Psychology: Memory Flashcards
How many items can be stored in the long-term memory?
Unlimited amount of information stored
How long can items be stored in the LTM?
Potentially stored forever
How many items can be stored in short-term memory?
7 +- 2 bits
How long can items be stored in STM?
2-30 seconds
How long can items be stored in sensory memory?
A few seconds
Give 3 types of sensory memory
Iconic memory (eye)
Echoic memory (hear)
Haptic memory (touch)
LTM is divided into _____ & _____ memory
Explicit & Implicit
E - have to think to remember
I - implied, not directly said, we remember without having to consiously think of it
What are the (first) 2 types of declarative memories?
Semantic: stores general information about world, ex = Paris is the capital of France
Episodic: Store of own experiences of life, ex = remember you wedding or day
Implicit memories are divided into what types of memories?
Procedural memory: Involvoed in the performance of different actions & skills
Priming: Occurs when an individual’s exposure to a certain stimulus influence their response to a subsequent prompt, without any awareness of the connection
Classical Conditioning: An unconscious process where an automatic, conditioned response becomes associated with a specific stimulus. EX - Palvos dog, salivate to the sound of bell
The process of bringing information from out LTM back to our memory or STM is called ______
Retrieval
What are the 3 types of each retrieval
Recall: find answer within memory
Recognition: identify answer amongst others
Relearning: review information In front of you
What part of the brain is involved in helping you store declarative memories?
Hippocampus (like the librarian not the library)
Temporal Lobe
Amygdala
What part(s) of the brain is more involved in helping to store procedural memories?
The cerebellum & the basal ganglia
Where in the brain are memories stored?
Where the memory is processed in the lobes
Memory cues
A smell, sound, a place, an emotional state, etc.
What is the TOT state?
The feeling that accompanies temporary inaccessibility of an item that a person is trying to retrieve
What is chunking?
The process by which the mind divides large pieces of information into smaller units (chunks) that are easier to retain in short-term memory.
What is constructive processing (memory)?
A psychological concept that analyses how the brain creates memories.
Memories may not fully recall real happenings or events since they can be altered by new information.
Factors such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes may also alter memories.
What is a mnemonic?
Any device or technique used to assist memory, usually by forging a link or association between the new information to be remembered and information previously encoded.
What is the serial position effect?
The serial position effect is the tendency to remember the first and last items in a series better than those in the middle.
It is a form of cognitive bias that is thought to be due to how information is processed and stored in memory.
What is a flashbulb memory?
A highly vivid and detailed ‘snapshot’ of a moment in which a consequential, surprising, and emotionally arousing piece of news was learned.
- People often experience these memories in photographic detail
What is amnesia?
The loss of memories, including facts, information and experiences.
Have trouble learning new information and forming new memories.
Amnesia can be caused by damage to areas of the brain that are vital for memory processing.
What is the forgetting curve?
The curve demonstrates the exponential rate at which information is forgotten over time when no effort is made to retain it.
What is photographic memory?
Implies the ability to recall extensive details, like entire pages of text, with high precision.
Is said to be able to recall images after a long time.
It’s permanently stored in their minds without any changes to details similar to a camera taking a photo.
How do implicit and explicit memories differ in terms of physiology?
Explicit memory:
Relies heavily on the hippocampus in the temporal lobe, which is critical for encoding and retrieving conscious memories of personal experiences and facts.
Implicit memory:
Primarily involves the basal ganglia and cerebellum, which are responsible for learning and executing motor skills and habits without conscious awareness.
Some causes of forgetting: memory trace decay (disease)
Memories fade overtime unless actively rehearsed.
Memories are like brain traces that can disintegrate.
(Neuro plasticity)
Some causes of forgetting: Interference, proactive, retroactive
P = old memories make it difficult to learn new informantion
R = new information makes it difficult to remember old informantion
Some causes of forgetting: Cue-dependence
When an individual fails to recall a memory because cues/stimuli that were present went the memory was encoded are not present.
Some causes of forgetting: Encoding failure
A cognitive phenomenon that occurs when information fails to be effectively transferred & stored in the memory system due to bad processing during encoding.
Some causes of forgetting: Motivated Forgetting
The idea that people can block out, or forget, upsetting or traumatic memories, because there is a motivation to do so.
Suppression & repression.
