AP Psych Chapter 7 Memory

Encoding

first step in memory process, process of acquiring info and entering it into memory

Acoustic/Auditory encoding

the encoding of sound

Visual encoding

the encoding of picture images or visuals

Semantic encoding

you get the big picture/the general stuff not the small details

Storage

The process of maintaining information in memory over time. (need this for long term memory)

Retrieval

the process of recalling information stored in memory

Recall

To recall information, you have to retrieve it from memory without much help.

Recognition

In recognition, retrieval is aided by clues, such as the response alternatives given on multiple-choice tests

Episodic memory

Anything tied to something in your life or something that happened to you, remember a decent portion of details

Semantic memory

Not tied to anything, you don't always know where you learned things + you just picked it up

Procedural memory/knowledge

If you can SHOW someone HOW to do something, you have good procedural memory

Prospective memory

remembering to remember something; allows us to remember how to do an action that has been planning for the future while doing a current task.

Reconstructive/constructive memory

we use new and existing information to create a memory

Declarative memory

The capacity to remember facts and events from everyday life.

Explicit memory

something you are intentionally trying to remember; conscious

Implicit memory

unintentional, conscious and unconscious

Information processing

3 step process of sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory

Levels of processing

model that states how you encode is most important- includes maintenance rehearsal (weaker) and elaborative rehearsal (stronger)

Elaborative rehearsal

trying to elaborate on information/giving that information meaning (how does NEW relate to OLD)

Maintenance rehearsal

maintaining information for only as long as you need it, ex. reciting a phone #

Transfer-appropriate

model that states RETRIEVAL and ENCODING are connected

Parallel distributed processing

Model of memory that says all memory is connected (deals w neural networks)

Multiple memory systems

model that states that the brain has separate systems for memory, for ex. brain damage can affect implicit or explicit memory

Encoding failure and selective attention

the idea that we do not process/take in all the information and properly

store it into long-term memory

Misinformation effect

When given incorrect information, we tend to accept it as accurate/true

Schemas

Mental representation for any person, place, or thing

Elizabeth Loftus & Eyewitness accounts / framing (effect)

Loftus is leading researcher in memory today; framing effect says that how a question is worded can affect one's memory/answer; eyewitness accounts are bad

False memories

Memories that come from incorrect/made up information

Repressed memories

Memory that has been pushed out of our conscious awareness and into our unconscious

Serial position effect

What you remember depends, in part, on its numerical position

Primacy effect

If given a list of words, we tend to only remember the first few items.

Recency effect

If given a list a words, we tend to only remember the last few items

Von Restorff effect / Isolation Effect

If given a list of words, we only remember the distinctive and unique ones

Sensory memory

Memory that lasts for only 1 to 2 seconds

Short-term memory

Memory that can hold 5 to 9 distinct items for +/- 20 seconds

Long-term memory

Memory that holds information indefinitely and whose storage is thought to be unlimited

Brown-Peterson procedure

A way to measure how long unrehearsed memory remains in our short-term memory

Chunks/chunking

Organizing individual stimuli so that they will be perceived as larger units of meaningful information

Sensory registers

Systems/storage bins that hold information; related to sensory memory (each sense has its own)

Iconic memory

Sensory register for vision

Echoic memory

Sensory register for sound

Mood congruency effect

We remember positive events when we are positive mood and we remember negative events when we are

in a negative mood

Retrieval cue

A stimulus that aides in the recall or recognition of information stored in memory

Encoding specificity principle

Similar to the transfer appropriate model; the effectiveness of a retrieval cue depends on how well it is

connected/related to how the information was encoded the first time

State-dependent memory

Memory can be aided or hindered by a person's mental condition (example - test anxiety)

Context-dependent memory

Memory can be aided or hindered depending on the similarities and differences of the setting where the

information was learned vs retrieved.

Spreading activation

The PROCESS on when one thing makes you think of another thing, which in turn, makes you think of yet

another thing; related to both the PDP model and the Semantic Network Theory

H. Ebbinghaus & Method of savings / relearning method

method of savings measures forgetting, the difference between learning v. relearning and this difference is called "savings"

Decay

gradual loss of memory

Interference

storage or retrieval is impaired by other information (proactive or retroactive)

Proactive interference/inhibition

type of decay, OLD info gets in the way

Retroactive interference/inhibition

type of decay, NEW info gets in the way

Anterograde amnesia

Loss of memory for events after an injury occurred

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of memory for events before an injury occurred

Source amnesia

Memory issue that involves the inability to remember where you obtained the information

Mnemonics

Methods for placing information in an organized context in order to remember it; acronyms such as HOMES for the Great Lakes

Method of loci

Strategy for remembering where an individual uses visualizations to help remember names or list; put

them (or it) into a place within your home

Motivated forgetting

Says that we tend to remember positive events instead of negative events; has nothing to do with mood

Dual encoding theory

two methods of encoding is better than one

Semantic memory network

Suggests that all the concepts we have learned are represented in a dense network of associations;

spreading activation and the PDP model is related to it.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

When retrieving incomplete knowledge; we know some of the info., but need clues to "get it out"

Feeling-of-knowing experience

When retrieving incomplete knowledge; we are better at recognition than recall; "we will know it once

we see it"

Korsakoff's syndrome

Disorder in chronic alcoholics: person's brain cannot use glucose as fuel; results in severe

brain damage

Working memory

The part of the memory system that allows us to mentally work with, or manipulate, information being held in short-term memory.

Immediate memory span

The maximum number of items a person can recall perfectly after one presentation of the items.

Implicit social cognitions

past experiences that unconsciously influence a person's judgments about a group of people

Hippocampus

Part of the brain that deals with the formation of new memories

Alzheimer's disease & acetycholine

Acetycholine is neurotransmitter associated with memory; lack of can lead to Alzheimer's disease

Flashbulb memory

type of episodic "episodic on steroids" you remember all the details and there are emotions tied to it, usually very good things or v bad

Distributed practice

The spacing of study sessions over days or weeks.

Mass practice

A long period of concentrated study ("cramming").