PSYCHOLOGY - memory key terms

Encoding

Translating information so it can be held in our brains

retrieval

Locating information so that it can be used

long term memory

Large and long capacity where information lasts forever

short term memory

Limited duration and capacity where information is lost if not recalled

Episodic memory

A memory of personal events

Procedural memory

Our knowledge of how to do things

Semantic memory

Our knowledge of the world around us

Capacity

A measure of information can be held in a memory store

Coding

The format in which information is stored

Duration

How much information can be held in our memory stores

Sensory memory

Very large capacity but short duration

Primacy effect

The first few words in a list are more likely to be recalled because they are in the long term memory

Recency effect

The last words in a list are most likely to be remembered because they are in the short term memory

Serial position effect

That the first and last few words in a list are most likely to be remembered

Culture

Reconstructive memory

Small fragments of memories put together to make new memories we believe are true

Interference

One memory disturbs the ability to recall another

Context

A situation in which something happens

False memory

A memory of something that did not happen but feels like a memory