psych 101 memory

Memory

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

Encoding

The processing of information into the memory system.

Storage

The retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of storage.

Recognition

Identify what was learned previously.

Recall

Produce information learned previously.

Free recall

Presented with a list of words (hear or see). Asked to remember as many as possible (no cue given)

Cued recall

Remembering with the help of a cue or hint. “________ is the processing of information into the memory system”

What is the model of memory storage?

External events —-Sensory input encoding—→ Sensory memory—-Attention and encoding—→ Working memory/Short-term storage (←-Reheresal) —Encoding—>←-Retrieveing— Long-term memory storage.

Short-term storage

A memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness. Has a very short duration.

Working memory

Conscious, active processing of incoming information to keep it available for current use.

What is the capacity for the short term memory of numbers?

We can remember about 7 numbers with an exception of about (+/2).

Chunking

A way of remembering information by sorting it in meaningful units. Helps increase the capacity of short-term memory storage.

Long-term memory

Relatively permanent storage, unlimited capacity.

Primacy effect

Better memory for the first few items we see relative to middle items. Encoded already into long-term memory storage.

Recency effect

Better memory for the last few items seen. Items are still in the working memory.

Maintenance rehearsal

Reciting or repeating things to remember. Shallow encoding.

Elaborative rehearsal

Linking things together to help remember them (relational). Will lead to better memory and more successful long-term storage.

Level of processing

The type of processing at encoding (task completed during learning) affected later retrieval. Can be visual, acoustic, or semantically.

What is semantic processing?

A deep processing method. Ex: knowing the meaning of a word.

Acoustic processing

A more shallow processing method. Ex: Hearing the sound of a word.

Visual processing

The most shallow processing method. Ex: the appearance of the letters.

Explicit/declarative memory

Long-term knowledge that is retrieved and then reflected on consciously.

Episodic memory

Long-term memory for personally experienced information, particularly time and place.

Semantic memory

General world knowledge. Meaning of things, vocabulary, language, and conceptual knowledge.

Implicit memory

Unconscious memories (nondeclarative), activated outside of our awareness, and may not be easily described.

Procedural memory

Motor skills and behavioral habits and well-practiced knowledge (automatic).

Priming

Exposure to a stimulus influences response to a subsequent stimulus.

Prospective memory

Remembering to do something at some future time, may use external cues to help remember.

Mnemonics

Strategies improve memory through organization of words or phrases.

Method of loci

Pair to-be-remembered information with items from a familiar location.

Context dependent memory

Retrieve a memory more easily when in the same context as when we formed the memory.

Retrograde amnesia

Inability to recall information from one’s past. Temporally graded.

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to form new memories. Implicit memory formation may be intact.

Prefrontal cortex in terms of memory

Working memory.

Hippocampus in terms of memory

Consolidation and spatial memory.

Temporal lobe in terms of memory

Explicit memory.

Amygdala in terms of memory

Implicit memory; emotional memories.

Cerebellum in terms of memory

Implicit memory: Procedural memory.

7 sins of memory

1. Transience

2. Absentmindedness

3. Blocking

4. Source misattribution

5. Suggestibility

6. Bias

7. Persistence

Forgetting

The inability to access a memory from long-term storage.

Absentmindedness

Lack of attention/being distracted, encoding failure.

Interference

Old and new memories can interfere with each other.

Retroactive interference

Newly learned information makes it harder to remember older information

Proactive intereference

When past information interferes with learning new information.

Blocking

A retrieval failure where someone is temporarily unable to remember something, the retrieval cues are not strong enough. Also known as the Tip-of-the-tongue [TOT] effect.

Memory bias

The alteration of a memory based on feelings, view of the world, and current experience.

Hindsight bias

Event experienced was predictable, even if it wasn’t.

Memory distortions

Human memory is not a perfect accurate representation of the past; it is flawed.

What does it mean for human’s memories to be reconstructed not recorded?

The accounts are pieced together and our brain fills in the missing information.

Memory persistence

The continual recurrence of unwanted memories from long-term storage. An example of this is PTSD.

Misinformation effect

Memory representations were altered by information after event experienced. Incorporating information into one’s memory of an event.

Flashbulb memories

Extraordinary clarity for an emotional event. It is retained over many yeas and highly detailed. These can include errors.

False memories

A mental recollection of an event that either never happened or is significantly distorted compared to how it actually occurred.

Memory & eyewitness testimony

There could be issues with identifying the perpetrator(s).

Own-race bias

A tendency for people to more easily recognize, remember, and differentiate between faces from their own racial group compared to faces from other racial groups.

Mandella effect

A large scale of false memories or misremembering a historical event.