PSY101 - Chapter 8: Memory

Question 1

Information Processing Model

Answer 1

1. Encoding - the processing of information into the memory system - for example, by extracting meaning.
2. Storage - the retention of encoded information over time.
3. Retrieval - the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Question 2

Atikinson and Shiffrin’s Classic Model

Answer 2

External events -(sensory input)-> Sensory memory -(attention to important or novel information/encoding)-> Working/short-term memory -(Encoding)-><-(retrieving)-
Long-term memory storage.

Question 3

Sensory Memory

Answer 3

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.
–Sperling’s nine-letter immediate recall experiment.

Question 4

Short-term Memory

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Long-term Memory

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Working Memory

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Explicit Memory

Answer 7

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (declarative memory).
–Frontal lobe and hippocampus

Question 8

Implicit Memory

Answer 8

Retention independent of conscious recollection (non declarative memory).
–Cerebellum and basal ganglia

Question 9

Effortful Processing

Answer 9

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Question 10

Automatic Processing

Answer 10

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

• -space - place on a page where you saw something.
• -time - knowing where you’ve left something over the course of the day based on what you were doing when you last had it.
• -frequency - how many times you see a friend during a period of time.

Question 11

Iconic Memory

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Echoic Memory

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Chunking

Answer 13

Organizing information into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Question 14

Mnemonics

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Spacing Effect

Answer 15

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Question 16

Testing Effect

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Shallow Processing

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Deep Processing

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 19

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 20

Long-term Potentiation (LTP)

Answer 20

An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
–Gary Lynch

Question 21

Priming

Answer 21

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Question 22

Mood-congruent Memory

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Serial-position Effect

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 24

An inability to form new memories.

Question 25

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 25

An Inability to retrive information from one’s past.

Question 26

Proactive Interference

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Retroactive Interference

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Repression

Answer 28

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories (not typically believed anymore).

Question 29

Misinformation Effect

Answer 29

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Question 30

Source Amnesia

Answer 30

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Question 31

Déjà vu

Answer 31

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