Misinformation effect

Question 37

• attributing to the wrong source of an event we have experienced, heard about, read about or imagined. This is a form of false memory.

Answer 37

Source amnesia

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Déjà vu