AP Psych Unit 2 - Memory

Memory

Memory

Learning that persists over time; information that have been acquired and stored, that can be retrieved

Schema Theory

Schemas are mental structures of preconceived ideas representing some aspenct of the world

Recall

Retrieving information that is not currently in conscious awareness, a fill-in-the-blank question

Recognition

Identifying an item previously learning from multiple choices

Relearning

Learning something faster the second time

Encoding

Putting information into the memory system: experience → memory construct

Storage

Retaining information over time

Retrieval

Getting information out of storage

Parallel Processing

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Long Term Memory

Relatively permanent and limitless storage of memory systems

Working (Short Term) Memory

Conscious active processing of incoming

Multi-Store-Model

Sensory Input → Sensory Memory →Short-Term Memory →Long-Term Memory

Working Memory Model

Working Memory = Central Executive = Viso-Spatial Sketchpad, Episodic Buffer, Phonological Loop

Visuopatial Sketchpad (Inner Eye)

Stores and processes visual and spatial information

Episodic Buffer

Links information from visual, spatial, and verbal memory to create movie-like memories

Phonological Loop

Holds speech based, and written information

Phonological Store

Holds information speech-based form (ex: spoken words) for 1-2 seconds

Articulatory control process (Inner Voice)

Converts written words into sounds, rehearses and stores verbal information

Effortful Processing

Working hard to learn new material by paying attention and using memory strategies

Explicit Memories

Require conscious awareness to encode

Semantic Memory

Type of Explicit Memory, stores facts and general knowledge

Episodic Memory

Type of Explicit Memory, stores personally experienced events - movie format

Automatic Processing

Capturing information with no conscious effort

Implicit Memory

Does NOT require awareness - gets memorized anyway

Procedural Memory

Type of Implicit Memory, motor and cognative skills

Prospective Memory

Memories formed from intending to remember something

Sensory Memory

Records of momentary images of scenes or sounds

Iconic Memory

Visual memory persists after the physical stimulus ends

Echoic Memory

Registers and temporarily holds auditory information until it is processed and comprehended

Chunking

Grouping information into meaningful units - sentences, groups of numbers

Mnemonics

Memory, especially ones that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Hierarchies

Organization of things into groups of groups/categories

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than rereading

Method of Loci

Use imagination to place items in locations that are familiar

Massed Practice/Cramming

People tire out during extended periods of rehearsal

Spacing Effect

The effect of being able to remember things better after doing them spread out

Distributed Practice

The act of spacing out rehearsal

Shallow Processing

Encoding of words based on structure/appearance

Deep Processing

Encoding of words semantically

Acoustic Encoding

Focusing on sounds

Visual Encoding

Focusing on images

Semantic Encoding

Focusing on meaning, relating new info to pre-existing knowledge

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeatedly saying or thinking about a piece of information to keep it active in ST memory

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting new information to existing knowledge to improve long term memory

Hippocampus

Brain part that helps process explicit memories for storage

Cerebellum

Brain part that forms and stores implicit memories created by classical conditioning

Amygdala

Boosts activity in the brain’s memory forming areas

Long-term Potentiation

An increasing in a cell’s synaptic firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Priming

Enhanced identification of objects or words, from associations with other things

State Dependent Memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with the state of being

Mood Congruent

The tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s current emotional state

Context Dependent Memory

Putting one’s self into the physical place where something happened for priming

Serial Position Effect

We most easily remember the first and last items in a list

Primacy Effect

The first things get remembered more

Recency Effect

The last things get remembered more

Anterograde Amnesia

The loss of memory after an event, ability to make new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

The loss of memory before an event

Alzheimer’s

A disease where a person’s memories deteriorate

Infantile Amnesia

Inability to remember things from when ones was very young

Ebbinghaus Curve

The course of forgetting in initially rapid, then levels off with time

Encoding Failure

Not enough attention was given initially

Storage Decay

Memory fades over time

Retrieval Failure

The memory is there but you can’t find it

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

A retrieval failure where you know it’s there but can’t find it

Proactive Interference

Disruption of new information by the recall of old information

Retroactive Interference

Disruption of old information by the learning of new information

Repression

Basic defense mechanism that banishes memories/thoughts/feelings from consciousness

Memory Consolidation

When memories are moved out of the hippocampus to be stores elsewhere

Imagination Inflation

Imagining an event that never happened increases the confidence in that memory

Misinformation Effect

Misleading or post-event information distorts one’s memory of an event

Source Amnesia

Impaired memory for the how, where, or when information was learned