EXAM 2 (5, 7, 8)

Decay

Idea that memories fade with time

Retroactive interference

Formation of new memories hurts retention of old memories

Proactive interference

Old memories interfere with the establishment and recovery of new memories

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve

Forgetting happens so quickly

How quickly do we forget?

How it was initially encoded, whether it was encountered again later, and kinds of retrieval cues present at time of remembering

memory

the capacity to preserve and recover information.

Encoding

The processes that determine and control how memories are stores and kept overtime

Retrieval

The processes that determine and control how memories are recovered and translated into performance

sensory memory

an exact replica of an environmental message, which usually last for a second or less

short-term memory

a limited capacity system that we use to hold information after it has been analyzed for periods lasting less than a minute or two

What are the two features of sensory memory

the icon and echo

icon

a lingering memory trace in vision

iconic memory

the system that produces and store visual sensory memories

echo

a lingering memory trace in auditory memory

echoic memory

the system that produces and stores auditory sensory memories.

George sperlings experiment

used rows of letters flashing on a screen and asked people to recall them by row, measuring how quickly image of rows of letters disappeared

Partial recall

Memory tasks in which only a specific set of items are to be reported

what concept is associated with the Efron experiment?

“Phantom tones”

The short term memory is often called _______ memory

working

we maintain info in the short term in the form of an ______ and ________

inner voice, inner eye

what is a strategic process that helps to maintain short term memories indefinitely through the use of internal repetition?

Rehearsal

what are two reasons for loss of short term memory

interference and decay

memory span

the # of items that can be recalled from short term memory in their proper presentation oder on ½ the tested memory traits

what is the range of things we can recall in the short term?

7 + or - 2

what is chunking

a short-term memory strategy that involves rearranging incoming information into meaningful or familiar patterns

what are the 3 main pieces of the working memory model?

phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and central executive

Long term memory

the system used to maintain information for extended periods of time

how do you maintain an effective LTM?

encoding experiences in ways that are easy to retrieve

episodic memory

a memory for a particular event, or episode, that happened to you personally, such as remembering what you ate for breakfast this morning or where you went on vacation last year.

semantic memory

knowledge about the world, stored as facts that make little or no reference to one’s personal experience

procedural memory

knowledge about how to do things, such as riding a bike or swinging a golf club (muscle memory)

elaboration

an encoding process that involves the formation of connection between to-be-remembered input and other information in memory

what are the different forms of elaboration?

think about the meaning, notice relationships, notice differences, form mental pictures, space your repetitions, consider sequence position, test yourself

relational processing

how the items to be learned are related to one another and to other items stored in memory; book, pencil, notes, study

distinctiveness

refers to how unique or different a memory record is from other things in memory. Distinctive memory records tend to be recalled well; yellow, #2 pencil

visual imagery encoding

processes used to construct internal visual image; leads to excellent memory but often memories are inaccurate or incomplete—> penny

distributed practice

encoding technique of spacing the repetitions to be remembered information over time

having a better memory for items at the beginning of a list demonstrates the ____, whereas having a better memory for items at the end of a list demonstrates the _______.

primary effect, recency effect

what are special mental tricks that help people think about material in ways that improve their later memory called?

mnemonic devices

a mnemonic device in which you choose some pathways such as moving thru rooms in your house and then form visual images of the to be remembered items sitting in locations along the pathway

method of loci

what is the peg word method?

forming visual images connecting to be remembered items with retrieval cues/pegs'; one-bun, two-shoe, three-tree

flashbulb memories

rich memory record of the circumstances surrounding emotionally significant and surprising events; often inaccurate

retrieval is guided by….

retrieval cues

free recall

a testing condition in which a person is asked to remember information without explicit retrieval cues

cued recall

a testing condition in which people are given an explicit retrieval cue to help them remember

when are retrieval cues most effective?

when they match the way the info was encoded

transfer-appropriate processing

the idea that the likelihood of correct retrieval is increased if a person uses the same kind of mental processes during testing that he or she used during encoding; example-- thinking about meaning of a word verses what the word is in a physical sense

schemas

an organized knowledge structure in long term memory; large clusters of related facts

what are some examples of different areas we use schemas in?

routines, people, places, activities

memory is influenced by general knowledge and _____.

expectations

we often rely on ______ knowledge to fill in the gaps.

preexisting

memory is reconstructive.

information undergoes systematic changes as it is processed and retrieved

implicit memory

remembering that occurs in the absence of conscious awareness or willful intent

explicit memory

conscious, willful remembering

The loss of accessibility to previously stored material is called ______. It is one of the most important adaptive properties of memory

Forgetting

savings method

Method used to measure retention in Ebbinghaus's memory experiments. He read lists of nonsense syllables and determined how many repetitions it took to repeat the lists with no errors. He then repeated this procedure after various intervals following initial learning and compared the number of repetitions needed to achieve no errors.

Ebbinghaus forgetting function/ forgetting curve

Function is logarithmic: forgetting initially rapid then slows down

Reminiscence bump

enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40

what are 2 reasons we forget things?

bad retrieval cues and fade overtime due to lack of use

law of use

connections become strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is discontinued

“Other processes” that correspond with passage of time are often the est, of other _______.

memories

what is a form of motivated forgetting?

repression

repression

defense mechanism that individuals knowingly use to push threatening thoughts, memories, and feelings out of conscious awareness

_______ experiences tend to be better recalled that unpleasant ones (evidence for repression)

pleasant

amnesia

forgetting that is caused by physical problems in the brain, such as those induced by injury or disease

retrograde amnesia

memory loss for events that happened prior to the point of the brian injury

anterograde amnesia

memory loss for events that happen after the point of physical injury

what are the two types of amnesia?

retrograde and anterograde

where are memories thought to be stored?

the hippocampus

Discriminative stimulus

stimulus situation that sets the occasion for a response to be followed by a reinforcement or punishment

Learning is the change in behavior as a result of

experience

we can only study ________ & __________ phenomenon

measurable and observable

orienting response

an inborn tendency to notice and respond to novel or surprising events

Habituation

the decline in the tendency to respond to an event that has become familiar through repeated exposure

sensitizatoin

increased responsiveness, or sensitivity, to an event that has been repeated

why was classical conditioning created?

this technique was developed to study how simple associations form

Pavlov’s experiment

classical conditioning experiment, making a dog associate the sound of a ringing bell to that of food - making the dog salivate at the sound

Pavlov observed that some stimuli produce automatic responses and ________ stimulus can start to produce those responses through a porcess of learning

other

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

a stimulus that automatically leads to an observable response prior to any training

Unconditioned response (UR)

the observable response that is produced automatically, prior to training, on presentation of an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

A neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes associated with it and elicits a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

acquired response produced by the conditioned stimulus in anticipation of the unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned stimulus is most effective when it comes ________ the unconditioned stimulus

before

procedure in which an established CS is used to condition a second neutral stimulus

Second order generalization

Stimulus Generalization

responding to a new stimulus in a way similar to the response produced by an established conditioned stimulus; think little albert

stimulus discrimmination

responding differently to a new stimulus than how one responds to an established conditioned stimulus

example of stimulus generalization

Little Albert conditioned to fear white rabbit and in turn fears all white fuzzy things

example of stimulus discrimination

Little Albert doesn't cry when he sees a block of wood

Extinction

when the CS no longer signal the US

spontaneous recovery

recovery of an extinguished CR after a period of non-exposure to the CS

Conditioned inhibition (CI)

signaling the absence of the US

Conditioned Inhibitors can serve as "____________" when US is something dangerous.

safety signals

Taste aversion

a learned avoidance of a particular food; typically happens when you get sick after eating food

negative reinforcement and punishment are _____ the same thing

not

Operant conditioning

procedure for studying the consequences of our own voluntary actions

Law of Effect (Thorndike)

If a response is followed by a satisfying consequence, it will be strengthened; if followed by an unsatisfying consequence, it will be weakened

Edward Thorndike Experiment

used stray cats and put them in a box, had them unlatch the box and then they would get food

Types of consequences

reinforcement and punishment

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is an event that when presented after a response, increases the likelihood of the response.

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is an event that when removed after a response increases the likelihood of the response