Chapter 8: Memory Systems, Retrieval, and Forgetting

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering models of memory formation, effortful and automatic processing, explicit and implicit neural systems, retrieval cues, forgetting, interference, amnesia, and memory construction errors based on Chapter 8 lecture notes.

Memory

The persistence of learning over time, through the storage and retrieval of information and skills.

Recognition

A measure of memory that involves identifying stimuli that match stored information, analogous to answering a multiple-choice question.

Recall

A measure of memory that involves retrieving information previously learned and unconsciously stored, analogous to a fill-in-the-blank question.

Relearning

A measure of memory that assesses how much less work or time it takes to learn previously studied information, even if one does not consciously recall having seen it before.

Encoding

The initial information-processing stage in which information gets coded into the brain.

Storage

The information-processing stage where information is held over time to allow it to be later retrieved.

Retrieval

The information-processing stage of reactivating and recalling stored information, producing something similar to what was encoded.

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model ($1968$)

A three-stage memory formation model proposing that external stimuli are recorded briefly in sensory memory, processed into short-term/working memory via rehearsal, and then moved into long-term memory for retrieval.

Sensory Memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Iconic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, lasting approximately $\frac{1}{20}$ of a second.

Echoic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, lasting approximately $3\text{--}4$ seconds.

Working Memory

An active newer understanding of short-term memory that holds and manipulates information through auditory rehearsal, executive functions, and a visuospatial sketchpad rather than simply rehearsing it.

Explicit Memory

Conscious, declarative memories for facts and personal experiences that a person actively knows and can recall.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious, nondeclarative memories formed without intentional effort, encompassing motor skills, reflexes, and conditioned associations.

Effortful Processing

Memory encoding that occurs through active attention, studying, conscious rehearsal, and intentional storage into long-term memory.

Automatic Processing

The unconscious encoding of incidental information—such as space, time, and frequency—formed without conscious effort to build a memory.

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory for motor and cognitive skills, such as how to ride a bicycle.

Chunking

An effortful processing strategy of organizing individual pieces of data into manageable, familiar, and meaningful units.

Mnemonic

A memory aid or device (such as images, maps, or acronyms) that connects new information to existing memory strengths like imagery or structure.

Hierarchy

An effortful processing strategy where concepts are organized into a branching framework of broad categories and specific sub-categories.

Distributed Practice (Spacing Effect)

The phenomenon where information is retained significantly better when study or review sessions are spaced out over time rather than crammed into one session.

Massed Practice

Cramming information all at once, which can produce speedy short-term learning but leads to rapid forgetting.

Testing Effect

The enhanced memory retention and recall achieved by actively testing oneself on material rather than passively rereading or highlighting.

Shallow Processing

Non-beneficial, surface-level encoding based on elementary characteristics (such as the appearance or sound of a word), which leads to easily mixed-up memories.

Deep Processing

Semantic encoding based on the actual meaning and understanding of information, which creates personal connections to the topic and strengthens recall.

Self-Reference Effect

The tendency to more easily remember and recall information when it is personally associated with or tied to oneself.

Hippocampus

A temporal lobe neural structure in the limbic system that functions as a 'save' button for processing explicit, conscious memories before they are moved to the cortex.

Memory Consolidation

The neurological process wherein the brain temporarily registers and holds the sensory aspects of an experience before sending it to the cortex for long-term storage, a process heavily supported by deep sleep.

Cerebellum

The brain structure responsible for forming and storing classically conditioned implicit memories and basic reflexes.

Basal Ganglia

Deep brain structures that facilitate the storage and execution of procedural implicit memories for motor skills.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid, long-lasting memory of an emotionally significant or traumatic event, facilitated by stress hormones and amygdala activation.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

The prolonged strengthening of neural connections across synapses, serving as the biological and physical basis for learning and memory (boosted by CREB and glutamate).

Retrieval Cues

Sensory anchors (such as smells, sights, or tastes) and contextual links forming a web of associations that help unlock and access stored memories.

Context-Dependent Memory

The phenomenon where recall is improved by putting oneself back into the specific physical environment where the event was originally experienced.

State-Dependent Memory

The tendency to more easily recall information when an individual is in the same internal physiological or mental state as when the information was encoded.

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to selectively recall experiences and details that are consistent with one's current positive or negative emotional mood.

Serial Position Effect

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

Recency Effect

The tendency to quickly and easily recall the final items on a list because they are still held in active working memory.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to better recall the early items on a list after a delay, facilitated by repeated rehearsal.

Encoding Failure

A cause of forgetting that occurs when information is not noticed or processed thoroughly enough to form a long-term memory.

Storage Decay

A cause of forgetting where stored memory traces weaken and fade gradually over time.

Retrieval Failure

A cause of forgetting where encoded and stored information cannot be actively accessed or pulled from long-term memory.

Proactive Interference

Memory disruption that occurs when older, prior memories interfere with the retrieval or learning of newer information.

Retroactive Interference

Memory disruption that occurs when newly acquired memories interfere with the retrieval of older information.

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new explicit memories after a brain injury or traumatic event, as seen in the patient H.M.

Retrograde Amnesia

The inability to retrieve or recall memories from the period before a brain injury or traumatic event occurred.

Infantile Amnesia

The universal inability of older children and adults to consciously recall memories of events from early life, occurring because the infant hippocampus is not yet fully mature.

Reconsolidation

The process of updating, altering, or reconstructing a memory each time it is accessed and recalled.

Misinformation Effect

The alteration of memory that occurs when misleading or incorrect information introduced after an event leads people to remember the event incorrectly.

Source Amnesia (Source Misattribution)

Faulty memory attribution occurring when a person remembers information correctly but completely forgets where or how they encountered it, incorrectly attributing it to personal experience.

Déjà Vu

The eerie feeling that one has experienced a situation before, explained by temporal lobe familiarity combined with source amnesia for the original context.