AP Psychology: Memory Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key memory terms, cognitive systems, neural structures, and phenomena from AP Psychology.

Recall

Retrieving information from memory without being shown the answer, such as answering an essay question.

Memory

The ability to encode, store, and retrieve information over time.

Recognition

Identifying information that you have previously learned, such as recognizing an answer on a multiple-choice test.

Relearning

Learning information again more quickly because you studied or practiced it before.

Encoding

The process of getting information into memory.

Storage

Keeping encoded information in memory over time.

Retrieval

Accessing information that has been stored in memory.

Parallel Processing

Processing multiple aspects of information at the same time, such as an object's color, shape, and movement.

Sensory Memory

The very brief storage of information received through the senses.

Short-Term Memory

A limited-capacity memory system that holds information briefly, often for about 20 to 30 seconds without rehearsal.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively enduring storage of facts, experiences, and skills.

Working Memory

A system that temporarily holds and actively manipulates information needed for thinking and tasks.

Central Executive

The component of working memory that directs attention and coordinates other working-memory components.

Phonological Loop

The working-memory component that temporarily stores and rehearses speech-based and sound-based information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The working-memory component that temporarily stores and manipulates visual and spatial information.

Neurogenesis

The formation of new neurons in the nervous system.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

A lasting increase in the strength of connections between neurons following repeated or strong activation, associated with learning and memory.

Explicit Memory

Conscious memory of facts and personal experiences; also called declarative memory.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires deliberate attention and conscious effort, such as memorizing vocabulary.

Automatic Processing

Encoding certain information with little or no conscious effort, such as noticing the sequence of daily events.

Implicit Memory

Memory that influences behavior without conscious recollection, including skills and conditioned associations.

Iconic Memory

Very brief visual sensory memory, typically lasting only a fraction of a second.

Echoic Memory

Brief auditory sensory memory that can last for several seconds.

Chunking

Grouping separate pieces of information into meaningful units to make them easier to remember.

Mnemonics

Memory aids that use imagery, patterns, acronyms, or associations to support recall.

Spacing Effect

The finding that learning is retained better when study sessions are spread out over time instead of crammed together.

Testing Effect

Improved long-term retention from actively retrieving information through self-tests or practice questions.

Shallow Processing

Encoding based on superficial features, such as how a word looks or sounds, rather than its meaning.

Deep Processing

Encoding based on the meaning of information and its connections to existing knowledge, usually improving recall.

Semantic Memory

Explicit memory for general facts, meanings, concepts, and knowledge, such as knowing a capital city.

Episodic Memory

Explicit memory for personally experienced events, such as a birthday celebration.

Hippocampus

A brain structure important for forming and consolidating new explicit memories.

Memory Consolidation

The process by which new memories become more stable and are integrated into long-term storage.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid memory of the circumstances surrounding an emotionally significant or surprising event; vividness does not guarantee accuracy.

Cerebellum

A brain structure involved in movement coordination and certain forms of implicit learning and conditioned responses.

Distributed Practice

Studying in shorter sessions across several days or weeks rather than in one long session.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list better than items in the middle.

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember items at the end of a list better than items in the middle.

Priming

The activation of associations in memory that unconsciously affects later thoughts or responses.

Encoding Specificity Principle

Retrieval works best when cues or context at recall match those present during encoding.

Mood-Congruent Memory

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

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to remember the first and last items in a sequence better than the middle items.

Interleaving

Mixing different topics or kinds of problems within study sessions to improve discrimination and learning.

Anterograde Amnesia

Difficulty or inability forming new long-term memories after an injury or illness.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memories formed before an injury or illness.

Proactive Interference

When older learning interferes with remembering newer information, such as an old password disrupting recall of a new one.

Retroactive Interference

When newer learning interferes with remembering older information, such as a new phone number disrupting recall of an old one.

Repression

In psychoanalytic theory, an unconscious process that keeps distressing thoughts or memories out of awareness; its role as a memory mechanism is debated.

Reconsolidation

The process by which a recalled memory becomes temporarily modifiable and is then stored again, potentially with changes.

Misinformation Effect

When misleading information presented after an event alters a person's memory of that event.

Source Amnesia

Remembering a fact or piece of information but forgetting where it came from.

Déjà Vu

The feeling that a current experience is strangely familiar, even when it is actually new.