Memory Concepts and Errors

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to memory, its types, processes, and common errors that occur in memory recall.

Working Memory

The ability to hold information in mind for a brief time and work with it, previously called short-term memory.

Semantic Memory

Your storehouse of more or less permanent knowledge.

Episodic Memory

The ability to remember the episodes of your life.

Procedural Memory

Memory for movement and action sequences, such as how to ride a bike.

Encoding

The initial experience of perceiving and learning events.

Distinctiveness

Unusual events are more likely to be recalled than commonplace events.

Recoding

Taking information from one form and converting it in a way that makes sense to us.

Memory Trace (Engram)

The change in the nervous system that represents our experience.

Consolidation

The neural changes that occur over time to create the memory trace of an experience.

Eyewitness Memory

The accuracy of memory retrieval influenced by factors such as interference and misleading information.

Amnesia

The loss of long-term memory due to disease, physical trauma, or psychological trauma.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to remember new information after a point of trauma.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memory for events that occurred prior to the trauma.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where exposure to incorrect information can lead to misremembering the original event.

Suggestibility

The effects of misinformation from external sources that can lead to the creation of false memories.

Transience

The gradual loss of accessibility of memory over time.

Blocking

A temporary inability to access stored information, sometimes referred to as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.

Chunking

Organizing information into manageable bits or chunks to enhance memory.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Technique in which you connect new information meaningfully to knowledge already stored.

Mnemonic Devices

Memory aids that help organize information for easier encoding and retrieval.