Chapter 7A

What are the three types of memory?

Sensory, Short Term, and Long Term

What is sensory memory?

Captures exact copies of vast information (of sensory stimuli) for a very short amount of time

What is long term memory?

has almost unlimited capacity and can hold onto information indefinitely

What is short term memory?

Can store 7 items, plus or minus 2. Duration is about 30 seconds.

What is sensory memory?

Speaking, seeing, and using all of your senses.

What is working memory?

This type of memory lasts several minutes. 5-9 chunks of information.

What is procedural memory?

unconscious memory of how to carry out a variety of skills and activities (implicit memory)

What is episodic memory?

record of memorable experiences including when and where an experience occurred (explicit memory)

What is storage?

the process of preserving information for possible recollection in the future (next step after encoding)

What is retrieval?

process of accessing information encoded and stored in memory

What is chunking?

Grouping numbers, letters, or other items into recognizable subsets as a strategy for increasing the quantity of information maintained in short-term memory

What is mnemonic?

technique for improving memory

What is an encoding failure?

data never entered your memory; failure to process information into memory

What is retrieval failure?

although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed (tip of the tongue phenomenon)

What is storage failure?

memories may decay over time; memory lapses

What is proactive interference?

tendency for information learned in the past to interfere with retrieval of new information

Why do we forget?

encoding failure, storage failure, retrieval failure, proactive interference, retroactive interference

Who is Herman Ebbinghaus?

Has a forgetting curve. The drop off is drastic, but what remains will be with you for a long time. 

What is a flashbulb memory?

A detailed account of circumstances surrounding an emotionally significant or shocking, sometimes historic, event.

What is anterograde amnesia?

an inability to form new memories following damage to the brain

What is short term memory?

you can remember up to 7 units, bits, or items without a lot of difficulty

What is explicit memory?

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"; you are aware of having this type of memory

What is implicit memory?

a memory of something you know or know how to do, which may be automatic, unconscious, and difficult to bring to awareness, and express

What are the types of long term memory?

explicit, implicit, and flashbulb