Unit 3 Term List

Question 1

Short-Term Memory

Answer 1

The memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used.

Question 2

Storage

Answer 2

Holding on to information for some period of time.

Question 3

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 3

The loss of memory for events that occurred prior to the injury or illness.

Question 4

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 4

The loss of memory for events that occurred after the injury or illness.

Question 5

Consolidation

Answer 5

The theoretical process of information “getting into” long-term memory. This does not occur immediately; it seems to take time to occur.

Question 6

Levels of Processing Theory

Answer 6

Suggests that we use different levels of processing; shallow, intermediate, and deep. And, the theory asserts that shallow processing results in ineffective encoding; deep processing results in effective encoding.

Question 7

Dual Coding Theory

Answer 7

Suggests that two codes (visual and semantic codes) increase the probability of recall.

Question 8

Peterson & Peterson Study

Answer 8

Documents the duration limit of short-term memory. Information fades from STM in twelve seconds or less (without rehearsal).

Question 9

Serial-Position Effect

Answer 9

Tendency of information at the beginning and end of a body of information to be remembered more accurately than information in the middle of the body of information.

Question 10

Context Clues

Answer 10

Cues in the environment that stimulates memory retrieval.

Question 11

Reconstructive Memory

Answer 11

Elizabeth Loftus suggests that memories are reconstructed.

Question 12

Source Monitoring Error

Answer 12

Occurs when a memory derived from one source in misattributed to another source.

Question 13

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Answer 13

The course of forgetting for Ebbinghaus was initially rapid, and then leveled off with time. Can be used as evidence in favor of the decay theory of forgetting for long-term memory.

Question 14

Retention

Answer 14

Refers to the proportion of material retained (remembered).

Question 15

Recall

Answer 15

A measure of retention that requires a subject to reproduce information on their own without any cues.

Question 16

Recognition

Answer 16

A measure of retention that requires a subject to select previously learned information from an array of options.

Question 17

Relearning

Answer 17

A measure of retention that requires a subject to memorize information a second time to determine how much time or effort is saved by having learned it before.

Question 18

Encoding Failure

Answer 18

Information is not encoded, therefore you cannot “forget” info that was never encoded (also termed “pseudoforgetting”).

Question 19

Decay Theory

Answer 19

Asserts that forgetting is the function of time. This theory can be applied to all three memory stores: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Question 20

Interference Theory

Answer 20

Suggests that forgetting is due to retrieval failure.

Question 21

Motivated Forgetting

Answer 21

Not recalling information that may be scary or embarrassing.

Question 22

Repression

Answer 22

Freud’s term for keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.

Question 23

Mnemonic Devices

Answer 23

Strategies for enhancing memory.

Question 24

Overlearning

Answer 24

Continued rehearsal after the apparent point of mastery.

Question 25

Massed Practice

Answer 25

A long session of studying or learning.

Question 26

Distributed Practice

Answer 26

Short sessions of studying mixed with intervals of rest. This is superior to massed practice.

Question 27

Long-Term Memory

Answer 27

A stage of memory with essentially unlimited capacity and the ability to store information indefinitely.

Question 28

Encoding

Answer 28

The process through which information enters our memory system.

Question 29

Retrieval

Answer 29

The process of accessing information encoded and stored in memory.

Question 30

Sensory Memory

Answer 30

A stage of memory that captures near-exact copies of vast amounts of sensory stimuli for a very brief period of time.

Question 31

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 31

A detailed account of circumstances surrounding an emotionally significant or shocking, sometimes historic, event.

Question 32

Primacy Effect

Answer 32

The tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list.

Question 33

Recency Effect

Answer 33

The tendency to remember items at the end of a list.

Question 34

Proactive Interference

Answer 34

The tendency for information learned in the past to interfere with the retrieval of new material.

Question 35

Retroactive Interference

Answer 35

The tendency for recently learned information to interfere with the retrieval of things learned in the past.