Psychology Memory: Encoding, Retrieval, and Forgetting

Memory

The mental capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information.

Recall

The ability to retrieve information from memory without cues.

Recognition

The ability to identify previously learned information when presented with it.

Relearning

The process of learning information again that was previously learned.

Encoding

The process of transforming information into a format that can be stored in memory.

Storage

The retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of accessing and bringing stored information into consciousness.

Sensory memory

The initial, brief storage of sensory information.

Short-term memory

The capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short period.

Long-term memory

The continuous storage of information, potentially for a lifetime.

Working memory

A form of short-term memory that is concerned with immediate conscious perceptual and linguistic processing.

Explicit memory

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency.

Implicit memory

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

Iconic memory

A brief sensory memory for visual stimuli.

Echoic memory

A brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli.

Chunking

The process of organizing information into manageable units or chunks.

Mnemonics

Memory aids, often using vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Method of loci

A mnemonic device that involves associating items to be remembered with specific physical locations.

Spacing effects

The phenomenon where information is better retained when study sessions are spaced out over time.

Massed practice

A study technique in which items are practiced repeatedly in a short period.

Distributed practice

A study technique in which items are practiced over a longer period with breaks in between.

Testing effect

The improved retention of information due to the act of retrieving it through testing.

Shallow processing

A superficial level of processing that focuses on the physical features of a stimulus.

Deep processing

A more meaningful level of processing that focuses on the semantic meaning of the information.

Memory consolidation

The process by which recent memories are transformed into stable, long-term memories.

Semantic memory

A type of explicit memory that involves the recall of facts and general knowledge.

Episodic memory

A type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of specific events, situations, and experiences.

Hippocampus

A brain structure that is crucial for the formation of new memories.

Flashbulb memory

A vivid and detailed memory of an emotionally significant event.

Long-term potentiation

A long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them simultaneously.

Priming

The activation of particular associations in memory, often unconsciously.

Encoding specificity principle

The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping recall that memory.

Mood congruent memory

The tendency to recall memories that are consistent with one's current mood.

Serial position effect

The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.

Primacy effect

The tendency to remember the first items in a list better than those that come later.

Recency effect

The tendency to remember the most recently presented items in a list.

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new memories after a traumatic event.

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to retrieve memories that were formed before a traumatic event.

Infantile amnesia

The inability to retrieve memories from early childhood.

Proactive interference

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

Retroactive interference

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

Repression

The unconscious blocking of unpleasant emotions, thoughts, or memories from awareness.

Reconsolidation

The process by which previously consolidated memories are recalled and then stored again.

Misinformation effect

The phenomenon where a person's recall of episodic memories becomes less accurate due to post-event information.

Source amnesia

The inability to remember where, when, or how one has learned something.

Déjà vu

The feeling that one has lived through the present situation before.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The temporary inability to retrieve a word or name from memory, accompanied by a feeling that retrieval is imminent.

Parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future