Studied by 1 person
What is memory?
Memory is the capacity for storing and retrieving information
What 3 processes are involved in memory?
encoding, storage, retrieval
Encoding
Processing information into memory
Structural encoding
Focuses on what words look like
Phonemic encoding
Focuses on how words sound
Semantic encoding
Focuses on the meaning of words
Memory storage
After information enters the brain, it has to be stored or maintained. (sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory)
Sensory Memory
Stores incoming sensory information in detail but only for an instant
Short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten
Working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.
Long term memory
Has an almost infinite capacity, and information in long-term memory usually stays there for the duration of a person's life.
Retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory.
Associations
recalling a particular word becomes easier if another, related word is recalled first.
Mood congruent memory
If people are in the same mood they were in during an event, they may have an easier time recalling the event.
Three main distinctions of different types of memory
Implicit vs. explicit memory
Declarative vs. procedural memory
Semantic vs. episodic memory
Implicit memory
Unconscious retention of information
Explicit memory
Conscious, intentional remembering of information
Declarative memory
Recall of factual information such as dates, words, faces, events, and concepts
Procedural memory
Recall of how to do things such as swimming or driving a car. People don't have to consciously remember how to perform actions or skills
Semantic memory
Recall of general facts
Episodic memory
Recall for one's personal facts
Retention
The proportion of learned information that is retained or remembered—the flip side of forgetting
Forgetting Curve
A graph that shows how quickly learned information is forgotten over time
Recall
Remembering without any external cues
Recognition
Identifying learned information using external cues
Relearning
A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time
The six main reasons for forgetting:
Ineffective encoding, decay, interference, retrieval failure, motivated forgetting, and physical injury / trauma
Ineffective encoding / encoding failure
Memories never stored due to lack of attention
Decay
Fading away of memory over time
Interference
People forget information because of interference from other learned information
Retroactive interference
Newly learned information makes people forget old information
Proactive interference
Old information makes people forget newly learned information
Retrieval failure
The inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues
Anterograde amnesia
The inability to remember events that occur AFTER an injury or traumatic event
Retrograde amnesia
The inability to remember events that occurred BEFORE an injury or traumatic event
Rehearsal
The more people rehearse information, the more likely they are to remember that information.
Overlearning
Continuing to practice material even after it is learned increases retention.
Distributed practice (AKA the Spacing Effect)
Learning material in short sessions over a long period
Massed practice
Cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into one session
Mnemonics
Strategies for improving memory. (ex: acronyms, acrostics, the narrative method, and rhymes.)
Acrostics
Sentences or phrases in which each word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue
Method of Loci
Use of familiar locations as cues to recall items that have been associated with them
Link method
Forming a mental image of items remembered in a way that links them together. Ex. making a story out of items.
Peg word method
Memorizing something by using something already familiar with (one=bun, two=shoe)
Consolidation
The transfer of information into long-term memory
Long-term potentiation
A lasting change at synapses that occurs when long-term memories form (muscle memory)
Schema
A mental model of an object or event that includes knowledge as well as beliefs and expectations
Source amnesia
People often don't accurately remember the origin of information
Misinformation effect
Occurs when people's recollections of events are distorted by information given to them after the event occurred. (Elizabeth Loftus)
Hindsight bias
The tendency to interpret the past in a way that fits the present
Overconfidence effect
The tendency people have to overestimate their ability to recall events correctly
Iconic Memory
visual sensory memory
Echoic Memory
auditory sensory memory
Confabulation
When people claim to remember something that didn't happen, or think that something happened to them, when it actually happened to someone else
Hermann Ebbinghaus
the first person to do scientific studies on forgetting (forgetting curve)
Elizabeth Loftus
studies memory (misinformation effect)
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