Chapter 7 Notes + Flashcards (Textbook)

Transience

Normal forgetting of information over time, characterized by a high rate of forgetting immediately after encoding that decreases over time.

Forgetting Curve

Most information is forgotten very quickly after it is encoded, with decreasing rates of forgetting over time.

Interference

A cause of forgetting where some information is blocked by other information in memory.

Interrupted Consolidation

The disruption of memory consolidation

Passive Decay

The view that the primary cause of forgetting is simply memories fading over time; rejected by most researchers

Main Causes of Forgetting

Interference (from older or more recently encoded information) and Interrupted consolidation

Absentmindedness

A lack of attention during encoding or retrieval that leads to forgetfulness, such as not remembering where you placed an object.

Blocking

The experience of knowing information, yet being unable to retrieve it, often illustrated by the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.

Tip-of-the-tongue

The inability to fully retrieve a word or concept despite knowing that the information is stored in memory (more so with arbitrary terms)

Source Misattribution

The phenomenon of remembering learning something from a different source than the actual source.

Suggestibility

Changes in memory as a result of others' suggestions or statements.

Bias

When current experiences or knowledge alter the memory of a past experience.

Persistence

Experiencing unwanted memories repeatedly, often referred to as an excess of memory rather than a type of memory failure.

Reconstructive Nature of Memory

Encoding and storing the pieces of an experience and then attempt to put the pieces back together when we retrieve our memory

Barlett’s Studies

Studies on participants ability to reproduce simple stories, passages, and figures. Participants often relied on their own experiences and knowledge to fill in the details

Schema

A general knowledge structure for an event or situation that helps reconstruct memories.

Scripts

A type of schema that stores the order of events or procedures in a specific situation

Fuzzy Trace Theory

A theory suggesting that gist representations of the list are created and stored in memory, while verbatim traces are lost.

Post-event Information

Information that someone is exposed to after witnessing an event that can alter their memory of that event.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where subjects have false memories for an event based on suggestive information provided by others.

Anterograde Amnesia

A memory deficit for information learned after a brain lesion.

Retrograde Amnesia

A memory deficit for information learned before a brain lesion.

Plaques

Bundles of protein that develop in the synapse and disrupt communication between neurons, characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Tangles

Protein fibers that develop in a neuron's nucleus and affect its ability to function properly, associated with Alzheimer's disease.

DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) Procedure

Research methodology that experimentally creates false memories for theme items that are not presented as part of a list of related items

(Just knowing the topic ahead of time allowed participants to apply their own knowledge and experience to the passage, which increased their ability to recall)

Spreading Activation

Process used in retrieval of LTM memories based on associations among stored information in a network. Activating one memory triggers related memories due to their interconnected nature.

Source Monitoring

The process of determining the origin of a memory, including whether it was experienced directly, encountered in conversation, or derived from imagination.

Activation-Monitoring Framework

A theory to explain false memories by combining both activation and source monitoring work together to produce false memories in the DRM procedure

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

A studied on post-event information where they asked participants to watch videos of car accidents, and asked how fast were they going after they ___ each other? The specific verb used impacted the answers given (e.g., bumped, smashed, collided). After a while, they were asked if they remember any broken glass, a larger percentage of people said they saw broken glass if they had originally been asked the speed question with the verb “smashed”

Suggestive Questions

Question posed to a witness in such a way that leads them to a specific answer, which can lead to an alteration of their memory for an event

Cognitive Interview

A procedure for interviewing a witness that is designed to encourage accurate retrieval of the details of an event