AP Psychlogy- Memory

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Information processing

3 steps: Encoding - Storage - Retrieval

Encoding

Getting information into the brain

Storage

Retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

Getting stored information back out from Long-term (LTM) to Short-term (STM) to be used

Recall Memory

2 step process in which first we need to generate possible answers and then identify/choose correct response(s)

Recognition Memory

1st step is already completed for you; All you have to do is choose the correct answer(s)

Effortful Encoding/Processing

Requires attention and conscious effort; i.e., reading

Automatic Encoding/Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information; i.e., eating

Retrieval cues

Memories are held in storage by a web of associations and associations are like anchors that help retrieve memory.

Sensory Memory

A very temporary storage of information we receive from our senses

Short Term Memory

Limited period of time & limited capacity (5-7 bits of information; 20-30 seconds)

Working Memory

holds memory we are currently processing

Long Term Memory

unlimited memory storage

Episodic

memories from personally experienced events

Semantic

memories of general, factual knowledge

Procedural

memories that relate to skills or habits,

Flashbulb

a clear memory of an emotionally significant event or moment

Explicit

Facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (easy to explain)

Implicit

Learning an action while the individual does not know or declare what she knows (impossible to explain)

Hippocampus

a neural center in the limbic system that processes new explicit memories

Cerebellum

a neural center at the bottom of each hemisphere that processes implicit memories

Amnesia

loss of memories, such as facts, information and experiences.

Anterograde Amnesia

is a loss of the ability to create new memories AFTER the event

Retrograde Amnesia

loss of information/memory PRECEDING/BEFORE a specific event in time or the onset of brain damage

Clive Wearing

British musician/conductor with anterograde and retrograde amnesia; 30 second memory

H.M.

Due to elliptic seizures, he had his hippocampus removed

Rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or encode it for storage

Spacing Effect

the tendency for distributed study/practice to yield the best long-term retention.

Mnemonic Devices

memory aids assisting in memory (i.e. HOMES, SOHCAHTOA, PEMDAS)

Imagery

creating or visualizing a mental picture or image; a powerful aid to effortful encoding

Serial Position Effect

Our tendency to recall the first and last items in a list

Primacy Effect

Our tendency to recall items at the BEGINNING of a list

Recency Effect

Our tendency to recall the items at the END of a list

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units, personally meaningful, often occurs automatically.

State Dependent Memory

Improved retrieval of material when one is in the same mental, emotional, or drug induced state that was present when the material was originally learned.

Mood Congruent Memory

We usually recall experiences that are consistent with our current mood, emotions, or moods, serve as retrieval cues.

Context Effects

Environmental Factors that surrounds an event effects how an event is perceived and remembered.

Encoding Failure

Information does not enter long-term memory due to distraction, absent-mindedness or worry.

Storage Failure

Information is no longer saved; it has disappeared from memory

Decay Theory

Forgetting caused by the passage of time.

Forgetting Curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus researched and found that if information is not rehearsed, it is forgotten quickly but will level off & maintain "basic" memory. First 1-2 days is critical for retention of new material.

Retrieval failure

Information is stored but cannot be accessed from long-term memory to be used

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

Failing to retrieve a word or information from memory. When the retrieval does not produce a complete response but produces parts that may then be constructed into a whole

Proactive Interference

previous learning decreases your ability to recall more recently learned material

Retroactive Interference

recently learned material keeps you from remembering older material

Memory Construction

You may UNKNOWINGLY alter your memory of an event! While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent.

Misinformation Effect

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event. (smashed vs. hit)

Eyewitness Testimony

Eyewitnesses may be 100% certain but be 100% wrong. Testimony is easily influenced by leading questions.

Elizabeth Loftus

An American cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the human memory and how it changes and is constructive.

Steven Wiltshire

has the ability to draw from memory a landscape after seeing it just once.

Savant Syndrome

a condition in which a person with a mental disability demonstrates profound and extraordinary capabilities (far in excess of what would be considered normal abilities)

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM)

a condition in which a person possesses extremely detailed memories of their life experiences.