psych unit 2 part 2

Memory

The cognitive processes of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.

Explicit (declarative) memory

Conscious memory for facts and events; includes semantic and episodic memory.

Episodic memory

Explicit memory for personally experienced events and their time, place, or emotions.

Semantic memory

Explicit memory for general facts, meanings, and concepts not tied to a specific personal event.

Implicit (nondeclarative) memory

Learning and memory expressed without conscious recollection; includes skills and habits.

Procedural memory

Implicit memory for how to perform practiced skills, such as riding a bicycle.

Prospective memory

Remembering to carry out a planned action later or in response to a cue.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Lasting strengthening of communication between neurons after repeated activation; supports learning and memory.

Working memory

Temporarily hold and actively manipulate information while thinking or solving a problem.

Central executive

Working-memory component that directs attention and coordinates other components.

Phonological loop

Working-memory component that briefly stores and rehearses verbal or sound-based information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

Working-memory component for temporarily holding and manipulating visual or spatial information.

Multi-store model

Memory system with sensory, short-term, and long-term stores through which information is processed.

Sensory memory

Very brief initial store of sensory input; large capacity but very short duration.

Iconic memory

Brief visual sensory memory, usually lasting less than one second.

Echoic memory

Brief auditory sensory memory, usually lasting roughly 3–4 seconds.

Short-term memory (STM)

Limited temporary storage of information for roughly 20–30 seconds without rehearsal.

Long-term memory (LTM)

Large-capacity storage of facts, events, and skills for hours to a lifetime.

Automatic processing

Encoding information with little conscious effort, often because a task is familiar.

Effortful processing

Deliberate, attention-demanding encoding through strategies, study, or rehearsal.

Information-processing model

Framework that views memory as processing input through encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Encoding

Transforming incoming information into a form the brain can store.

Storage

Retaining encoded information in memory over time.

Retrieval

Bringing stored information back into awareness or use.

Levels-of-processing theory

Meaningful, deeper processing leads to stronger retention than processing superficial features.

Structural processing

Shallow encoding based on appearance, letter shape, or physical features.

Phonemic processing

Encoding based on sound or pronunciation rather than meaning.

Semantic processing

Deep encoding based on meaning and connection to existing knowledge.

Mnemonic device

Memory strategy using associations, images, acronyms, rhymes, or other memorable cues.

Method of loci

Mnemonic strategy of imagining information in familiar locations along a mental route.

Chunking

Group separate pieces of information into larger meaningful units.

Spacing effect

Learning is usually retained better when study is spread over time rather than crammed.

Massed practice

Studying intensively in one concentrated period with little spacing; cramming.

Distributed practice

Study sessions separated over time; uses the spacing effect.

Serial position effect

Remembering the beginning and end of a list better than the middle.

Primacy effect

Better recall of early list items, often because they get more rehearsal.

Recency effect

Better immediate recall of the last list items, which remain in short-term memory.

Maintenance rehearsal

Repeat information to keep it temporarily active; generally shallow processing.

Elaborative rehearsal

Connect new information meaningfully to previous knowledge to aid long-term storage.

Autobiographical memory

Memory of one's personal life story, combining experiences and facts about oneself.

Amnesia

Substantial memory loss or impairment, potentially affecting old memories or formation of new ones.

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of memories that were formed before the onset of amnesia.

Anterograde amnesia

Difficulty or inability to form new long-term memories after the onset of amnesia.

Alzheimer's disease

Progressive brain disease involving worsening memory and other cognitive functions; a common cause of dementia.

Infantile amnesia

Typical inability to consciously remember experiences from very early childhood, often before age 3–4.