Memory Terms Definiton (For Recall)

Memory

Learning over time through storage and retrieval of information.

Encoding

Processing info into the memory system. 

Storage/memory consolidation (CED)

Retention of encoded info over time.

Retrieval

Getting info out of memory storage.

Sensory memory

Recording of sensory info in the memory system

State dependent memory

 What we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when in the same state.

Short Term Memory

Holds a few items briefly before info is stored or forgotten.

Long-term memory

Permanent and limitless storehouse of memory system. 

Working memory

Newer understanding of short-term memory.  Associates old and new information and solves problems. 

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental info. 

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Spacing effect

When rehearsal is distributed over time vs. mass practice (cramming)

Mnemonics

Memory aids, techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Chunking (nasra is chunky)

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units. 

Iconic memory

Sensory memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Echoic memory

Sensory memory of auditory stimuli.

Implicit memory

Retention independent of conscious recollection. Nondeclarative.

Explicit memory

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and ‘declare’.

Testing effect

Repeated self-testing, an example of distributed practice. 

Shallow processing

Encoding on a basic level based on structure or appearance of words.

Deep processing

Encoding based on the meaning of the words. 

Hippocampus

Located in the limbic system, helps process explicit memories for storage.

Flashbulb memory

Clear memory of an emotionally significant moment of event.

Long-term potentiation

Increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.

Recall

Measure of memory in which the person must retrieve info. learned earlier.

Recognition

Measure of memory in which the person needs only identify items previously learned.

Relearning

Learning material for a second time

Priming

The activation of particular associations in memory.  “Wakening of Associations”

Mood-congruent memory

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood. 

Serial position effect

Tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to form new memories.

Retrograde amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to form new memories.

Retroactive interference

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Proactive interference

Disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. 

Retroactive interference

Disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Repression

Defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories. 

Misinformation effect

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Source amnesia

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about or imagined.

Procedural memory

Responsible for storing information on tasks that become automatic over time.

Massed practice

Study method where large amounts of information is learned in a single session with minimal     breaks. 

Distributed practice

Studying spread out over time with multiple breaks.