Psych Chap 7 im multitasking like my life depends on it

Memory

The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information

Sensory memory

Refers to the initial, momentary storage of information that lasts only for an instant.

Short-term memory

Holds info for 15-25 seconds and stores it according to its meaning, rather than as a mere sensory stimulation.

Long-term memory

Information stored on a relatively permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.

Iconic memory

Reflects information from the visual system.

Echoic memory

Stores auditory information coming from the ears. Fades in 2 or 3 seconds

The two ways to remember information

Recall and recognition

Chunk

A group of separate pieces of information stored as a single unit in short-term memory

Rehersal

The repetition of info that has entered short-term memory. It allows material to be transferred from short-term to long-term.

Working memory

The memory system that holds information temporarily while actively manipulating and rehearsing that information.

PTSD is a

classically conditioned response

Central executive processor

Part of the working memory, it determines what we pay attention to and what we ignore.

Visual store

Part of the working memory, it specializes in visual and spatial information.

Verbal store

Part of the working memory, it holds and manipulates material relating to language, speech, and numbers.

Episodic buffer

Part of the working memory, it contains info that represents events and occurrences, the things that happen to us.

Declarative memory

Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, and facts.

Procedural memory (Nondeclarative memory)

Memory for skills and habits, like how to ride a bike

Semantic memory

Memory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are used to deduce other facts. (ex: It's why we know that memoree is an incorrect spelling)

Episodic memory

Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or context. They relate to particular contexts. (ex: remembering when and how we learned 2 x 2 = 4)

Semantic networks

Mental representations of clusters of interconnected information

Engram

The term for the physical memory trace in the brain that corresponds to memory

Hippocampus

Part of the brain's limbic system, it helps to consolidate memories, stabilizing them after they are initially acquired.

Amygala

Part of the brain's limbic system, it is involved with memories involving emotion.

Long-term potentiation

Shows that certain neural pathways becomes easily excited while a new response is being learned.

Consolidation

In which memories become fixed and stable in long-term memory

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows as a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from long-term memory.

Levels-of-processing theory

It suggest that the amount of information processing that occurs when material is initially encountered is central in determining how much of the information is ultimately remembered.

Explicit memory

Refers to intentional or conscious recollection of information

Implicit memory

Refers to memories of which people are not consciously aware but that can affect subsequent performance and behavior.

Priming

Occurs when exposure to a word or concept (called a prime) later makes it easier to recall information related to the prime.

Flashbulb memories

Memories related to a specific, important, or surprising event that are so vivid they represent a virtual snapshot of the event. Recalled details are typically inaccurate.

Schemas

Organized bodies of info stored in memory that bias the way new info is interpreted, stored, and recalled.

Repressed memories

Apparent recollections of events that are initially so shocking that the mind responds by pushing them into the unconscious.

False memory

In which a person remembers information that did not happen or remembers it in an inaccurate way.

Autobiographical memory

Our recollections of our own life experiences

Elizabeth Loftus

American psychologist best known in her research of false memory.

Forgetting

Keeps unwanted and unnecessary info from interfering with retrieving info that is desirable and necessary

Ebbinghaus

German psychologist whose study found that there is almost always a strong initial decline in memory, followed by a more gradual drop over time.

Decay

Loss of information in memory through nonuse

Interference

Information stored in memory disrupts the recall of other information stored in memory.

Cue-dependent forgetting

Forgetting that occurs when there are insufficient retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory.

Proactive interference

Information learned earlier disrupts the recall of newer material

Retroactive interference

Occurs when material that was learned learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier.

Retrograde amnesia

Where you can't recall memories that were formed before the event that caused the amnesia.

Anterograde amnesia

Loss of memory occurs for events that follow an injury. Inability to remember anything other than what was in long-term storage before the injury.

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Affects long-term alcoholics, leaving some abilities intact, but includes hallucinations and a tendency to repeat the same story.