AP Psychology: Unit 10 (Memory)

ch. 7 of Myers' Psychology for AP, pp. 255-294 + in-class notes

memory

persistance of learning over time through storage & retrieval

encoding

processing of information into the memory system

storage

retention of the encoded information over time

retrieval

process of getting info out of storage

sensory memory

very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

short-term memory

activated memory that holds items briefly, before being stored or discarded

long-term memory

relatively permanent & limitless storage of the memory

working memory

new understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious processing of incoming audio/spatial information, and of information from long-term memory; aids in retaining and manipulating the memory

parallel processing

processing many things simultaneously; natural process contrasted with step-by-step (serial) processing

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental or well-learned information

effortful processing

conscious encoding that requires attention

rehearsal

conscious repetition of information to maintain in short-term memory or encode it

spacing effect

tendency for distributed practice to yield better retention; the basis of the spaced repetition studying method

serial position effect

tendency to better recall the first & last items in a list

visual encoding

encoding of pictures & images

acoustic encoding

encoding of sound, especially that of words

semantic encoding

encoding of meaning, especially that of words

imagery

mental pictures; helpful when combined with semantic encoding

mnemonics

memory aids often containing imagery and organisation

chunking

organisation of information into familiar, manageable units

iconic memory

momentary memory of visual stimuli

echoic memory

3-4 second long memory of auditory stimuli

long-term potentiation

increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief stimulation; often occurs in the hippocampus

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of emotionally significant event

amnesia

loss of memory

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know

hippocampus

neural centre located in limbic system that processes memories for long-term storage

recall

measure of memory in which the person retrieves previously learned information (fill-in-the-blank)

recognition

measure of memory in which the person must only identify old information (multiple choice questions)

relearning

measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for the second time

priming

activation, often unconsciously, of associations in memory

deja vu

“already seen”; current situation activating memories

mood-congruence

tendency to recall memories that align with current mood

encoding failure

way of forgetting; encoding short-term memory into long-term unsuccessful

retrieval failure

way of forgetting; retrieving long-term memory into short-term memory unsuccessful

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information; “old affects new”

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; “new affects old”

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes unwanted thoughts

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, or imagined

information processing model

model of memory similar to a computer; has three stages of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval

atkinson-shiffrin three-stage model of memory

three different memory systems for three different timeframes; contains the sensory, short-term, and long-term memory systems

haptic memory

memory in use by the sense of touch that is briefly held (~2 seconds) before being discarded or placed in short-term memory

craik-lockhart levels-of-processing model

the idea that how long and how well we remember information repends on the depth (attention, focus, elaboration, and emphasis on a particular memory) of the processing when the information is created

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level; structural → physical, phonemic → auditory; for short-term memory

deep processing

attaching meaning to information in order to create association between new & old memories

memory span

the magic “7 plus or minus 2”; the number of things a person can remember and retrieve in short-term memory

semantic memory

memory of facts, concepts, names, and other general knowledge

episodic memory

the recollection of specific events from long-term memory

prospective memory

remembering to complete a task in the future

eidetic memory

the memory of a person who has visual images clear enough to be retained for seconds and are often fully realistic in their vividness

memory consolidation

process where the brain converts short-term memories into long-term memories

storage decay & ebbinghaus

ebbinghaus conducted experimental studies of memory and discoved the forgetting curve (the exponential loss of information after learning it); typically, 70% of information is forgotten in 24 hours

trace decay theory

the idea that memories degrade biologically over time; short-term memories leave a physical/chemical trace in the brain and forgetting occurs as a decay or fading of this trace

retrograde amnesia

inability to remember events that happened before the event that induced the amnesia

anterograde amnesia

inability to create new memories after an amnesia-inducing event; can be partial or total

primary effect

effect where people have better recall of the first items from rehearsal

recency effect

idea that people have better recall of the last items in a list because they are already in working memory

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

feeling that a memory is available but is not retrievable

encoding failure

occurs when a memory was never formed in the first place (i.e. without effort)

memory reconstruction

approach to understanding memory as cognition and its errors; we often change memories as we see fit

psuedomemory

a false memory believed to be true

distibuted practice

spacing of the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods; the opposite of cramming

state dependent memory

memories are triggered or enhanced by a person’s current state; individuals more likely to recall information when they are in the same state of consciousness that they were in when they learned the information