Memory Terms

Encoding

The process of converting sensory input into a form that can be processed and stored in memory.

Storage

The retention of encoded information over time for future use.

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information from memory when needed.

Sensory memory

A very brief storage system for sensory information, lasting only milliseconds to seconds.

Short-term memory

A limited-capacity memory system that holds information temporarily for about 20–30 seconds.

Long-term memory

A memory system with virtually unlimited capacity that stores information over extended periods.

Explicit memories

Memories that require conscious effort to recall, such as facts or events.

Implicit memories

Memories that occur without conscious awareness, such as skills or conditioned responses.

Iconic memory

A fleeting sensory memory of visual stimuli lasting about a fraction of a second.

Chunking

The process of organizing information into manageable units to improve memory.

Mnemonics

Memory aids or strategies, often using vivid imagery or organizational devices.

Flashbulb memory

A vivid and detailed memory of an emotionally significant event.

Recall

Retrieving information from memory without external cues, such as on an essay question.

Recognition

Identifying previously learned information with the help of external cues, such as on a multiple-choice test.

Mood-congruent memory

The tendency to recall memories that match one’s current mood.

Serial position effect

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

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new long-term memories following brain damage.

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to recall past memories that were formed before brain damage.

Repression

A defense mechanism that unconsciously blocks traumatic or anxiety-inducing memories from awareness.

Misinformation effect

The distortion of memory caused by exposure to misleading information.

Convergent thinking

A problem-solving approach that focuses on finding a single, correct solution.

Divergent thinking

A creative thinking process that generates multiple solutions to a problem.

Schema

A mental framework that organizes and interprets information based on experience.

Forgetting curve

Ebbinghaus’s theory that memory retention decreases rapidly at first but then levels off over time.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The frustrating experience of being unable to retrieve a word or memory despite feeling close to recalling it.

Functional fixedness

The cognitive bias of seeing objects as only functioning in their typical way, hindering problem-solving.