19 — LTM Storage and Retrieval

Flashcards covering long term memory, forgetting, and memory distortions.

What is decay in the context of forgetting?

Information decays with time.

What is interference in the context of forgetting?

New information interferes with old information, or vice versa.

What is retroactive interference?

New information interferes with old information.

What is proactive interference?

Old information interferes with new information.

What is the most common cause of forgetting?

The information was never encoded properly into long-term memory.

What is memory consolidation?

Long term memories become more stable gradually over time.

What helps consolidate a memory?

Reactivating a memory.

What is state-dependent memory?

Memories are more easily recalled if you are in a similar state as when encoding.

What is context-dependent memory?

Memories are more easily recalled if you are in a similar context as when encoding.

What is retrieval interference (blocking)?

Retrieving some items in a category interferes with retrieving others.

What is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon?

You know you know it, but you can't quite recall it.

What is the Pollyanna effect?

Pleasant items are usually processed more efficiently and accurately.

What is the positivity effect?

Events are remembered as more positive/less negative over time.

What is transience (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Memories degrade with time.

What is absent-mindedness (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Memory is dependent upon attention.

What is blocking (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Irrelevant knowledge can interfere with retrieval.

What is misattribution (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Failure to remember where information was obtained.

What is suggestibility (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Information from others distorts our own memory.

What is bias (one of the seven sins of memory)?

One's current state influences memories of one's past.

What is persistence (one of the seven sins of memory)?

Unwanted memories are continuously retrieved.

What is the misinformation effect?

Our memories are not as reliable as we may think and can be influenced by additional information.

What are flashbulb memories?

Memories for exceedingly emotional, culturally shared events.

What is the relationship between confidence and accuracy in memory?

Confidence in memory veracity is not reliably related to accuracy.

What is an example of reality monitoring?

Did I pay the rent, or did I only think about it?

What is imagination inflation?

People are more likely to falsely remember performing an action if they only imagined it.

What are repressed memories?

Memories that are thought to be unconsciously locked away due to trauma and recovered later in life.

What is willed repression?

The person intentionally tries to forget/not think/talk about trauma.

What was the main issue in the McMartin Preschool Case?

Leading questions can shape a child's memory, leading to false accusations.

How does hypnotism affect memory?

Hypnotism increases suggestibility, but does not increase memory accuracy.

When are reality monitoring errors most likely to occur?

Reality monitoring errors are most likely for trivial, common, plausible events that happened in childhood.