Memory - Chapter 8

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to memory, including types of memory, mechanisms for encoding and retrieval, and factors affecting forgetting.

Sensory Memory

An exact replica of environmental messages that lasts for a second or less.

Short-Term Memory

A limited-capacity working memory that temporarily holds and processes information for about 15 to 30 seconds.

Encoding

The process of forming new memories by determining how information is initially formed.

Consolidation

The strengthening of connections between learned information for more permanent change in the brain.

Retrieval

The process of accessing and using stored memories.

Chunking

A technique to improve short-term memory capacity by rearranging information into meaningful patterns.

Procedural Memory

A type of long-term memory for skills and tasks.

Episodic Memory

A type of long-term memory for personally experienced events.

Implicit Memory

Memory that occurs without conscious awareness or willful intent.

Explicit Memory

Conscious and intentional recollection of information.

Decay

The gradual loss of memory over time.

Retroactive Interference

When new memories interfere with the retrieval of old memories.

Proactive Interference

When old memories interfere with the retrieval of new memories.

Amnesia

Memory loss due to physical problems such as injury or illness.

H.M. (Henry Molaison)

A patient who contributed to our understanding of the brain and memory, especially regarding the role of the hippocampus.

Retrieval Cues

Information that aids in accessing or recovering a memory.

Flashbulb Memory

Highly detailed and vivid memories of significant events, often inaccurate.

Mnemonic Devices

Techniques that help improve memory by connecting new information with existing knowledge.

Repression

A defense mechanism proposed by Freud, where threatening memories are pushed out of conscious awareness.