PSYC 1010 Exam 3 - Memory

What is memory?

An active system that receives, organizes, stores, and retrieves information.

What are the three processes of memory?

Encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Define encoding.

A set of mental operations that convert sensory information into a usable form for storage.

Define storage

holding onto information for some period of time

Define retrival

getting the information that is in storage in a usable form

information-processing model

It assumes that information processing is similar to how a computer processes memory in three stages.

Parallel distributed processing model

Processes are proposed to take place at the same time over a large network of neural connections

Levels-of-processing mode

more “deeply processed”, processed according to its meaning rather than just the sound of the physical characteristic of the word(s), more efficient over a long period

What is sensory memory?

The first system in the memory process where information enters the nervous system through sensory systems for a brief amount of time.

What is iconic memory?

Visual sensory memory that lasts for a fraction of a second.

Define short term memory (STM).

The memory system where information is held for brief periods while being used, lasting about 12-30 seconds without rehearsal.

Masking

Information that has just entered iconic memory will be pushed out very quickly by new information

Eidetic imagery

The ability to access a visual memory for 30 seconds or more

Echoic memory

Auditory sensory memory, lasting only 2-4 seconds

What is the 'cocktail-party effect'?

The ability to focus on a particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli.

What is the capacity of short-term memory as suggested by George Miller?

About 7 items, plus or minus 2.

Selective attention operates in a two-stage filtering process

1. Incoming stimuli in sensory memory are filtered based on simple characteristics, lessening the “signal strength” of unselected sensory in comparison to the selected stimuli

2. Only stimuli that meet a certain threshold of importance are processed

Working Memory

an active system that processes information within short-term memory

Maintenance rehearsal

Practice saying information to be remembered over and over in one’s head to maintain it in short-term memory

Long term memory (LTM)

the system in which all information is placed to be kept more or less permanently

Duration

Long term, relatively permanent physical change in the brain when a memory is formed

Elaborative rehearsal

a way of increasing the number of retrieval cues for information by connecting new information with something that is already well-known

Retrieval cues

stimuli that aid in remembering

Nodeclaritive (implicit) memory

long term memory including skills, procedures, habits and conditioned responses. Memories are not conscious but implied to exist because they affect conscious behavior

Anterograde amnesia

loss of memory from a point of injury or trauma forward or the inability to form new long-term memories

Declarative (explicit) memory

Long term memory containing information that is conscious and known

Semantic memory

type of declarative memory containing general knowledge such as language or general information learned in formal education

Episodic memory

type of declarative memory containing personal information not readily available to others, such as daily events and activities

Semantic network model

assumes that information stored in the brain in a connected fashion, with concepts that are related to be stored more closely together

Priming

occurs where experience with information or concepts can improve later performance

Encoding specificity

The tendency for information to be improved if related information that is available when the memory is first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved

Context-dependent learning

improved memories for information if physical surroundings are similar to those when the memory was first formed

State Dependent Learning

memories formed during a particular physiological or psychological state will be easier to remember while in a similar state

Recall

Memory retrieval in which information must be “pulled” from memory with very few external queues, used to measure a person’s memory for information

Recognition

The ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored fact or image

False positive

when a person thinks they have recognized something or someone, but in fact does not have that something or someone in memory

Serial position effect

tendency of information at the end or beginning to be remembered more accurately than the information

Primacy effect

tendency to remember the information at the beginning of a body of information rather than at the information that follows

Recency effect

tendency to remember information at the end of a body of information rather than the information that comes before

Automatic encoding

tendency of certain memories to enter LTM with little or no effort at all

Flashbulb memories

Automatic encoding that occurs because an event has strong emotional associations for the person remembering it

Constructive processing

retrieval of memories in which memories are altered, revised, or influenced by newer information

Hindsight bias

the tendency to falsely believe, through the alteration of older memories with new information, that one could have correctly predicted a certain outcome

Misinformation effect

The tendency of misleading information presented AFTER an event to alter the memories of the event itself

False Memory Syndrome

creation of inaccurate or false memories through the SUGGESTION OF OTHERS

Hyperthymesia

rare ability to recall specific events from his or her personal past, but spends an unusually large amount of time thinking about that personal past

Adaptive forgetting

idea to suppress information that we no longer need, making it easier to remember what we do need

Curve of forgetting

a graph showing a distinct pattern in which forgetting is very fast within the first hour after learning a list, tapering off gradually

Distributed practice

spacing the study material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods

Encoding Failure

Failure to process information into memory

Memory Trace

Physical change in the brain that occurs when a memory is formed

Disuse

another term for decay, when memories are not used they will disappear

Proactive interference

tendency for older or previous learned material to interfere with learning of new material (previously learned)

Retroactive interference

newer information interferes with the retrieval of older information (newly acquired)

Cerebellum

stores procedural memories

Prefrontal cortex & temporal lobes

short term memories

Frontal and temporal lobes

long term memories

Hippocampus

vital role in formation of new declarative long term memories

Amygdala

Memories related to fear

Consolidation

changes that take place in the structure and function of neurons as new memories are formed

Retrograde amnesia

loss of memory from some injury or trauma, or loss of memory from the past

Anterograde amnesia

loss of memories from the point of injury/illness forward (difficulty with remembering anything new)

Neurocognitive disorder

Decline in cognitive functioning

Infantile amnesia

The inbability to retrieve memories before age 3

Autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to ones personal life story