AP Psych unit 2: memory

memory definition

persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of info.

Long-term Memory

permanent and limitless storing of the memory system with knowledge, skills, and experiences

Short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten

other word for short term memory

working memory

Capacity of each long and short memory (time and amount)

Long-term: unlimited capacity
Short-term: limited capacity, 7 +/- 2 information bits, up to 30 seconds

primacy

remembering the first items of a long list

Recency

remembering the last items of a long list

Serial positioning

tendency when learning info. in a long list, to more likely recall the first items and the last items

Encoding

info. gets into our brains in a way that allows it to be stored

Semantic

focuses on the meaning of words

Acoustic/Echoic

if we aren't paying attention to a conversation, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Visual/Iconic

picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

failure (reasons for memory failure) (7)

- retrograde amnesia (inability to retrieve memory of past)
- anterograde amnesia (inability to form new long-term memories)
- we don't bother rehearsing something and encoding it into long term memory
- material encoded into long-term memory will decay if memory is never used, recalled, and re-called
- proactive interference (past info. interferes w/ remembering new memories)
- retroactive interference (new learning interferes w/ storage and retrieval of old memories)
- source amnesia/misattribution (when you find out a memory you had for a while was actually not yours and belonged to/came from something else)

Storage

info. is held in a way that allows it to be later retrieved

Retrieval

reactivating and recalling info. and producing it into a form similar to what was encoded

retrieval cues

learning material by creating examples and connections (make it meaningful and easier to remember)

retrieval failure

Memory itself does not decay, the associations and links that help us find our way to the stored memory can decay

Mnemonic

using images and words to make it easier to remember

method of loci

associating things we want to remember with locations

peg word system

associating new words with an existing list that is already memorized

acronyms

mnemonic device that helps you memorize by shortening words

Chunking

organizing data into manageable units, chunks of something are easier to remember then all parts

Imagery

a tool to encode things easier because we are good at remembering mental pictures as a mnemonic device

Long-term potential (rat experiment?)

- a basis for learning and memory
- chemicals can prevent LTP, causing learning to be prevented and erased.
- chemicals/drugs that prevent LTP causes mice to forget how to run out of a maze
- chemicals that boost LTP help mice learn quicker and escape with fewer mistakes

Explicit Memory (all terms that go with it from PowerPoint) where in the brain? Type of memories? etc. (5)

- facts and experiences that we constantly know and acquire through effortful processing
- located in the hippocampus
- facts are held there for a couple days before consolidating (motive to other parts of brain for long-term storage)
- semantic memories (facts and general knowledge)
- episodic (experienced events)

Implicit memory (all terms that go with it from PowerPoint) where in the brain? Type of memories? etc. (6)

- memories that we are not fully aware of and thus don't "declare"/talk about (formed without our awareness)
- automatic processing (happens without us knowing about it)
- procedural memory (knowing how to ride a bike, or well-practiced knowledge)
- conditioned associations (smell that triggers thoughts of a familiar/favorite place)
- information about space, time, and frequency
- located in the cerebellum and basal ganglia

Recall and recognition

recall: retrieving information that is not in your conscious awareness but was learned at a earlier time

recognition: identifying items previously learned

Priming (see a rabbit and asked to spell)

- activation (unconsciously) of certain associations to predispose one's perception, memory, or response
- our minds work by having one idea triggering another, which contains a flow of thought

Mood Congruent

tendency to recall details that are consistent with the mood of the person

State dependent learning

memories can be tied to the emotional state we were in when we formed the memory

Context Effects Godden & Baddeley Scuba study (retrieval cues)

- we retrieve a memory more easily when in the same context as when we formed the memory
- words learned underwater are better retrieved underwater

Proactive and Retroactive interference

- proactive: old/past information interferes with learning new information
- retroactive: new learning interferes with the storage and retrieval of previously formed memories

Motivated forgetting

- choosing to forget or change our memories
- people try not to think about painful memories
- if they fail to rehearse them, the memories can fade

Freud and repression

sometimes we make an unconscious decision to bury our anxiety-provoking memories and hide them from conscious awareness

Memory construction

- memory gets imagined, selected, changed, and rebuilt
- how memory can be full of errors
- reconsolidation (previously stored memories are potentially altered before being stored again

Misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Part of the brain for implicit and explicit

implicit: cerebellum and basal ganglia
explicit: hippocampus

Retrograde vs anterograde amnesia

retrograde: inability to retrieve a memory of the past
anterograde: inability to form new memories

Automatic processing

memories go directly to long-term implicit memory

Effortful Processing

putting in effort to process our memories, such as through studying, rehearsing, thinking, processing, and then storing information into long term memory

Déjà vu

feeling that you're in a situation that you've seen or have been in before

Ebbinghaus

- took notice of the spacing effect
- studied the measure of memory functioning by how much time does it take to relearn and regain mastery of material
- as rehearsal increases, relearning time decreases

Peterson and Peterson study findings & why have them count backwards?

- wanted to know the duration of short term memory
- people were given triplets of consonants and were prevented rehearsal of the information, which causes their memory to be decayed

Loftus

- experiment on the misinformation effect, asking people to watch a video of a minor car accident. when the word choice changed to make the car crash seem worse, people thought that there were higher speeds and higher damage
- experiment on implanted memories where she asked people to provide details of an incident that didn't actually occur. even though there had never been an incident, people believed that it actually real

Miller

we can hold 7 +/- 2 information bits in short-term memory

Sperling

exposed people to 1/20th of a second view of a grid of letters, they had to pull from iconic memory and recall