2.5-2.6: Storing and Retrieving Memories

capacity of short-term memory

capacity of short-term memory

~7 digits

capacity of working memory

varies depending on age and other factors

capacity of long-term memory

limitless

semantic memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge

episodic memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events

what semantic networks do for memory

connect concepts, help group objects based on similar characteristics

frontal lobes

where semantic and episodic memory is processed and stored

hippocampus

neural center in the limbic system, helps process explicit memories

function of left hippocampus

verbal information

function of right hippocampus

visual designs and locations

memory consolidation

neural storage of long-term memory

how study/sleep/restudy process helps memory

remember material better

happens during sleep

hippocampus processes memories for later retrieval

cerebellum helps form and store memories created by this

classical conditioning

basal ganglia

involved in motor memory, facilitates procedural memory for skills

two influences that can cause infantile amnesia

children do not posses much knowledge of any language, hippocampus is one of the last brain structures to mature

impact of emotional stress on memory

glucose increase which gives brain more energy, provokes amygdala to initiate a memory trace, lasting physical change as memory forms that boosts memory-forming areas

flashbulb memory

clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

encode memories

best retrieval cues come from associations when we ____

retrospective

past actions

prospective

intended future actions

priming effect

activation of particular associations in memory

memoryless memory

implicit, invisible memory, without conscious awareness

encoding specificity principle

idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping recall it

context-dependent memory

what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in the state

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 items in a list initially (recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (primacy effect)

metacognition

monitoring and evaluating your learning, self-testing

testing effect

testing yourself and rehearsing over time

interleaving

mixing your study between various subjects, boosts learning by allowing extra retrieval practice