PSYC102: CH7 - Memory

Memory

Retention of information over time

Implicit Memory

Beneath level of conscious awareness (motor skills, object recognition)

Explicit Memory

Semantic facts, events, and knowledge

Memory Illusion

A false but subjectively compelling memory

• DRM Paradigm

Sensory Memory

Brief storage of information before it is passed on to the short-term memory

Short-Term Memory

The capacity to hold a small amount of information in mind in an active readily available state for a short period of time

Brown Peterson Task

Test of duration of STM by asking participants to remember letters after a backwards counting task. For them to be able to measure duration of short term memory without rehearsing any information

Decay

Fading of information from memory over time

Interference

Loss of information from memory because of competition from additional information; often the stronger explanation

Proactive interference

Previously learned material interferes with the ability to acquire new information

• Jen and Jill

Retroactive Interference

The acquisition of newer material interferes with the ability to retain older information

• Jill and Jen

Chunking

Organizing information into meaningful groupings, which allows us to extend the span of STM

Rehearsal

Repeating information to extend the duration of retention in short-term memory and promote the likelihood of transfer to long-term memory

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information in their original form; no meaningful connections

Elaborative Rehearsal

Linking information together in a meaningful way

Levels of Processing

The depth of rehearsal, or how we transform the information, influences how well we remember it

Long-term Memory

Enduring retention of information, including facts, experiences, and skills

Priming

Our ability to identify a stimulus more easily or more quickly after we’ve encountered similar stimuli

• Word Stem Tasks:

  • BA____

Encoding

The process of getting information into our memory stores

• Attention plays a crucial role

• Mnemonics

Mnemonic Devices

An active, strategic learning device or method that enhances recall

• Rely on internal mental strategies during encodes to help recall info later on

Method of Loci

Uses known locations as cues for memory items

Pegword Method

A pre-memorized set of words serves as a sequence of mental “pegs” onto which the to-be-remembered material can be “hung”

Storage

The process of keeping information in memory

Storage

The process of keeping information in memory

Schemas

Organized knowledge structures or mental models that we’ve stored in memory

• Scripts: a procedure for a set order of events

Retrieval

The reactivation or reconstruction of information or experiences from our memory stores

Retrieval Cues

Pieces of information that serve to help us retrieve information

Recall

People have to generate previously learned information

Recognition

People have to select previously learned information from a set of options

Serial Position Curve

• Primacy Effects: Better memory for items in the early positions of the list

  • LTM

• Recency Effects: Better memory for items at the end positions of the list

  • STM

Relearning

Reacquiring knowledge that has previously been learned, but has been forgotten overtime

• Ebbinghaus studied _______ using nonsense syllables

Savings Score

The reduction in the number of trials necessary for relearning a list, compared to the original learning of the list

Distributed Practice

Learning in small amounts over time

Massed Practice

Learning a lot at once

Encoding Specificity

We will better remember some information when the conditions under which we retrieve the information are similar to the conditions under which we encoded that information

• Context-Dependent

• State-Dependent

Context-Dependent Learning

Superior retrieval of memories when the external context of the original memories matches the retrieval context

State-Dependent Learning

Superior retrieval of memories when the organism is in the same physiological or psychological state as it was during encoding

Long-Term Potentiation

A long-lasting strengthening of the connections between two neurons after synchronous activation

Long-Term Depression

A long-lasting weakening of the connections between two neurons after low patterns of activation

Overconfidence in Memory

Certainty in the accuracy of memory

• Source memory: Memory of the exact source of the information

• Processing Fluency: The ease with which something comes to mind

Flashbulb Memory

Emotional memories that are vivid and detailed

Source Monitoring

The ability to accurately remember the source of a memory, including whether it is something encountered in the real world or something imagined

Source Monitoring Failure

Remember the content of the information but cannot attribute it to a particular source

Cryptomnesia

A person unconsciously plagiarizes something they have heard or read before, but because they have forgotten the source, mistakenly think that it is a new idea that they thought of

Amnesia

Loss of memory or memory abilities due to brain damage or disease

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memory of events before the injury

• Ribbot’s Law: temporal gradient in ___________

Anterograde Amnesia

Loss of memory of events after the injury

Patient K.C.

Episodic memory processes were disrupted, but semantic memory processes were intact.

Patient H.M.

• Unable to transfer new information to LTM, but able to retrieve already stored memories from LTM.