Study Set - A Flashcards
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Encoding
The processing of information into the memory systems. Ex. Extracting meaning.
Storage
The retention of encoded information over time.
Retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
Sensory Memory
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.
Short-Term Memory
Activated memory that hold a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing before the information is stored or forgotten.
Long-Term Memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storage house of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Working Memory
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.
Parallel Processing
The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; The brains natural mode of information processing for many functions. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem-solving.
Automatic Processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-earned information, such as word meanings.
Effortful Processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Rehearsal
The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
Spacing Effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
Serial Position Effect
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Visual Encoding
The encoding of picture images.
Acoustic Encoding
The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.
Semantic Encoding
The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
Imagery
Mental pictures
Mnemonics
Memory aids.
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.
Iconic Memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture memory lasting no more than a 10th of a second.
Echoing Memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds.
Long-term Potentiation
Increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basic for learning and memory.
Flashbulb Memory
Clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
Amnesia
Loss of memory. Creates false memories.
Implicit Memory (Nondeclarative or procedural memory)
Retention independent of conscious recollection.
Explicit Memory (declarative memory)
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Hippocampus
A neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage.
Recall
To remember something learned earlier. (Reading lines before going on stage and then knowing them)
Recognition
Measure of memory in which the person need only items previously learned. (Ex. Multiple choice test)
Relearning
Measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for the second time.
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
Deja Vu
Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
Mood Congruent Memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current mood. (Good or bad)
Practice interference
Disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
Retroactive Interference
Disruptive effect of learning on the recall of old information.
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from conscious anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information to ones memory of an event. Causes false memories.
Source Amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. Creates false memories.
