Cognitive Psychology Chapter 7

Encoding

the process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory

retrieval

transfers information from long-term memory back into working memory

maintenance rehearsal

repressing information without meaning to keep it temporarily

elaborative rehearsal

meaning and connections for permanent long-term storage

levels of processing theory

memory depends on processing depth, where shallow processing involves minimal attention to meaning and deep processing involves semantic analysis

the testing effect

enhanced performance on memory tests caused by actively testing yourself on the material rather than simply reading it

hand note taking to laptop superiority

handwriting forces active summarization and generation rather than mindless, verbatim transcription

cued recall

provides a retrieval prompt to help access memories

free recall

requires retrieving information without any prompts or cues

Tucking and Pearlstone’s and Mantyla’s experiments

experiments showing that category cues improve recall, and that self generated retrieval cues lead to extraordinary retreval success

encoding specificity

we encode information along with its context, matching encoding and retrieval contexts boosts memory performance

state-dependent learning

finding that memory is best when a person’s internal mood or state at retrieval matches their state during encoding

Morris’s transfer appropriate processing experiment

study showing memory is best when cognitive tasks match between encoding and retrieval, challenging strict interpretations that semantic processing is always superior

model of consolidation

depends intiially on the hippocampus initially communicating with cortical areas until connections strengthen and the cortex takes over

multiple trace model of consolidation

proposes that the hippocampus remains actively involved in retrieving episodic memories regardless of their age

sleep and consolidation

sleep enhances memory consolidation by stopping interference and promoting neutral reactivation

reconsolidation

process where a reactivated memory becomes fragile again and must be destabilized, making it vulnerable to modification or disruption