Biological and Cognitive Psychology: Learning, Memory & Forgetting

Flashcards about memory and forgetting, covering topics such as memory functions, types of memory, memory processes, short-term memory, working memory, forgetting rates, and theories of forgetting.

According to Medin, Ross, and Markman (2001), what are the 3 functions of memory?

Memory functions as a natural inference system, relates new events to prior knowledge, and delivers relevant knowledge when needed.

What are the three different types of memory?

Episodic memory, Semantic memory, Procedural memory

What are the three basic memory processes?

Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

What are the components of the 'multi-store' or 'modal' model of memory according to Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)?

Sensory Store, Short-Term Store, and Long-Term Store

According to Miller (1956), how many chunks of information can people remember?

7 +/- 2 chunks of information

What is the Brown-Peterson Paradigm?

A method used to investigate the rate of decay of information in short-term memory where participants are asked to remember consonant trigrams while counting backward to prevent rehearsal.

What are the two types of interference effects?

Proactive interference and retroactive interference

What is proactive interference?

The interference of previously learned information with the recall of new information.

What is Release from Proactive Interference?

The finding that proactive interference is reduced when there is a change in the category of to-be-remembered items, leading to improved memory performance.

What is the early view of how information is 'encoded' in the short-term store?

Information in short-term memory was held in an acoustic, verbal code (i.e. speech-like).

What is Working Memory?

A system for temporarily storing and managing the information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension.

What are the three components of working memory, according to Baddeley and Hitch (1974)?

Articulatory rehearsal loop/phonological loop, Visuo-spatial sketchpad, Executive control system/central executive

What are the two parts of the Phonological Loop?

Phonological store and Articulatory control process

What is the Word Length Effect?

The finding that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words.

What does the Visuo-spatial sketchpad do?

Responsible for the setting up and manipulating of visuospatial images and is separate from the phonological loop.

What are the functions of the Central Executive?

Switching of retrieval plans, Timesharing of dual-task studies, Selective attention to certain stimuli while ignoring others, and Temporary activation of long-term memory.

What did Ebbinghaus (1885/1913) discover about initial forgetting rates?

Forgetting is initially rapid and then slows markedly.

What is Cue-dependent forgetting?

Forgetting that occurs because we lack the appropriate cues

What is the Encoding Specificity Principle (Tulving, 1976)?

Retrieval success is directly related to the degree of informational overlap between the information presented at retrieval and the information stored in memory, including its context