Memory and encoding

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Memory

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

Essential to human functioning and is needed to complete the simplest of tasks

Studied from various different perspectives, including how we make, forget, and the significance of it to us.

Recall

A person must retrieve information learnt earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Most difficult and can be limited with the passage of time

Recognition

A measure of memory in which a person identifies items previously learnt, as on a multiple choice test

Quicker and easier, and persists over greater time periods

Relearning

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning the same material again

Distributed practise can help strengthen memories and decrease the amount of time needed to relearn information in the future

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system like by extracting meaning through visual, auditory, and semantic information

Storage

The process of getting information out of memory storage

Information is stored in multiple levels of storage based on capacity and duration

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage

At some point, information that is stored long-term needs to be retrieved in order to be of use

Parallel processing

Processing of multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

Sensory memory

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

All sensory stimuli briefly passes through our sensory memory but not all of it is moved further into the system

Only information we pay attention to and encode further will move into short-term memory

Short-term memory

Briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is late stored or forgotten

Limited duration and capacity

Information is often held here for us to use but then forgotten if further encoding doesn’t occur

Any semantically encoded information will make its way to the long-term storage for us to retrieve later

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent, limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Working memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory

Conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long-term memory

Selective attention helps us to focus when integrating new information with long-term memories in working memory

Central Executive

A memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

Phonological loop

A memory component that briefly holds auditory information

Visuospatial sketchpad

A memory component that briefly holds information about objects’ appearance and location in space

Neurogenesis

The formation of new neurons

Long-term potentiation

An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory

When new information is learnt or old information is retrieved and used, new neural connections are created and strengthened

A neuron’s potential to fire is linked to learning and memory, and specific areas of the brain play roles in memory

Explicit/Declarative memory

Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare”

Effortfully encoded and retrieved by our conscious mind, and facts we can “declare” we know are considered it

Some things are explicit at first but get implicit over time and habit

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time and frequency, and of familiar or well-learnt information such as sounds, smells, and word meanings

Implicit/nondeclarative memory

Retention of learning skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

They are encoded and stored by the unconscious track

Controls procedural skills

Classically conditioned

Iconic memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic of picture-image memory lasting no more than a few 10ths of a second.

Echoic memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds

Chunking

Organising items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Mnemonics

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

Retain more information but require more effort to practice

Mental images and organisation can also be very helpful

Spacing effect

The tendency for distributed study of practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through mass practice or study

Testing effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information

Shallow processing

Encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

Focus on sound or sight of words

Deep processing

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of words; tends to yield best retention

Focus on meaning and context of words by rewording or summarising into your own words

Semantic memory

Explicit memories of facts and general knowledge; one of 2 conscious memory systems

Episodic memory

Explicit memory of personally experienced events; other of 2 conscious memory systems

Hippocampus

Neural centre located in the limbic system; helps process explicit/conscious memories of facts and events for storage

Memory consolidation

The neural storage of a long-term memory

Prefrontal cortex plays a role by sending older memories into short-term to help process new information

Works with help of hippocampus and is improved through better sleep

Flashbulb memory

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Stress hormones triggered by emotional events influence memory formation

They signal the brain through glucose energy

Stress provokes amygdala to initiate a memory trace

A good picture of a flowchart

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of associations in memory

A variety of retrieval cues can help bring information out of long-term storage

Other bits of info like surroundings, time, people, and place can serve as retrieval cues

The more retrieval cues the easier it is to retrieve

Encoding specificity

The idea that cues and context that are specific to a particular memory will be the most effective in helping us recall it.

Context plays a role in helping retrieval (EX: being back in the same environment as the original memory)

Specific cues trigger retrieval better than other cues

Serial position effect

Our tendency to recall best the last items in a list (recency) and the first items in a list (primacy)

Interleaving

A retrieval strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics

Monitor and evaluate learning and identify what knowledge is missing

Test yourslef repeatedly

Study many subjects within a class or among multiple classes can boost memory

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to form new memories

Retrograde amnesia

An inability to remember past information

Ebbinghaus curve

Forgetting occurs rapidly at first and then decreases and tapers off

Forgetting is also connected to retrieval failure rather than decay

Proactive interference

The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

New memories may be hard to locate because of stronger and older memories (thinking of the previous year whenever in a new year)

Retroactive interference

The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information

Repression

In psychoanalytical theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety arousing thoughts feelings and memories

Reconsolidation

A process by which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Memories constantly revised and it can change every time it recalls

Memories aren’t visual recordings of an event or face, but a constructed version influenced by our perception and expectations

Misinformation effect

Occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information

Receiving misleading information can alter the way in which we remember an event in a phenomenon

Children’s memories are more malleable and often incorrect

Elizabeth Loftus

Leading researcher on the factors that lead to reconstruction in our memories

Source amnesia

Faulty memory for how, when or where information was learnt or imagined (misattributing of a wrong source) and is at the heart of many false memories

Déjà vu

“I’ve experienced this before“

Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger the retrieval of an earlier experience

How to do better in your classes

Rehearse repeatedly using distributed practise to benefit from the spacing effect

Make material meaningful to you, personalised to create better retrieval cues and make more associations

Activate retrieval cues by using context-dependent memories by mentally replicating the environment and mood in which you originally learnt the information

Use mnemonic devices like narratives and acronyms to help store large amounts of information to be more easily retrieved later

Minimise proactive and retroactive interference by scheduling study topics

Sleep more, as REM sleep helps with consolidation of memories (impossible cuz KatyISD schools start at 7:15AM and we can’t do nothing about it)

Test your recall, to both rehearse as well as create stronger memories