AP Psychology Unit 6

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Retrieval

The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored.

Encoding

The processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Sensory Memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Short-term Memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a telephone number while dialing.

Long-term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Mnemonics

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Amnesia

The loss of memory.

Retrieval Cues

Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness or into behavior.

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Context Effect

The tendency to remember information more easily when the context in which it was learned is recreated.

State-dependent Memory

The phenomenon where recall is improved when in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was formed.

Mood-congruent Memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current mood.

Spell effect

The enhanced ability to remember items in a list when the list is recited aloud.

The serial position effect

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

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and