AP Psychology 2.7 Forgetting

What is Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve?

- shows how memory fades over time if not reviewed or retrieved

- your forget 50-75% of what you learned with 24 hours unless you review/recall it

- More rehearsal decreases how much is forgotten.

What is encoding failure?

- information never gets properly stored in long-term memory because of lack of attn, distraction, or shallow processing

- if something is not encoded, it cannot be recalled

proactive interference?

- old information interferes with the ability to remember new information

- you retrieve what its used to, not what was just learned

- typical when learning similar concepts

- ex: only thinking of spanish words when trying to learn french

retroactive interference

- new information interferes with ability to remember old information

-new info blocks the recall of old info

- learn a new password and forgetting the old one

- happens in fast-paced learning environments

tip-of-the-tounge phenomenon

- temp cannot retrieve a known word or name

- can remember partial information like letters or syllables

- Retrieval is not all or nothing; memory is there, but inaccessible for the moment.

Repression Theory

- theunconscious blocking of anxiety-provoking memories that are pushed out to protect that person

- still very controversial among psychologists

Misinformation effect

- post-event information distorts or replaces the original memoery

- memory is reconstructive and not a perfect recording

source amnesia

- you remember a fact/event, but don't remeber where it came from (is it from a reliable source or social media)

- can lead to false memories

- shows hoe memory separates content from context

constructive memory

- don't replay memories, but rather reconstruct them using bits of stored info and logic

-brain fills in gaps with expectations, suggestions, or assumption

imagination inflation

- repeatedly imagining and event can increase confidence that that event actually happened

- shows how memory can be influenced by internal factors as well as external ones