PSY200 Exam 2

Chapters 5,6,7

memory

the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present

modal model of memory

model that describes memory as a mechanism that involves processing information through a series of stages, including short-term memory and long-term memory

sensory memory

initial stage that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second, a brief persistence of the image

control processes

active processes that can be controlled by an individual, such as rehearsal, etc.

persistence of vision

retention of the perception of light

whole report method

in Sperling’s experiment, participants instructed to report all of the stimuli they saw in a brief presentation

partial report tone

participants instructed to report only some of the stimuli in a briefly presented display; a cue tone indicated which part of the display to report

iconic memory

brief sensory memory of things that we see, responsible for persistence of vision

echoic memory

brief sensory memory of the things that we hear; responsible for persistence of sound

short term memory

memory mechanism that can hold a limited amount of information for a brief period of time, usually around 15-20 seconds, includes both new info and information recalled from LTM

decay

the vanishing of a memory trace due to the passage of time and exposure to competing stimul

digit span

the number of digits a person can remember, used as a measure of the capacity of short term memory

chunking

the combining of small units into larger ones, can increase the capacity of memory

change detection

two pictures of a scene are flashed one after another and participant is tasked with determining what changed

working memory

a limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning

baddeley’s working memory model

memory model consisting of: phonological loop, central executive, and visuospatial sketchpad

phonological loop

part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

phonological similarity effect

phenomena supporting phonological loop that shows letters or words that sound similar are confused, not ones that look similar

word length effect

phenomena supporting phonological loop that shows memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words

auditory suppression

phenomena supporting phonological loop that shows speaking prevents one from rehearsing items to be remembers, and reduces memory span

visuospatial pad

part of working memory that handles visual and spatial information and is therefore involved in the process of visual imagery (creation of visual images in the mind)

central executive

part of working memory that coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad; ‘attention controller' that focus/divide/switch attention

preservation

repeatedly performing the same action or thought even if it is not achieving the desired goal; difficulty in switching from one behavior to another

episodic buffer

component added to Baddeley’s original working memory model that serves as a ‘backup’ store that communicates with both long-term memory and the components of working memory- it holds information longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad

prefrontal cortex

part of the brain responsible for holding information for brief periods of tim

activity state

state in which information to be remembered causes neurons to fire

synaptic state

state in which neuron firing stops, but connections between neurons are strengthened

long term memory

memory mechanism that can hold large amounts of information for long periods of time

serial position curve

in a memory experiment in which participants are asked to recall a list of words, a plot of the percentage of participants remembering each word against the position of that word in the list

primacy effect

shows that memory is enhanced for word presented at the beginning of the list due to participants having time to rehearse the words then transfer them into LTM

recency effect

shows that memory is enhanced for words presented at the end of the list due to recent words still in STM and are easy to remember

coding

the form in which stimuli are represented in the mind

proactive interference

when information learned previously interferes with learning new information

release from proactive interference

a situation in which conditions occur that eliminate or reduce the decrease in performance cause by proactive interference (prevents other info from interfering)

recognition memory

identifying a stimulus that was encountered earlier; stimuli are presented during a study period, then later the same stimuli plus new ones are presented, and the task is to pick the stimuli that was originally presented

hippocampus

subcortical structure that is important for forming long-term memories and also plays a role in remote episodic memories and in short-term storage of novel information

parietal lobe

part of brain responsible for short-term memory

mental time travel

according to Tulving, this is the defining property of the experience of episodic memory, in which a person travels back in time in his or her mind to reexperience events from the past

autobiographical memory

memory for specific events from a person’s life, which can include both episodic and semantic components

personal semantic memories

semantic memories that have a personal significance, therefore making them easier to remember

familiarity

relate to semantic memory, can’t remember the details about specific experiences involving the event

recollection

related to episodic memory, remembering specific experiences related to the event

semanticization

loss of episodic details for memories of long-ago events

constructive episodic simulation hypothesis

theory that episodic memories are extracted and recombined to construct simulations of future events

implicit memory

occurs when learning from experience is not accompanied by conscious remembering

procedural memory

memory for how to carry out highly practiced skills; implicit

expert-induced amnesia

amnesia that occurs because well learned procedural memories do not require attention

priming

a change in response to a stimulus caused by the previous presentation of the same or a similar stimulus

repetition priming

when an initial presentation of a stimulus affects the person’s response to the same stimulus when it is presented later

propaganda effect

effect showing that people are more likely to rate statements they have heard before as being true, just because of prior exposure

illusory truth effect

effect showing the enhanced probability of evaluating a statement as being true upon repeated presentation

conditioning

paring a neutral stimulus with a conditioning stimulus that elicits a reflexive response

encoding

the process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory

retrieval

the process of remembering information that has been stored in long-term memory (from LTM to working memory)

consolodation

process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state, in which they are resistant to disruption

maintenance rehearsal

rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information (not transferred to LTM)

elaborative rehearsal

rehearsal that involves thinking about the meaning of an item to be remembered or making connections between that item and prior knowledge (transferred to LTM)

levels of processing theory

the idea that memory depends on how information is encoded, with better memory achieved when processing is deep rather than shallow

paired-associate learning

a learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, then one word of each pair is presented and the task is to recall the other word

• those who created mental pictures had better recall

self-reference effect

says memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self (more likely to remember words that you associate with yourself)

generation effect

says that memory for material is better when a person generates the material himself, rather than passively receiving it

retrieval cue

a word or other stimulus that helps a person remember information stored in memory

testing effect

effect showing enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered

cued recall

a procedure for testing memory in which a participant is presented with cues to aid recall of previously experienced stimuli (best when cues are self made)

encoding specificity

the principle that we learn information together with its context

state-dependent learning

principle that memory is best when a person is in the same state for encoding and retrieval

transfer-appropriate processing

when the type of task that occurs during encoding matches the type of task that occurs during retrieval (better retrieval when tasks match)

syntaptic consolidation

process that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes

system consolidation

process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long timescale

long-term potentiation

the increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse

standard model of consolodation

proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but once complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for something that happened prior to the injury or traumatic event

graded amnesia

when amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and become less severe for earlier, more remote events

anterograde amnesia

loss of memory for events after the injury or traumatic event

multiple trace model of consolidation

the idea that the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of remote memories, especially episodic memories

reconsolidation

a process that occurs when a memory is retrieved and so becomes reactivated; once this occurs, the memory must be consolidated again, as it was during the initial learning