Module 2.5-2.7: Storing, Retrieving, and Forgetting Memories

semantic memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).

episodic memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory).

hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories — of facts and events — for storage.

memory consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory.

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

encoding specificity principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.

mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially (a recency effect), and the first items in a list after a delay (a primacy effect).

interleaving

a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics.

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories.

retrograde amnesia

an inability to remember information from one's past.

proactive interference

the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

retroactive interference

the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.

misinformation effect

occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information.

source amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined (as when misattributing information to a wrong source). Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

déjà vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.