Intro to Psych: Exam 3 - Chapter 7: Memory

Differences in between human and computer memory

Human:

• memories are heavily modulated by feelings, stress and past experiences

• reconstruct memories dynamically each time they recall them, which can alter the memory over time

• forgetting is a natural organic decay or failure of retrieval pathways

Computer:

• records data identically whether it is vital or trivial

• retrieve a file by fetching exact digital copies from a storage sector

• forgetting only happens via hardware failure, accidental deletion, or data corruption

Episodic Memory

The retention of information about the where, when, and what of life’s happenings–that is, how individuals remember life’s episodes

Implicit Memory

Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience

Concepts and Priming

Priming: the activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster

Brain Structures and their Roles in Memory

Primacy Effects

Recency Effects

Proactive Interferency

Situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material that was learned later

Retroactive Interference

Situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier

Interference Theory

The theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember

Shallow Processing in Encoding

Deep Levels of Processing in Encoding

Verbal Encoding

Visual Encoding

Characteristics and Limits of Sensory: Short-term

Characteristics and Limits of Sensory: Long-term

Memory

The retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval

Encoding

The first step in memory; the process by which information gets into memory storage

Divided Attention

Concentrating on more than one activity at the same time

Sustained Attention or Vigilance

The ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time

Levels of Processing

A Continuum of memory processing form shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory

Elaboration

The formation of a number of different connections around a stimulus at any given level of memory encoding

Storage

The retention or information over time and how this information is represented in memory

Sensory Memory

Memory system that involves holding information from the world in its sensory form for only and instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses

Short-Term Memory

Limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless the individual uses strategies to retain it longer

Working Memory

A combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow individuals to hold information temporarily as they perform cognitive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to guide understanding, decision makings, and problem solving

Long-Term Memory

A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time

Explicit Memory or Declarative Memory

The conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated

Semantic Memory

A person’s knowledge about the world, including his or her areas of expertise; general knowledge, such as of things learned in school, and everyday knowledge

Procedural Memory

Memory for skills

Schema

A preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information. Schemas from prior encounters with the environment influence the way individuals encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information

Script

A schema for an event, often containing information about physical features, people, and typical occurrences

Connectionism or Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)

The theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons, several of which may work together to process a single memory

Retrieval

The memory process that occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle

Autobiographical Memory

A special form of episodic memory, consisting of a person’s recollections of his or her life experiences

Flashbulb Memory

The memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events

Motivated Forgetting

Forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering it is intolerable

Decay Theory

Theory stating that when an individual learns something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms but then disintegrates over time, suggesting that the passage of time always increases forgetting

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) Phenomenon

A type or effortful retrieval associated with a person’s feeling that they know something but can’t quite pull it out of memory

Retrospective Memory

Remembering information from the past

Prospective memory

Remembering information about doing something in the future; includes memory for intentions

Amnesia

The loss of memory

Anterograde Amnesia

A memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events

Retrograde Amnesia

Memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events