Psychology Exam 2 - Memory

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information over time

Semantic Encoding

the process of actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory

Visual Imagery Encoding

the process of storing information by converting it into mental pictures

Method of Loci

a mnemonic device where items to be remembered items are visually associated with landmarks along a well-known path

The Peg Word Technique

a mnemonic device where items to be remembered are visually paired with ordered items

(ex. 1 is a bun, 2 is a shoe, 3 is a tree, etc. and associating tasks with these items to remember your to-do’s)

Organizational Encoding

categorizing - involves organizing information into groups or categories

Storage

the process of maintaining memory over time

Sensory Memory

brief retention of sensory memory

Short Term Memory

holds non-sensory information for more than a few seconds, but less than a minute

(info will stay in the short term memory as long as you rehearse it)

How do you increase the capacity of short term memory?

Chunking - combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks

Explicit Memory

when people consciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences

Semantic Memory

a network of associated facts and knowledge that make up our general knowledge

• knowledge of facts (ex. who are the members of BTS?)

Episodic Memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

• personal memory (ex. how was your first day at MHC?)

Implicit Memory

past experiences influence later behavior and performance even though people are not trying to recollect them and are not aware that they are remembering them

• priming

• procedural memory

Priming

the ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of recent exposure to a stimulus

Procedural Memory

the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or “knowing how” to do things

(ex. ride a bicycle, ties your shoes, type, etc.)

ALSO: How to read, social interactions

Retrieval Cue

external information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind

Encoding Specificity Principal

a retrieval cure is most effective when it helps recreate the way the information was encoded

Physical Context Experiment

people are better at remembering words under the same circumstances you studied them

(ex. scuba divers learning in water vs. out of water)

Mental Context

tendency for information to be better recalled when you in the same state for encoding and retrieval

Hypermnesia (HPSAM)

never forget, never switch out of first person

Herman Ebbinghaus

• Learned series of meaningless syllables

• Examined retention over time

• Looked at ways to improve retention

Anterograde Amnesia

the inability to transfer new information from the short term store into the long term store

(H.M., Clive Wearing)

Retrograde Amnesia

the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation

Consolidation

a process by which memories become more stable in the brain

What are the three parts of memory?

encoding, storage, retrieval

Encoding

the process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory

Retrieval

the process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored

Decay

forgetting what occurs with the passage of time