Intro to Psychology Recitation: Memory and Learning

Flashcards covering key concepts related to memory and learning in psychology.

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information over time.

Encoding

The process of transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory.

Storage

The process of maintaining information in memory over time.

Retrieval

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

Semantic Encoding

The process of bringing to mind meaning and concepts that have been previously encoded and stored.

Visual Imagery Encoding

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

Organizational Encoding

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

Sensory Memory

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

Iconic Memory

A fast-decaying store of visual information that lasts about 1 second.

Echoic Memory

A fast-decaying store of auditory information that lasts about 5 seconds.

Short-term Memory

Holds non-sensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute.

Rehearsal

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

Chunking

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

Working Memory

Active maintenance of information in short-term storage for complex cognitive tasks.

Long-term Memory

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

Hippocampus

A critical brain structure for converting short-term memory into long-term memory.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to transfer new information from short-term storage into long-term storage.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to retrieve information acquired before a particular date, usually an injury.

Procedural Memory

The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice.

Priming

An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus due to recent exposure.

Semantic Memory

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

Episodic Memory

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

Transience

Forgetting that occurs with the passage of time.

Retroactive Interference

When later information impairs memory for earlier information.

Proactive Interference

When earlier information impairs memory for later information.

Absentmindedness

A lapse in attention that results in memory failure.

Blocking

A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory.

Memory Misattribution

Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source.

Suggestibility

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

Bias

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

Persistence

The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget.

Classical Conditioning

When a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

A reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that produces a reliable response after being paired with a US.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the CS is presented without the US.

Generalization

The CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the CS used during acquisition.

Discrimination

The capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning where the consequences of behavior determine whether it will be repeated.

Reinforcer

Any stimulus that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Punisher

Any stimulus that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Positive Reinforcement

A rewarding stimulus is presented to increase behaviors.

Negative Reinforcement

An unpleasant stimulus is removed to increase behaviors.

Positive Punishment

An unpleasant stimulus is administered to decrease behaviors.

Negative Punishment

A rewarding stimulus is removed to decrease behaviors.