Module 25: Storing and Encoding Memories

Semantic Encoding

Deepest form of encoding, focuses on the meaning of information + makes connections to prior knowledge

Episodic Memory

Explicit memory of personally experienced events, one conscious memory system

Hippocampus

A neural center 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

Explicit Memory Formation

Frontal lobes and hippocampus

Cerebellum and basal ganglia

Implicit memory formation

Amygdala

Emotion-related memory formation

Flashbulb Memory

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

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

Retrieval Cues

Passwords that open memories, associations are made through these to allow for memory

Retrospective Memory

Memories for past actions

Prospective Memory

Memories for intended future actions

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of associations in memory

Encoding Specificity Principle

The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

State-Dependent Memory

What we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood

Serial Position Effect

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

Acoustic Encoding

Encoding based on how something sounds (rhymes, tone)

Structural Encoding

Only paying attention to what something looks like/the structure of it, unlikely to be remembered

Visual Encoding

Encoding based on how something looks (colors, shapes)

Tactile Encoding

Encoding based on the feeling of touch