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2 Basic Categories of Memory
Working Memory & Long-term Memory
Working Memory
The brief, immediate memory for material we are currently processing
The information you want to retain can disappear from memory after less than a minute
Long-term Memory
A high-capacity storage system that contains your memories for experiences and information that you have accumulated throughout your lifetime
Information can last for a few minutes to many decades
Information is stored here if it is not lost or otherwise discarded by your working memory system
3 Subtypes of Long-term Memory
Episodic, Semantic, & Procedural Memory
Episodic Memory
Focuses on your memories for events that happened to you personally; it allows you to travel backward in subjective time to reminisce about earlier episodes in your life
Semantic Memory
Describes your organized knowledge about the world, including your knowledge about words and other factual information
Meaning
The episodic and semantic components of long-term memory store information based on _____
Procedural Memory
Refers to your knowledge about how to do something
Often conceptualized in terms of sequences of motor-based information that are necessary to complete action components of a task
Encoding
You process information and represent it in your memory
Retrieval
You locate information in storage, and you access that information
Levels-of-processing Approach
It argues that deep, meaningful processing of information leads to more accurate recall than shallow, sensory kinds of processing
This is also called the depth-of-processing approach
Predicts that your recall will be more accurate when you use a deep level of processing, in terms of meaning and less likely recall a word when you consider its physical appearance or sound
People achieve a deeper level of processing when they extract more meaning from a stimulus
Distinctiveness & Elaboration
Deep levels of processing ecourage recall because of these two factors
Distinctiveness
A stimulus is different from other memory traces
Elaboration
Requires rich processing in terms of meaning and interconnected concepts
Self-reference Effect
You will remember more information if you try to relate that information to yourself
When we think about a word in connection with ourselves, we develop a particularly memorable coding for that word
People are more likely to recall a word that does apply to themselves, rather than a word that does not apply
Meta-analysis
A statistical method for synthesizing numerous studies on a single topic
Computes a statistical index that tells us whether a particular variable has a statistically significant effect, when combining all the studies
Encoding-specificity Principle
Recall is better if the context during retrieval is similar to the context during encoding
When the two contexts do not match, you are more likely to forget the items
Other similar terms: context-dependent memory, transfer-appropriate processing, reinstatement of context
Recall & Recognition Task
Different kinds of memory tasks
Examples of explicit memory tasks
Recall Task
The participants must reproduce the items they learned earlier
Recognition Task
The participants must judge whether they saw a particular item at an earlier time
Encoding
How items are placed into memory
Retrieval
How items are recovered from memory
The processes that allow you to locate information that is stored in long-term memory and to have access to that information
Emotion
A reaction to a specific stimulus
Mood
A more general, long-lasting experience
Pollyanna Principle
Pleasant items are usually processed more efficiently and more accurately than less-pleasant items
Positivity Effect
People tend to rate unpleasant events more positively with the passage of time
2 kinds of retrieval tasks
Explicit & Implicit Memory Tasks
Explicit Memory Task
A researcher directly asks you to remember some information; you realize that your memory is being tested, and the test requires you to intentionally retrieve some information that you previously learned
Recall
The most common explicit memory test
Implicit Memory Task
Assesses your memory indirectly
You see the material; later, during the test phase, you are instructed to complete a cognitive task that does not directly ask you for either recall or recognition
Repetition Priming Task
A measure of implicit memory
Recent exposure to a word increases the likelihood that you’ll think of this particular word when you are subsequently presented with a cue that could evoke many different words
Dissociation
Occurs when a variable has large effects on Test A, but little or no effects on Test B
Also occurs when a variable has one kind of effect if measured by Test A, and the opposite effect if measured by Test B
