Chapter 7, long term memory: encoding, retrieval, and consolidation

Encoding

the process of acquiring information and transferring it into Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Retrieval

bringing information into consciousness by transferring it from LTM to working memory

Maintenance rehearsal

rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information, typically results in poor memory

Elaborative rehearsal

rehearsal that involves finding a way to relate information to something meaningful

Levels of processing theory

memory depends on the depth of processing an item receives

Depth of processing

distinguishes between shallow and deep processing during encoding

Shallow processing

involves little attention to meaning

Deep processing

involves close attention and elaborative rehearsal focusing on an item's meaning and its relationship to something else, results in better memory than shallow processing

Paired-associate learning

a learning task where participants are presented with word pairs and later recall the second word when presented with the first

Self-reference effect

memory for a word is improved by relating the word to oneself

Generation effect

memory for material is better when a person generates the material himself or herself

Retrieval cue

a word or other stimulus that helps a person remember information stored in memory

Retrieval Practice/Testing effect

enhanced performance on a memory test caused by actively being tested on the material to be remembered, generating the answer is a more effective way of getting information into memory than simply rereading it

Elaboration

a study technique involving thinking about what you are reading and giving it meaning by relating it to other things you know

Distributed practice/Spacing effect

the advantage in performance caused by short study sessions separated by breaks from studying, memory is better when studying is spaced out over time rather than being done all at once

Illusions of Learning

studying techniques such as highlighting and rereading can feel effective due to familiarity

Active Note-Taker

handwriting notes may lead to better test performance than typing notes on a laptop due to deeper encoding

Free recall

a memory test where the participant is asked to remember stimuli that were previously presented without external cues

Cued recall

a memory test where a participant is presented with cues

Encoding specificity

the principle that we encode information along with its context

State-dependent learning

learning that is associated with a particular internal state (mood or state of awareness), memory is better when a person’s internal state during retrieval matches their state during encoding

Transfer-appropriate processing

retrieval is better if the same cognitive tasks (e.g.

Mnemonics

a technique used to aid memory encoding, can be verbal or visual

Verbatim memory

the ability to recall information precisely as it was presented

Consolidation

the process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, takes place over minutes, hours, months, years

Synaptic consolidation

consolidation involving structural changes at synapses that happens rapidly

Systems consolidation

consolidation involving the gradual reorganization of neural circuits within the brain that takes place on a long timescale

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

the increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse, involves structural changes that result in enhanced nerve firing

Standard model of consolidation

proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation

Reactivation

the process during consolidation where the hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory

Multiple trace model of consolidation

proposes that the hippocampus remains in active communication with cortical regions

Semanticization of remote memories

the process where memories lose their episodic detail and become more semantic over time

Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA)

a procedure that determines the pattern of voxel activation elicited by specific stimuli within various brain structures, used to predict which memories are being recalled based on activity patterns

Classifier

a computer program used in MVPA designed to recognize patterns of voxel activity

Reconsolidation

a process where a memory, when retrieved, becomes temporarily fragile again, requiring consolidation to become stable; if disruption occurs during this fragile state (e.g., blocking protein synthesis), the memory can be modified or eliminated;

Temporal Context Model (TCM)

explains that context associated with previous learning can become associated with new memories upon reinstatement