SLS20 Chapter 6

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The ability to store and retrieve information over time.

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

The process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory.

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

The process of maintaining information in memory over time

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored

Question 5

Elaborative Encoding

Answer 5

The process of actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory.

Question 6

Visual Imagery Encoding

Answer 6

The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures

Question 7

Organizational encoding

Answer 7

The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items

Question 8

Sensory Memory

Answer 8

A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less

Question 9

iconic memory

Answer 9

A fast decaying store of visual information

Question 10

echoic memory

Answer 10

A fast decaying store of auditory information

Question 11

Rehearsal

Answer 11

The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.

Question 12

Chunking

Answer 12

Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory

Question 13

Working memory

Answer 13

Active maintenance of information in short-term storage

Question 14

Long-term memory

Answer 14

A type of storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years.

Question 15

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 15

The inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store.

Question 16

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 16

The inability to retreive information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation

Question 17

Consolidation

Answer 17

The process by which memories become stable in the brain.

Question 18

Reconsolidation

Answer 18

Memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, requiring them to become consolidated again

Question 19

Long-Term Potential (LTP)

Answer 19

A process whereby communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier.

Question 20

NMDA receptor

Answer 20

A receptor site on the hippocampus that influences the flow of information between neurons by controlling the initiation of long-term potential

Question 21

Retrieval Cue

Answer 21

External information that helps bring stored information to mind.

Question 22

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 22

The idea that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded

Question 23

State-dependent retrieval

Answer 23

The tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval

Question 24

Transfer-appropriate processing

Answer 24

The idea that memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding context of the situations match.

Question 25

Retrieval-induced forgetting

Answer 25

A process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items.

Question 26

Explicit Memory

Answer 26

The act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences

Question 27

Implicit Memory

Answer 27

The influence of past experiences on later behavior, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection.

Question 28

Procedural Memory

Answer 28

The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or “knowing how” to do things

Question 29

Priming

Answer 29

An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus.

Question 30

Semantic memory

Answer 30

A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world.

Question 31

Episodic memory

Answer 31

The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Question 32

transience

Answer 32

Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time

Question 33

Retroactive interference

Answer 33

Situations in which information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier

Question 34

proactive interference

Answer 34

Situations in which information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later

Question 35

Absentmindedness

Answer 35

A lapse in attention that results in memory failure

Question 36

prospective memory

Answer 36

remembering to do things in the future

Question 37

blocking

Answer 37

A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it

Question 38

memory misattribution

Answer 38

Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source

Question 39

Source memory

Answer 39

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired

Question 40

False recognition

Answer 40

A feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before

Question 41

Suggestibility

Answer 41

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

Question 42

Bias

Answer 42

The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences.

Question 43

Persistence

Answer 43

The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget

Question 44

Flashbulb memories

Answer 44

Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events