Psychology Memory and Encoding Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards derived from lecture notes covering stages of memory, models, encoding types, and retrieval processes.

Alzheimers disease

A brain disease that causes memory loss and problems with thinking.

Encoding

Getting information into your memory.

Storage

Keeping information in your memory.

Retrieval

Getting information out of your memory.

Recall

Remembering information without seeing choices, such as on an essay question.

Recognition

Identifying information you have seen before, such as on a multiple choice question.

Multi-Store Model

A memory model stating that memory has three main stages: sensory, short term, and long term.

Sensory Memory

Very brief memory of information from your senses.

Short-Term Memory

Holds a small amount of information for a short time.

Long-Term Memory

Stores information for a very long time, potentially your entire life.

Working Memory Model

Explains how we actively work with information in our memory to keep it in memory.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating something over and over to keep it in memory, such as repeating a phone number until typing it in.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting new info to something you already know to remember it better, such as connecting someone's name to a famous person.

Central Executive

The 'boss' of working memory that directs your attention.

Phonological Loop

Holds and repeats sounds and words in your mind.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Holds visual info and locations in your mind.

Long-Term Potentiation

Strengthening of connections between neurons through repeated activity, which helps explain how learning and memories form.

Explicit Memory

Memories you consciously remember, such as remembering your birthday.

Implicit Memory

Memory that influences you without conscious awareness, such as knowing how to ride a bike.

Procedural Memory

Memory for how to do things or skills, such as riding a bike or tying your shoes.

Episodic Memory

Memory of specific personal events, such as remembering your last birthday party.

Semantic Memory

Memory of facts and general knowledge, such as knowing that MN is a state.

Effortful Processing

Learning something because you intentionally try to learn it.

Automatic Processing

Learning something without consciously trying, such as remembering where you parked your car.

Iconic Memory

A very brief visual summary memory.

Echoic Memory

A very brief auditory or sound memory.

Chunking

Breaking information into smaller groups.

Mnemonics

Memory tricks that help you remember information, such as HOMES for the Great Lakes.

Method of Loci

Remembering things by mentally placing them in familiar locations, such as imagining vocabulary placed around your house.

Hierarchy

Organizing information from general to specific, such as Animals -> mammals -> dogs -> golden retrievers.

Categories

Groups of similar information.

Spacing Effect

Remembering information better when you spread studying out over time.

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory from taking practice tests.

Levels of Processing

The principle that the deeper you think about information, the better you usually remember it.

Shallow Processing

Focusing on the appearance of something.

Structural Encoding

Focusing on what something looks like.

Phonemic Encoding

Focusing on how something sounds.

Deep Processing

Thinking about the meaning of something.

Semantic Encoding

Encoding based on meaning, such as understanding what 'justice' means.

Hippocampus

A brain structure that helps form and organize new explicit memories.

Memory Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a memory so it can become long-term.

Memory Retention

How well information is kept over time.

Retrieval Cues

Hints that help you remember something.

Context-Dependent Memory

Remembering something when you are in the same place where you learned it.