psych 7A

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and personal experiences that we can consciously recall. This type of memory is also known as declarative memory and can be further divided into episodic and semantic memory.

Example: Remembering your last vacation.

Episodic Memory

A type of explicit memory for personal experiences or events. It involves specific times and places.

Example: Remembering your first day of school.

Semantic Memory

A type of explicit memory for general knowledge and facts.

Example: Knowing that Paris is the capital of France.

Implicit Memory

Memory that happens without conscious effort, often skills or conditioned responses. A type of long-term memory that influences thoughts and behaviors without conscious awareness, including skills and conditioned responses.

Example: Knowing how to type without thinking about each key.

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory for how to perform tasks or skills.

Example: Riding a bike or tying your shoes.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to do something in the future.

Example: Remembering to take medicine at a certain time

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use, making learning and memory stronger.

Working Memory Model

A theory that describes short-term memory as an active workspace with different parts handling different types of information.

Central Executive

The part of working memory that controls attention and manages other memory systems.

Phonological Loop

The part of working memory that handles verbal and auditory (sound) information.

Example: Repeating a phone number in your head.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The part of working memory that deals with visual and spatial (location) information.

Example: Imagining how furniture will look in a room.

Long-Term Memory

The storage system for information that lasts a long time, possibly a lifetime.

Multi-Store Model

A theory that explains memory as three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

The brief storage of sensory information (sights, sounds, smells) before it's either forgotten or transferred to short-term memory.

Iconic Memory

A very short-lasting memory of something you just saw.

Example: When a bright image lingers in your vision for a second.

Echoic Memory

A very short-lasting memory of something you just heard.

Example: When you ask "What?" and then realize what was just said.

Effortful Processing

When you have to actively try to remember something.

Example: Studying for a test.

Retrieval

Bringing stored information back into conscious awareness. This process is essential for recalling memories and can be influenced by various factors such as cues and context.

Example: Answering a question on a test.

Levels of Processing Model

A theory that says how well we remember something depends on how deeply we process it.

Shallow Encoding

Learning something in a superficial way. This type of processing involves focusing on the surface features of the information, such as its appearance or sound, rather than its meaning.

Deep Encoding

Learning something in a meaningful way by connecting it to other knowledge.

Encoding

The process of getting information into memory so it can be stored.

Spacing Effect (Distributed Practice)

Studying in small sessions over time helps you remember better than cramming all at once.

Hierarchies

Organizing information into categories to make it easier to remember.

Example: Grouping animals into mammals, reptiles, and birds.

Categories

Sorting information into related groups to improve memory.

Example: Grouping grocery items into fruits, dairy, and snacks.

Chunking

Breaking information into smaller, manageable pieces to remember it better.

Example: Remembering a phone number as [phone] instead of 5551234567.

Method of Loci

A memory technique where you associate information with specific locations.

Example: Imagining placing groceries in different rooms of your house to remember your shopping list.

Massed Practice

Cramming information in one long session instead of spacing it out.

Distributed Practice

Another term for the spacing effect.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.

Primacy Effect

Remembering the first items in a list better because they’ve had more time to be stored.

Recency Effect

Remembering the last items in a list better because they are still in short-term memory.

Short-Term Memory

The memory system that holds a small amount of information for a short time.

Example: Remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it.

Working Memory

An updated term for short-term memory that includes processing and manipulation of information.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to keep it in short-term memory.

Example: Repeating a phone number to yourself.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Thinking about the meaning of information and connecting it to things you already know.

Retrograde Amnesia

Memory loss for past events before a brain injury.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new long-term memories after a brain injury.

Alzheimer’s Disease

A progressive brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking ability.

Infantile Amnesia

The inability to remember events from early childhood.

Connectionism

The theory that memory is spread across many neural networks in the brain rather than being stored in just one place.

Recall

Retrieving information without help.

Reciting a poem from memory without any prompts.

Recognition

Identifying something when given a clue.

Identifying the correct suspect from a lineup where everyone is wearing the same clothes described in the crime report.

Retrieval Cues

Hints that help us remember something.

Example: A smell triggering a childhood memory.

Context-Dependent Memory

Remembering something better when in the same place where you learned it.

Mood-Congruent Memory

Remembering things that match your current mood.

Example: When you're sad, you recall other sad memories.

State-Dependent Memory

Remembering something better when in the same physical or emotional state as when you learned it.

Testing Effect

Practicing retrieval improves memory more than just re-reading notes.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

A graph showing how quickly we forget information if we don’t review it.

Repression

The unconscious blocking of distressing memories.

Encoding Failure

When information never gets stored in memory because we didn’t pay attention.

Proactive Interference

When old information makes it hard to learn new information.

Example: Calling your new teacher by your old teacher’s name.

Retroactive Interference

When new information makes it hard to remember old information.|

Example: Learning a new password and forgetting the old one.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

When you can almost remember something but can’t quite say it.

Imagination Inflation

When imagining an event makes you believe it actually happened.

Misinformation Effect

When misleading information changes your memory of an event.

Source Amnesia

Remembering information but forgetting where it came from.

Constructive Memory

When memories are created by combining actual events with expectations and prior knowledge.

Reconstructive Memory

The idea that we rebuild memories every time we recall them, sometimes changing details.

Hippocampus

The part of the brain responsible for forming new memories.

Mnemonic Device

Memory aids like acronyms or rhymes.

Example: "ROY G BIV" for rainbow colors.

Flashbulb Memories

Extremely vivid memories of emotionally intense events.

H.M.

A famous patient who lost his ability to form new memories after brain surgery.