AP Psychology - Unit 2.7 Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

• shows that new and meaningless information is rapidly forgotten

• over time, the rate of forgetting slows down and eventually levels off

• can be countered with reinforcement and review

Aging Factor in Forgetfulness

• as an individual grows older, the brain regions that encode new information become less responsive

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

• occurs when an individual pertains knowledge of something, but can’t exactly declare it

Proactive Interference

• the recall of new information is interfered by older memories

Retroactive Interference

• the recall of old information is interfered by newer memories

Distress

• stress that is perceived to be detrimental

• often caused by negative life events

Eustress

• stress that is perceived as beneficial

• often caused by positive life events

Ego

located in a person’s conscious mind

ultimately decides how someone reacts to an external stimulus

controls a person’s impulses by overseeing the superego and ID

• balances the ID’s desire for instant satisfaction and the superego’s moral judgement

Superego

• located in a person’s preconscious mind

• represents an individual’s ideals, judgements, and morals

ID

• located in a person’s unconscious mind

• strives to satisfy an individual’s most basic drives that are usually based on pleasure 

Defense Mechanisms

• unconscious methods used by the ego to protect itself from the constant conflicting demands of the ID and superego

• help reduce anxiety

• focus on distorting reality

Repression

most basic defense mechanism 

shields a person from consciously confronting difficult emotions or experiences

• these events may still influence behaviors

Constructive Memory

• the idea that when a person remembers information, the brain combines actual stored knowledge with additional elements like assumptions, expectations, and new information

Reconsolidation 

• the process of altering memories that have been retrieved before they are stored in long-term memory again

Misinformation Effect

• occurs when an individual distorts a memory by altering it with false or misleading information

• can affect people’s later attitudes and behavior