Memory Cognitive Processes Chapter 6

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to Memory and associated research.

Encoding

Processes that occur during the presentation of to-be-learned information.

Storage

Processes that lead to information being stored in memory.

Retrieval

Processes that return stored information from memory.

Short-term memory (STM)

A limited capacity store that holds information for a short period of time, often referred to as working memory.

Chunking

Grouping items together into larger units to increase STM capacity beyond 7 + or - 2 items.

Sensory Memory/Sensory Stores

A modality-specific (hearing, vision, taste, touch, smell) storage space that holds information very briefly, such as ½ of a second in iconic memory for visual information.

Amnesia

A condition characterized by impairments in memory, either for long-term or short-term memories. (Or vise versa)

Dysexecutive Syndrome

A condition resulting from damage to the central executive, including impairments in planning, organizing, monitoring behaviors, and initiating behaviors. Have problems like slower responses, trouble understanding rules and generating information. Have severe damage to frontal lobes.

Central Executive

The most important/versatile part of working memory that coordinates the functioning of other working memory components. Connects to attention but does not store information. Is assumed to involve the frontal lobe.

Levels of Processing

The idea that depth of processing and how it’s processed has large effects on its memorability, with deeper processing leading to better recall than shallow processing.

Explicit Memory

Memory that involves conscious recollection of information. Ex: Recognition/Recall tests

Implicit Memory

Unconscious long-term memory that does not require conscious recollection. Ex: Completing word-fragment test

Consolidation

A physiological process that establishes long-term memories lasting several hours, during which newly formed memories are vulnerable. Hippocampus is important for this.

Interference Theory

A theory explaining forgetting as being due to proactive or retroactive interference.

Schemas

Well-organized packets of information about the world (mental models) which help control how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved in long term memory.

Priming

An effect where processing of a stimulus is influenced by prior exposure to a related stimulus.

Transfer Appropriate Processing Theory

Suggests that recall is better when the learning conditions match the testing conditions. Ex: Studying and getting tested in the same classroom.

Episodic Memory

Memory for personal experiences and events that occurred at a specific place and time. Especially for personally significant memories. AKA autobiographical memory.

Semantic Memory

Memory for facts and concepts that are generalized and context-free. Ex: Used for trivia.

Non Declarative Memory

Unconscious long-term memory for behaviors (e.g., skills); also usually is implicit memory (i.e., information we may not be consciously aware of). “Like riding a bicycle.”

Repetition Suppression

The decrease in brain activity due to the repeated presentation of the same stimulus.

Fluid Intelligence

Reasoning ability (with novel information) and the ability to understand novel relationships.

Proactive Interference

Disruption of memory by previous learning (info learned before the to-be- recalled information).

Retroactive Interference

Disruption of memory by newer learning during the retention interval (learned after the to-be-recalled information).

Distinctiveness

How different the new information is from other previously-learned or other newly-learned information; also called distinctiveness processing.

Testing Effect

The effect of repeated recall attempts on improved test performance compared to merely restudying the same information.

Retrieval Effort Hypothesis

That testing during the learning phase will have a larger effect when it is harder to retrieve the required information than when it is easy to retrieve.

Reconsolidation

A new consolidation process which occurs when a previously stored memory is reactivated, allowing the memory to be updated (but puts it back in a fragile state which can lead to false memories).

Anterograde Amnesia

A condition characterized by the inability to form new memories. Have severe damage to the hippocampus. Have inability to form new episodic memories but lesser impairment to forming new semantic memories.

Retrograde Amnesia

A condition characterized by impaired ability to recall memories from before the brain injury / the onset of amnesia, ALSO more greatly affects episodic memories more than semantic memories.

Semanticization

The loss of some of the details and personal context of episodic memories over time.

Semantic Dementia

A condition characterized by impaired semantic memory (i.e., loss of information about the meaning of words and concepts) but relatively intact episodic memories (at least in early stages). Is related to degenerative (it progressively gets worse over time) damage to the anterior temporal lobes.

Perceptual Priming

Repeated presentation of the same stimulus to improve processing of its perceptual features.

Script

A type of schema for information about a sequence of events (e.g., going out to eat at a restaurant, or going to a movie at a theater). If impaired is usually related to damage to prefrontal cortex.

Conceptual Priming

Repeated presentation of the same stimulus that facilitates processing of its meaning.

Saying-is-believing Effect

Changing a message about a remembered event causes subsequent inaccuracies for that memory. 

Semantic

Knowing facts and remembering information (trivia stuff)

The Amygdala

Greek for “almond.” Is part of the limbic system located within the temporal lobes (one in each hemisphere). Is important for the processing of memory, decision-making, and emotional responses (especially negative emotions, e.g., fear, anxiety, and aggression).

Infantile/Childhood Amnesia

Participants reporting having very few autobiographical memories before the age of three. 

Reminiscence Bump

Many more memories being reported between 10-30 years of age rather than earlier or later, especially between 15 and 25 years of age.

Neurogenesis

 The process of generating new neurons in the brain.

Life Script

Cultural expectations for key events (e.g., falling in love, marriage) which mainly occur between ages of 15 and 30. Life script events tend to be positive events that are central to one’s story about their life (i.e., are important to one’s self-identity).

Generative Retrieval

Autobiographical memories retrieved through deliberately (re)constructed/ memories.

Direct Retrieval

“Spontaneous” memories triggered by external cues.