Memory and Language Concepts

These flashcards cover key concepts related to memory processes, types of memory, and language development and structure.

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier.

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned.

Relearning

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system by extracting meaning.

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Parallel Processing

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing.

Sensory Memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Short-Term Memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Working Memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming information.

Explicit Memory

Retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Implicit Memory

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information and well-learned information.

Iconic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Echoic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli that can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

Mnemonics

Memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Spacing Effect

The tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term retention.

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.

Shallow Processing

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.

Deep Processing

Encoding semantically based on the meaning of words, yielding the best retention.

Semantic Memory

Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge.

Episodic Memory

Explicit memory of personally experienced events.

Hippocampus

A neural center in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Memory Consolidation

The neural storage of a long-term memory.

Flashbulb Memory

A clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.

Priming

The activation often unconsciously of particular associations in memory.

Encoding Specificity Principle

The idea that cues and contexts specific to a memory will be most effective in helping recall.

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s current mood.

Serial Position Effect

Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new memories.

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Proactive Interference

The disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

Retroactive Interference

The disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.

Repression

In psychoanalytic theory, the defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts.

Reconsolidation

A process where previously stored memories are potentially altered before being stored again.

Misinformation Effect

Occurs when misleading information distorts memory of an event.

Source Amnesia

Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined.

Déjà Vu

The eerie sense that one has experienced a current situation before.

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language.

Morpheme

The smallest unit in a language that carries meaning.

Grammar

A system of rules that enables communication and understanding in language.

Babbling Stage

Beginning around 4 months, the stage where an infant utters various unrelated sounds.

One-Word Stage

Stage from age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Two-Word Stage

Beginning about age 2, stage during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.

Telegraphic Speech

Early speech stage where a child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs.

Aphasia

Impairment of language caused by damage to Broca’s or Wernicke’s area.

Broca’s Area

Area in the frontal lobe that helps control language expression.

Wernicke’s Area

Brain area involved in language comprehension and expression.

Linguistic Determinism

The strong form of Whorf’s hypothesis that language controls thought.

Linguistic Influence

The idea that language affects thought.