Chapter 8: Memory - Functions, Processes, Brain Structures, and Enhancing Strategies

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering memory functions, encoding and storage stages, brain structures, memory errors, amnesia, interference, and effective memory-enhancing study strategies.

Memory

The process of taking in, storing, and retrieving information.

Encoding

The process of putting information into memory so that the brain can store it.

Automatic Processing

The encoding and learning of information without consciously trying to remember it.

Effortful Processing

The learning and encoding of information by consciously putting in effort and attention.

Semantic Encoding

Remembering and encoding information based on its meaning, which tends to provide better memory retention than visual or acoustic encoding.

Visual Encoding

Remembering and encoding information based on what it looks like or its appearance.

Acoustic Encoding

Remembering and encoding information based on how it sounds.

Self-Reference Effect

The tendency to remember information better when you connect it to yourself or your personal experiences.

Storage

The process of keeping information in memory over time.

Stage Model of Memory

A theory proposed in 1968 by Atkinson and Shiffrin outlining three separate stages through which information moves: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

The first stage of memory that briefly holds incoming information from the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).

Iconic Memory

A very brief sensory memory of visual information or images.

Echoic Memory

A very brief sensory memory of auditory information or sounds.

Short-Term Memory

A memory stage that temporarily holds a small amount of information for approximately 20 to 30 seconds.

Miller's Magic $7 \pm 2$

The concept that the capacity of short-term memory for most people is 7 pieces of information, plus or minus 2 (about 5 to 9 pieces of information at once).

Working Memory

The ability to temporarily hold and actively manipulate or work with information in the mind.

Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to help keep it in memory.

Long-Term Memory

The memory system that stores information for long periods of time, potentially for an individual's entire life.

Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory)

Memories of facts and experiences that you can consciously recall, know, and explain.

Episodic Memory

A subcategory of explicit memory involving personal experiences and autobiographical events that happened in your life.

Semantic Memory

A subcategory of explicit memory comprising general knowledge, facts, meanings, and learned concepts.

Implicit Memory (Nondeclarative Memory)

Memories that influence behavior and performance without requiring conscious or intentional thought, and cannot easily be put into words.

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory involving how to perform motor skills, procedures, or physical actions.

Priming

An implicit memory effect where exposure to a stimulus influences how quickly or easily you recognize or respond to a subsequent stimulus.

Emotional Conditioning

A form of implicit memory involving learning to associate an emotion or feeling with a particular experience or situation through classical conditioning.

Retrieval

The process of bringing stored information out of memory and back into conscious awareness.

Recall

A method of memory retrieval where you access stored information on your own without being given choices or cues.

Recognition

A method of memory retrieval where you identify previously learned information when presented with choices or options.

Relearning

A measure of memory retention involving learning previously acquired information again, usually at a faster rate than the first time.

Engram

The physical representation or trace of a memory in the brain.

Localization

The idea that specific functions or memories are stored in particular, dedicated areas of the brain.

Equipotentiality Hypothesis

A hypothesis formulated by Karl Lashley proposing that any part of the brain can take over the job of any other part if damage occurs.

Hippocampus

A brain structure essential for forming new explicit memories and transferring information into long-term memory.

Memory Consolidation

The eventual movement of explicit memories from the hippocampus to the cerebral cortex for long-term storage.

Amygdala

A brain structure involved in processing emotions and strengthening emotional memories, particularly during stressful or frightening experiences.

Flashbulb Memory

A clear, vivid memory of an emotionally significant or stressful moment or event.

Cerebellum

The brain structure that aids in movement, coordination, and forming implicit memories, particularly learned physical skills.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Severe brain damage caused by a sudden collision between the skull and another object; it is the leading cause of neurological disorders among Americans aged 15–25.

Amnesia

The loss of memory resulting from brain injury, trauma, or disease.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new memories for events occurring after brain trauma or injury, while past memories prior to injury remain intact.

Retrograde Amnesia

The loss of memory for events and information that occurred before a brain injury or trauma.

Construction (Memory)

The initial formation of new memories.

Reconstruction (Memory)

The process of retrieving old memories, during which basic outlines are recalled and details are filled in or potentially distorted.

Storage Decay

A theory suggesting that memory traces gradually fade and disappear over time if they are not retrieved and rehearsed.

Misinformation Effect Paradigm

The phenomenon in which exposure to misleading post-event information causes an individual to incorporate inaccurate details into their memory of an event.

Encoding Failure

A memory failure occurring when information is never properly processed or transferred into long-term memory in the first place.

Transience

A memory error characterized by the decrease in accessibility of a memory over time.

Absentmindedness

A memory lapse caused by breaks or lapses in attention, such as forgetting why you walked into a room.

Blocking

A temporary inability to retrieve stored information, often experienced as the 'tip-of-the-tongue' phenomenon.

Misattribution (Source Amnesia)

A memory error in which a person forgets when, where, or how information was originally acquired and attributes it to the wrong source.

Bias (Memory Error)

The distortion of recalled memories caused by an individual's current belief system, feelings, or perspective.

Persistence

The intrusive and unwanted recurrence of memories that a person would prefer to forget, such as traumatic events.

Proactive Interference

An interference effect where old information hinders or makes it harder to remember newly learned information.

Retroactive Interference

An interference effect where newly learned information impairs or prevents the recall of older memories.

Suppression

A conscious form of motivated forgetting where an individual deliberately tries not to think about an accessible memory.

Repression

An unconscious form of motivated forgetting where painful, disturbing, or traumatic memories are pushed out of conscious awareness.

Chunking

A memory strategy that organizes individual units of information into larger, manageable, personally meaningful units.

Elaborative Rehearsal

A study technique involving thinking deeply about the meaning of new information and linking it to existing knowledge stored in memory.

Mnemonic Devices

Techniques and memory aids that use vivid or organized systems (such as acronyms, acrostics, and the Method of Loci) to assist in retrieval.

Method of Loci

An ancient mnemonic technique where a person visualizes a familiar location or route and associates each item to be remembered with a specific spot or landmark.

Spacing Effect

The finding that distributed study or practice over time yields superior long-term retention compared to massed study or cramming.

Massed Practice

Attempting to learn all material at once in a single, continuous session (cramming).

Distributed Practice

Spreading out study and encoding sessions across multiple instances over time.

Levels of Processing

A theory proposed by Craik and Lockhart (1972) asserting that information processed more deeply is better transferred and maintained in long-term memory.

Neurogenesis

The growth and development of new brain cells, promoted in the hippocampus by regular aerobic exercise.