Understanding Long-Term Memory and Language Concepts

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

The system that stores information over long durations, including facts, experiences, and skills.

Encoding

The process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information when needed.

Consolidation

The process of stabilizing memories after learning, often occurring during sleep.

Forgetting

The inability to retrieve information, which may result from decay, interference, or retrieval failure.

Explicit (Declarative) Memory

Conscious memory of facts and experiences.

Episodic Memory

Personal experiences and events (e.g., remembering your last birthday).

Semantic Memory

General world knowledge (e.g., knowing that Paris is the capital of France).

Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory

Unconscious memory of skills and conditioned behaviors.

Procedural Memory

Motor skills and habits (e.g., riding a bike, typing).

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus influences response to another (e.g., seeing 'nurse' makes recognizing 'doctor' faster).

Classical Conditioning

Learning associations between stimuli (e.g., Pavlov's dogs salivating to a bell).

Encoding Specificity

Memory is best retrieved in the same context it was encoded.

State-Dependent Memory

Recall is better when a person's internal state matches the state during encoding (e.g., studying while happy makes recall easier when happy).

Spacing Effect

Distributing study sessions over time improves retention compared to cramming.

Testing Effect

Actively recalling information (e.g., self-quizzing) improves long-term retention more than passive review.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Most forgetting happens rapidly after learning, then levels off.

Interference

Competing memories block retrieval.

Proactive Interference

Old information disrupts new learning (e.g., calling your new dog by your old dog's name).

Retroactive Interference

New information disrupts recall of old information (e.g., learning a new language makes recalling an old one harder).

Flashbulb Memories

Highly vivid but often inaccurate memories of emotional events (e.g., 9/11).

False Memories

Memories can be distorted by misinformation or suggestion (e.g., Loftus & Palmer's car accident study).

Roediger & Karpicke (2006)

Showed that testing yourself improves long-term memory retention more than re-reading.

Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924)

Found that sleep reduces interference, improving memory retention.

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

Demonstrated that wording of questions can alter memory recall (e.g., 'smashed' vs. 'hit' affecting estimated car speed).

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that changes meaning (e.g., /p/ vs. /b/ in 'pat' vs. 'bat').

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning (e.g., 'dog' is one morpheme, 'dogs' has two: 'dog' + '-s').

Syntax

The set of rules governing sentence structure and word order.

Semantics

The meaning of words and sentences.

Pragmatics

How language is used in context, including social rules and implied meanings.

Lexical Ambiguity

When a word has multiple meanings (e.g., 'bat' can mean an animal or a baseball bat).

Syntactic Ambiguity

When sentence structure causes multiple interpretations (e.g., 'The old man the boat.').

McGurk Effect

A phenomenon where visual and auditory speech cues interact (e.g., seeing 'ga' but hearing 'ba' makes you perceive 'da').

Phonemic Restoration Effect

When missing sounds in speech are filled in by the brain based on context.

Code-Switching

Alternating between languages or dialects depending on context.

Constant Inhibition

The process by which bilingual individuals suppress one language while speaking another.

Maxim of Quantity

Provide just enough information—no more, no less.

Maxim of Quality

Be truthful.

Maxim of Relevance

Stay on topic.

Maxim of Manner

Be clear and avoid ambiguity.

Berko (1958) - Wug Test

Showed that children can apply grammatical rules to novel words (e.g., 'wug' → 'wugs').

Collins & Quillian (1969)

Demonstrated hierarchical organization in semantic memory (e.g., 'A canary is a bird' is verified faster than 'A canary is an animal').

Classical View

Categories have strict definitions with necessary and sufficient conditions (e.g., 'Bachelor = unmarried adult male').

Prototype Theory

Categories are represented by an 'ideal example' (e.g., robins are more prototypical birds than penguins).

Exemplar Theory

Categories are based on specific examples from experience (e.g., recognizing a new dog because it looks like your friend's dog).

Theory-Based Categorization

Some categories rely on deep knowledge rather than appearance (e.g., a 'fake diamond' looks like a diamond but isn't real).

Superordinate Level

General category (e.g., 'furniture').

Basic Level

Everyday categories (e.g., 'chair').

Subordinate Level

Detailed categories (e.g., 'office chair').

Typicality Effect

Some category members are 'better' examples than others (e.g., a robin is a better example of 'bird' than a penguin).

Collins & Quillian (1969) Semantic Network Model

Concepts are stored in a hierarchy, and verifying category relationships takes longer when more levels are involved.

Semantic Dementia

Patients with brain damage lose conceptual knowledge, supporting the idea that concepts are deeply interconnected in memory.