PSY 211 TEST #3

Aging and memory

Aging and memory

Refers to the changes in memory function as people grow older, often including declines in working memory and long-term memory.

Anaphora

A linguistic term for a reference made to something previously mentioned; often used in pronouns to relate to earlier nouns.

B.F. Skinner

Psychologist known for his work in behaviorism and for conceptualizing language learning as a process of operant conditioning, where behaviors are reinforced.

Brief sensory memory

A very short-term memory that lasts only a few seconds, allowing individuals to retain sensory information temporarily.

Central executive

A component of working memory that directs attention and manages cognitive tasks, such as problem-solving.

Chunking

A memory strategy that involves grouping information together to improve retention and retrieval.

Clive Wearing

A British musician who developed profound amnesia due to a viral infection; he is unable to retain new memories but retains skills and some recollections.

Coding and recoding of stimuli

The processes by which sensory information is transformed into a format that can be stored and later retrieved in memory.

Coherence

The quality of being logical and consistent in text or discourse; important for understanding and memory.

Constructive episodic simulation hypothesis

The theory that proposes episodic memory allows individuals to simulate possible future events based on past experiences.

Double dissociation

A phenomenon in neuropsychology where two related mental processes are shown to function independently from each other.

Deafness showing Language Development

Study of how language acquisition occurs in deaf individuals, often showing that sign language can develop in absence of auditory input.

Elaboration

A cognitive process that involves expanding on information by adding details to enhance understanding and memory.

Explicit memory, Episodic

Explicit memory refers to memories that can be consciously recalled, while episodic memory refers specifically to personal experiences and events.

Features of long-term memory

Includes the capacity for lasting retention, organization, and retrievability of information over extended periods.

Garden path sentence

A sentence that initially leads the reader to an incorrect interpretation; typically recognized through confusion or misinterpretation of its structure.

Given-new contract

A principle in communication that suggests speakers should provide information that is new to the listener while relating it to what is already known.

H.M.

Henry Molaison, a patient who had his hippocampus removed leading to profound amnesia; his case was pivotal in understanding memory systems.

Implicit memory

A type of memory that influences thoughts and behaviors unconsciously, represented through skills and conditioned responses.

K.C. and K.F

Participants in memory studies who suffered different types of brain injuries leading to specific deficits in episodic and semantic memory.

Kepel & Underwood (1962)

Researchers who studied proactive interference in memory tasks, finding that previously learned information can disrupt the learning of new information.

Lexical ambiguity

The phenomenon where a word has multiple meanings, leading to potential confusion in communication.

Lexicon

The complete set of words and their meanings in a language that a person is familiar with.

Long term memory (LTM)

A stage of memory where information is stored for long durations, having a virtually unlimited capacity.

Meaning dominance

Refers to the tendency for one meaning of an ambiguous word to be more strongly activated than others in a given context.

Modal Models of memory

Theoretical models that describe memory processes through stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language; they can be roots, prefixes, or suffixes.

Neuropsychological evidence for different forms of memory

Findings from brain injury studies showing distinct memory systems, such as declarative vs. procedural memory.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another.

Phonological loop

A component of working memory responsible for handling verbal and auditory information.

Proactive and retroactive interference

Proactive interference occurs when older memories disrupt newer ones, while retroactive interference happens when new memories disrupt older ones.

Propaganda effect

The phenomenon where people are more likely to evaluate statements they have heard previously as being true, even if they are false.

Prosody

The rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech that convey meaning beyond words.

Role of sleep and memory

Sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation and retention, helping to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory.

Semantic memory

A type of long-term memory that involves the storage of factual information and general knowledge.

Sensory memory

The initial stage of memory that retains sensory information for a very brief period, typically lasting less than a second.

Serial-position curve

A phenomenon showing that individuals tend to remember the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle.

Short term memory (STM)

A temporary storage system for information that is limited in duration and capacity; characterized by quick retrieval and processing.

Speech segmentation

The process of identifying the boundaries between words in speech.

Syntactic priming

A phenomenon in which exposure to a specific sentence structure influences the production of similar structures.

S-system and P-system

Models of memory distinguishing between semantic memory (S-system) and episodic memory (P-system).

Syntax

The set of rules that govern the structure and arrangement of words in sentences.

Tanenhaus et al (1995)

Researchers known for their study on the effects of syntactic structure on sentence processing and parsing.

Trauma research and memory

Studies investigating how traumatic experiences influence memory retention, accuracy, and recall.

Tulving's definition of episodic memory

Tulving defined episodic memory as a system for remembering personal experiences, including context and time.

Visuospatial sketchpad

A component of working memory that handles visual and spatial information.

Waugh & Norman (1965)

Conducted a study on the effects of interference on memory; concluded that memory performance is affected by the similarity of items.

Wickens et al. experiment

Investigated the effects of proactive interference using 'fruit, meat, and professions'; results showed similarities in interference but not in memory retrieval.

Word frequency

The rate at which a particular word occurs in a language, which can influence recognition and recall.

Working memory

A cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information; distinct from short-term memory due to its active processing components.

Zhang & Simon (1985)

Conducted a study demonstrating the effects of hierarchical organization on memory recall; their results showed improved performance with structured information.