Memory

Encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system.

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Sensory memory

immediate, brief recording of sensory information in the memory system like sights, sounds, smells, ect., operates on an unconscious level.

Short term memory

brief activated memory of a few items that is later stored or forgotten, limited amount of information (usually 7 items) that can be held for 20-30 seconds.

Long term memory

relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working memory

encoding factory: active processing where we sort and encode information before adding it into permanent storage. new memory blends with old memory to create thoughts. conscious active processing of incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long term memory.

Automatic encoding

no awareness needed to encode.

Emotional encoding

remains with no effort to encode because it goes through the hippocampus to the limbic system.

Elaborate encoding

make connections to existing information (concepts).

Maintenance rehearsal

consciou repetition, shallow processing for short term memory.

Effortful processing

the encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information and familiar or well learned information (incidental: space, time, frequency) (familiar: sounds, smells, word meaning).

Chunking

organizing items into familiar manageable units, often occurs automatically.

Mnemonic devices

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Spacing effect

the amount remembered depends on the time spent learning, the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long term retention than massed study.

Serial position effect

where something is on a list will determine if you remember it or not.

Primacy effect

the first word/ bit of information is usually what you remember.

Recency effect

the most recent information is better recalled because it’s still fresh in the mind.

Elaborative rehearsal

rehearsing information in ways that promote meaning, deep processing for long term memory, links information to what you already know.

Rehearsal

the over learning of information to increase retention, repeating information to remember it, occurs in short term memory and has the potential to transfer to long term.

Semantic memory

stores the basic meaning of words and concepts.

Procedural memory

mental directions or procedures that operate outside of awareness, things we know how to do.

Distributed practice

a learning procedure in which practice periods are separated by lengthy rest periods.

Recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, fill in the blank questions.

Recognition

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, multiple choice questions.

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage, cues to bring information to our consciousness (not always accurate).

Central executive

memory component that coordinates activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad.

Phonological loop

memory component that briefly holds auditory information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

memory component that briefly holds information about an objects appearance and location in space.

Long term potentiation

an increase in nerve cells firing potential after brief rapid stimulation.

Explicit memory

retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare, always involve consciousness, episodic memories.

Implicit memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection, memory that impacts our behavior/ mental processes without becoming conscious.

Iconic memory

momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli.

Echoic memory

momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli.

Testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving rather than rereading information.

Distinctiveness

most easily remembered because it is distinctively different from other words.

Context-dependent memory

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

Mood congruent

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good or bad mood, you remember something that happened if the memory matches your current mood.

Anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories, damage affects formation of new long term memories, you can only make new short term memories, but you still have past long term memories.

Retrograde amnesia

inability to remember information from ones past, no memory of what happened prior to damage, can still make new short and long term memories, this type of amnesia isn’t always permanent.

Proactive interference

disruptive effect of older information on the recall of new information, old memories get in the way of new ones.

Retroactive interference

disruptive effect of newer information on the recall of old information, new memories get in the way of old ones.

Repression

basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from your consciousness.

Misinformation effect

occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information.

Source amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined, maintaining memory but not context.

Infantile amnesia

younger children have limited episodic memory abilities, they still have procedural and semantic memories.

Prospective memory

the ability to remember to carry out intended action in the future, retrieval is self-initiated.

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

when you can’t remember a word or name, a strong sense that you had the memory at one time because of inadequate context clues and interference.

Forgetting curve

how much is remembered after a certain amount of time, 100% immediately but decreases until around 20%.

Episodic memory

the ability to remember personally experienced events associated with a particular time and place.

Method of loci

mnemonic technique in which items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific positions or locations.

Categorization

process by which things are grouped together based on either similar or distinct characteristics.

Hierarchy

an organization of control systems so that one area of the brain controls another.

Memory consolidation

neurological process by which a permanent memory is formed following a learning experience.

Massed practice

learning procedure in which practice trials occur close together in time, either a single lengthy session or sessions separated by short rest periods.

Autobiographical memory

memory of any information about the self, includes personal experiences and self related factual knowledge (self-schema).

Alzheimers disease

progressive disease characterized by neural death and synapse loss, memory loss.

State-dependent memory

memory for a past event is improved when a person is in the same biological or psychological state as when the memory was initially formed.

Metacognition

awareness of ones own cognitive processes, often involving a conscious attempt to control them.

Constructive memory

remembering involving the use pf general knowledge stored in ones memory to construct a more complete and detailed account of something by changing or filling in various features of that memory.

Imagination inflation

the increased likelihood that a person will judge an event of actually having occurred when they imagine the event before making such a judgement.

Multi-store model

sensory memory → short term memory → long term memory.

Superior autobiographical memory

when ones memory is filled with information most people ignore, once it is in their memory storage, it never leaves.

Encoding failure

we fail to encode what we sense but don’t notice.

Structural processing

when we only remember the physical quality of a word (how it is spelled).

Levels of processing model

structural processing → phonemic processing → elaborative encoding (on a semantic level)

Phonemic processing

when we remember the sound of a word.