1/22 Memory I

Working Memory

Whatever you are actively and consciously thinking about at any given time.

Short-Term Memory

An older term for working memory that is considered less accurate because it implies a passive storage rather than an active "working" process.

Conscious Awareness

The very small portion of total brain processing that you are actually aware of; most brain activity occurs on "autopilot."

Attention

The mechanism that acts as a filter, determining which sensory information is passed into your working memory network.

Serial Position Effect

The psychological phenomenon where the position of an item in a list (beginning, middle, or end) predicts how likely you are to remember it.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember items at the very beginning of a list because they have had enough time to be encoded into long-term memory.

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember items at the very end of a list because they are still residing in your working memory.

Interference

When new information or a distracting task (like counting backward) forces existing information out of working memory, typically erasing the recency effect.

Memory Capacity

The human brain's limit for working memory, typically defined as 7 plus or minus 2 (5 to 9) pieces of information.

Chunking

A mnemonic strategy of grouping large amounts of information into smaller, meaningful, and more manageable "chunks."

Depth of Processing

The principle that information is better remembered the more deeply you "encode" it by adding personal meaning or context.

Maintenance Rehearsal

A shallow study method involving simple repetition of information without adding meaning; the least effective way to learn long-term.

Active Recall (Teaching)

The process of explaining a concept to someone else, which identifies gaps in your knowledge and forces deep processing.

Handwriting Effect

The finding that writing notes by hand is more effective for memory than typing because it requires more active mental engagement.

Mnemonic

Any strategy or technique used to improve memory and facilitate the recall of information.

Visual Imagery

A mnemonic technique where you create a mental picture of information to increase the depth of processing.

Acronym

A mnemonic word where each letter stands for another word (e.g., HOMES for the Great Lakes).

Acrostic

A mnemonic sentence where the first letter of each word cues a piece of information (e.g., "King Philip Came Over For Good Soup").

Hippocampus

A seahorse-shaped region of the brain that is essential for the formation and storage of new long-term memories.

Brain Plasticity

The brain's ability to rewire itself by changing the connections between neurons; this ability naturally decreases with age.

The Case of H.M.

A famous patient whose hippocampus was removed to treat epilepsy, resulting in an inability to form new memories and proving the hippocampus's role in memory formation.