cognitive processes exam 2

Episodic Memory

Memory for specific events or episodes from your life. (explicit long term)

Semantic Memory

Memory for general knowledge, meanings, and facts. (explicit long term)

Procedural Memory

Memory for learned skills and actions developed over time. (long term implicit)

Prospective Memory

Remembering to carry out an intended task in the future.

Autobiographical Memory

Memory involving personal experiences and events from your own life.

Three Basic Memory Processes

Encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Encoding

The process of getting information into memory; can be active or passive.

Storage

The retention of information in memory and across specific brain areas.

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information; can be intentional or unintentional.

Modal Model of Memory

A model that divides memory into sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Modal Model Flow

Information enters sensory memory → attention moves it to STM → processing stores it in LTM.

Sensory Memory

Very brief storage of raw, unprocessed sensory information.

George Sperling

Researcher who studied the capacity and duration of visual sensory memory.

Partial-Report Method

Sperling's method used to demonstrate the brief capacity of visual sensory memory.

Visual Sensory Memory

iconic memory, which is the ultra-short-term storage system that holds a high-resolution, raw visual image of a scene for a fraction of a second after the physical stimulus is gone

Auditory Sensory Memory

the ultra-short-term memory buffer that briefly holds raw, unprocessed acoustic information in the brain

Tactile Sensory Memory

the short-term storage system that briefly retains touch, texture, temperature, weight, and pressure sensations after a stimulus ends (quick)

Two Stages of Sensory Information

Raw information is first stored, then connected with LTM for interpretation.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

Temporary memory storage that begins processing information transferred from sensory memory.

STM Capacity

Typically holds about 5–9 items, depending on information and attention.

Chunking

Grouping information into fewer, meaningful units to make it easier to remember.

STM Chunk Size

Information can often be organized into chunks of about 3–5 items.

Main Cause of Forgetting in STM

Interference from other information.

Working Memory (WM)

temporarily holds, manages, and manipulates a limited amount of information needed for immediate tasks, reasoning, and learning

Executive Function

Processes that control attention, goals, and ongoing mental activity.

Baddeley’s Model

A prominent working-memory model consisting of several specialized subsystems.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Working-memory subsystem that temporarily holds and manipulates visual and spatial information. mental scratchpad or whiteboard to help you picture shapes, colors, and locations

Phonological Loop

Working-memory subsystem that temporarily stores and rehearses verbal and auditory information.

Phonological Similarity Effect

Similar-sounding items are more difficult to remember in verbal working memory.

Articulatory Suppression

cognitive technique where a person repeatedly says an irrelevant sound, word, or syllable (such as "the," "blah, blah, blah," or counting) out loud or silently while trying to process or memorize new information

Word Length Effect

Short words are generally easier to remember than long words.

Episodic Buffer

A working-memory subsystem that briefly stores and integrates information, including episodic information.

Central Executive

Controls attention and information flow between the working-memory subsystems.

Does the Central Executive Store Information?

No; it controls processing and attention rather than storing information.

Cowan’s View of Working Memory

Working memory is the portion of long-term memory currently activated in attention.

Rose’s Dynamic-Processing Model

Working memory involves goal-directed processing that combines perceptual and long-term memory components.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

An apparently unlimited system for storing information over long periods.

How is LTM Primarily Stored?

Long-term memories are primarily organized according to semantic or meaning-based features.

Three Major Types of LTM

Episodic, semantic, and procedural memory.

Autobiographical Memory Accuracy

Autobiographical memories can feel vivid but may still contain errors.

Autobiographical Memory and Age

The range of autobiographical memories changes with age.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid memory of first hearing about an important or emotional event.

Flashbulb Memory vs. Direct Experience

Flashbulb memories often involve hearing about an event rather than personally experiencing it.

Flashbulb Memory Example

Remembering where you were when you first heard about President Kennedy’s assassination.

Short-Term Memory Example

Rehearsing a phone number long enough to enter it into your phone.

Long-Term Memory Example

Using ROY G. BIV to remember the colors of the visible spectrum.

Memory Systems

There is no clear agreement on the exact number or types of memory systems.

Memory and Brain Systems

Different types of memory can be distinguished by the brain systems responsible for them.

Explicit Memory Tasks

Intentional retrieval tasks designed to measure episodic and semantic memory. Main types include free recall, cued recall, and recognition.

Free Recall vs. Cued Recall

Free recall requires remembering information without specific prompts. Cued recall provides hints or cues that help retrieve the information.

Recognition Tasks

Require identifying previously learned information rather than generating it yourself, such as recognizing a familiar face.

Implicit Memory Tasks

Measure memory without intentional retrieval. They often involve procedural memory and use cues without telling the person to consciously remember.

Implicit Memory Example

After briefly seeing information, a person may complete a word stem such as "app-" based on prior exposure without intentionally recalling it.

Recall vs. Recognition

Recall requires generating information, while recognition requires identifying familiar information. Retrieval success can depend on which task is used.

Intentional vs. Incidental Learning

People intentionally told to remember words showed better recall, while people given an incidental task showed better recognition.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform an intended action in the future, such as calling someone or taking medication. It is intentional because the intention itself must be remembered.

Why We Forget

Forgetting increases over time and can result from interference, failure of retrieval, or lack of consolidation that makes memories stronger and more permanent.

Memory Storage and the Brain

Many brain areas participate in memory storage, but the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, is especially important.

Interference

Forgetting that occurs when other information interferes with the ability to retrieve a memory.

Memory Consolidation

The process through which a memory becomes strengthened and more permanent. Poor consolidation can contribute to forgetting.

Superior Autobiographical Memory

An unusually strong ability to remember detailed events from one's day-to-day life, often when given a specific date.

AJ and Superior Autobiographical Memory

A woman known as AJ reported exceptional autobiographical memory. Parker et al. (2006) confirmed her ability to recall events from specific dates.

Encoding Effects

Factors during encoding that influence later memory. Major examples include levels of processing, spacing effects, serial position, and mnemonics.

Levels of Processing

The depth at which information is encoded affects memory. Deeper, meaning-based processing generally produces better long-term memory.

Shallow vs. Deep Processing

Shallow processing focuses on surface features, such as whether a word is capitalized. Deep processing focuses on meaning and associations.

Elaborative Encoding

A form of deep processing that connects information to its meaning or other knowledge, improving long-term memory.

Level-of-Processing Effect

Information encoded according to its meaning is generally remembered better than information processed only by surface characteristics.

Spacing Effect

When total study time is equal, spreading study sessions over time produces better memory than completing the study time all at once.

Spaced vs. Massed Repetition

Spaced repetition distributes practice across time, while massed repetition involves cramming. Spaced repetition usually produces better long-term retention.

Serial Position Curve

People tend to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle because of primacy and recency effects.

Primacy Effect

Better memory for items appearing near the beginning of a list.

Recency Effect

Better memory for items appearing near the end of a list. It depends strongly on having only a short delay before recall.

Mnemonics

Memory strategies that organize or connect information to make it easier to encode and retrieve.

Bizarreness Effect

Unusual or bizarre information can be easier to remember than ordinary information, such as imagining a cat riding a bicycle instead of simply walking.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic that associates items with mental images placed in familiar locations. It is also called the "memory palace" technique.

Testing Effect

Retrieving information through testing or practice improves later memory more than simply reviewing the information.

Why the Testing Effect Works

Recall may produce more effortful processing, and separate study and testing episodes may create distinct memory traces that support later retrieval.

Using the Testing Effect

Use repeated retrieval practice, mix topics, actively analyze answers, and review what you got wrong instead of only rereading material.

Encoding Specificity Principle

Memory improves when conditions present during retrieval match conditions that were present when the information was originally encoded.

Environmental Context Effect

Matching the study and testing environment can improve retrieval. Contextual cues such as the room or even coffee may become associated with the memory.

Mood-Dependent Memory

Information may be easier to retrieve when your mood during retrieval matches your mood during encoding.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Memory improves when the type of mental processing used while studying matches the processing required during retrieval.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing Example

If an exam uses multiple-choice questions, practicing with multiple-choice questions can help because study and test processing are more similar.

Encoding–Retrieval Interactions

Memory generally improves when encoding and retrieval circumstances overlap. Matching context, mood, and type of processing can provide useful retrieval cues.

Transience

Normal forgetting of information over time. Most information is forgotten quickly; interference and interrupted consolidation can contribute.

Absentmindedness

Memory failure caused by lack of attention during encoding or retrieval. It can also cause failures of prospective memory, such as forgetting an intended task.

Blocking

Temporary inability to retrieve information that you know. A common example is the tip-of-the-tongue experience, where you may remember details such as the first letter.

Source Misattribution

Remembering information but incorrectly remembering its source, such as remembering a test announcement but attributing it to the wrong professor.

Suggestibility

Suggestions or information from other people can alter memory. Hearing misleading information about an event can even contribute to a false memory.

Bias

Current experiences, impressions, or new information can change or distort how we remember past experiences.

Persistence

Repeatedly experiencing unwanted memories. Persistent memories can become disruptive, serious, or debilitating.

Reconstructive Nature of Memory

Memory does not perfectly record experiences. We encode pieces of an experience and reconstruct them later, which can introduce errors.

Bartlett's Studies

studied people's ability to reproduce stories and figures. Memories were based on general meaning, with missing details filled in using existing knowledge.

Bransford and Johnson Study

Showed that receiving a helpful context clue before learning information can improve later understanding and memory.

Schema

A general knowledge structure used to organize and interpret information. Schemas can cause people to remember expected details that were never actually present.

Script

An organized, expected sequence of actions for a familiar situation. Scripts can differ depending on the specific setting.

DRM Procedure

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott procedure studies false memories by presenting related words while leaving out a strongly associated theme word called the critical lure.

Critical Lure

In the DRM procedure, the strongly related theme word that is not actually presented but is often falsely remembered.

DRM Recall and Recognition

Participants study related word lists and are later tested with recall and recognition. False memories for the missing critical lure are high on both types of tests.

Spreading Activation in DRM

a foundational cognitive mechanism in the (DRM) paradigm that explains why people frequently remember or recognize unpresented words