AP Psych Memory in

TOPICS:

45 MC and 1-FRQ with 5 bullets

Memory

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

Recall: 

Retrieving information without cues (e.g., answering a fill-in-the-blank question).

Recognition:

Identifying previously learned information with cues (e.g., answering a multiple-choice question).

Relearning

Learning something more quickly when you study it again (e.g., reviewing a language you haven’t spoken in years and picking it up faster).

Long-term memory capacity

Essentially unlimited.

Retrieval definition

The process of bringing stored information into conscious awareness.

Short-term capacity and length of time

Capacity: 7 ± 2 items (Miller’s Law).

Duration: About 20–30 seconds without rehearsal.

Working memory—description

A system for temporarily holding and manipulating information necessary for cognitive tasks (e.g., problem-solving, learning). Mix of Short term and Long Term Memory

Parallel processing

The brain processes multiple aspects of information simultaneously, enhancing efficiency in encoding.

LTP (Long-Term Potentiation)—function

Strengthens neural connections, making memory formation more efficient and long-lasting.

Automatic processing: 

Unconscious encoding of incidental information (e.g., time, space).

Effortful processing:

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Iconic memory: 

Visual sensory memory, lasts a few tenths of a second.

Echoic memory: 

Auditory sensory memory, lasts about 3–4 seconds.

Sperling study:

Proved that sensory memory holds large amounts of information but only briefly.

Spacing effect: 

Information is better retained when learned over time.

Massed study (cramming): 

Learning all at once, leading to poorer long-term retention.

Mnemonic definition

Memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational techniques (e.g., acronyms, rhymes).

Semantic encoding

Based on the meaning of words. The self-reference effect states that information is better remembered when related to oneself.

Where are memories stored and how do we know?

Memories are stored across various brain regions, including the hippocampus, cortex, and cerebellum. Studied through brain imaging and cases of brain damage.

Explicit memories

The hippocampus processes (declarative) memories, such as facts and experiences.

Implicit memories

The cerebellum helps store implicit memories and conditioned associations.

Serial position effect

People tend to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a list better than the middle ones.

Priming function 

Activation of certain associations in memory, often unconsciously. Example: Seeing a picture of a rabbit and then spelling “hare” instead of “hair.”

Context effects 

Retrieval is improved when the context during encoding and retrieval is the same.

State-dependent memory

Memories are best retrieved when in the same state of consciousness as when encoded (e.g., learning something while drunk and recalling it better when drunk).

Mood-congruent memory

The tendency to recall memories that match one’s current mood.

Encoding failure

Information never enters long-term memory due to lack of attention or effortful processing.

Ebbinghaus—storage decay theory

Suggests that memories fade over time if not rehearsed, as shown by the “forgetting curve.”

Retrieval failure

When stored information cannot be accessed due to competing information.

Proactive interference

Old information interferes with new learning (e.g., calling a new partner by an ex’s name).

Retroactive interference

New information disrupts the recall of old information (e.g., learning a new phone number and forgetting the old one).

Motivated forgetting

People may forget unwanted memories, either consciously (suppression) or unconsciously (repression).

Retrograde amnesia:

 Inability to recall past memories.

Anterograde amnesia: 

Inability to form new memories.

Repression

Most psychologists doubt that repression occurs frequently; they believe traumatic memories are more likely to be intrusive rather than repressed.

Misinformation effect

When misleading information distorts memory (e.g., Loftus’ study on car crash eyewitnesses).

Source amnesia

Forgetting where or how information was acquired, leading to false memories.

Memory reconstruction

Memories are not perfect recordings; they are reconstructed and can be influenced by biases, expectations, and new information.