Untitled Flashcards Set

Encoding

The process of turning information into a form your brain can understand and store.

Storage

The process of keeping information in your memory over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of your memory when you need it.

Association by Contiguity

The idea that we associate things that occur close together in time or space.

Modal Model of the Mind

A theory that explains memory as a process with three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Association by Similarity

The idea that we associate things based on how similar they are.

Sensory Memory

The very short-term memory that holds sensory information for a fraction of a second.

Schema

A mental framework that helps us organize and interpret information based on past experiences.

Iconic Memory

A type of sensory memory that holds visual information for a very short time.

Scripts

Mental representations of familiar events or sequences of actions.

Echoic Memory

A type of sensory memory that holds auditory information for a short time.

Eyewitness Memories

Memories of events that we’ve witnessed, which can sometimes be unreliable or distorted.

Working Memory/Short-term Memory

The memory you use to hold and process information for a short time.

Long-term Memory

The memory store that holds information for a long time, from hours to a lifetime.

Attention

The ability to focus on certain information while ignoring other distractions.

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment.

Selective Visual Attention

The process of focusing on specific visual information while ignoring irrelevant details.

Pre-attentive Processing

The automatic processing of information before we consciously pay attention to it.

Stroop Interference Effect

The delay in reaction time that occurs when the color of a word conflicts with the word itself.

Hippocampus

A brain area important for forming new memories.

Prefrontal Cortex

The area of the brain responsible for planning and decision-making, which also plays a role in memory.

Magical Number

The number 7 (plus or minus 2), referring to the number of items we can hold in our short-term memory.

Chunking

Grouping information into larger, meaningful units to make it easier to remember.

Power of Background Knowledge

How what we already know helps us understand and remember new information.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle ones.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember the first items in a list better.

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember the last items in a list better.

Alan Baddeley Model of Working Memory

A model that divides working memory into several components.

Phonological Loop

The part of working memory that deals with verbal and auditory information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The part of working memory that deals with visual and spatial information.

Episodic Buffer

The part of working memory that connects information from different sources.

Central Executive

The part of working memory that controls attention and coordinates other components.

Maintenance Rehearsal/Shallow Processing

Repeating information to keep it in short-term memory without making it meaningful.

Elaborative Rehearsal/Deep Processing

Making information meaningful and linking it to what you already know.

Mental Walk

A technique where you mentally walk through a familiar place to retrieve information.

Consolidation

The process of turning short-term memories into long-term memories.

Priming

A process where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus.

Multiple Systems Model

The idea that there are different types of memory systems in the brain.

Declarative Memory/Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and events that you can consciously recall and explain.

Episodic Memory

A type of declarative memory that involves remembering specific events and experiences.

Semantic Memory

A type of declarative memory that involves remembering facts and general knowledge.

HM – Henry Molaison

A famous case of a man who had his hippocampus removed, resulting in severe memory problems.

Non-Declarative Memory/Implicit Memory

Memory that you can’t consciously recall.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new memories after an injury or event.

Retrograde Amnesia

The inability to recall memories formed before an injury or event.

Motor Memory

The memory for skills and actions.

Temporal Lobe Amnesia

Memory loss caused by damage to the temporal lobe.

Retroactive Interference

When new information makes it harder to remember old information.

Proactive Interference

When old information makes it harder to remember new information.

Fan Effect

The phenomenon where the more facts you have about a topic, the harder it becomes to recall any one specific fact.

Retrieval-induced Forgetting

When retrieving some memories can cause you to forget others.

Encoding Specificity

The idea that memories are best retrieved in the same context or environment where they were encoded.

Associations

Connections between different pieces of information in memory.

Spreading Activation Model

The theory that when you think of one memory, it activates related memories.

Retrieval Cue

A hint or clue that helps you remember information stored in memory.