psych 7A

Explicit Memory – Memory of facts and personal experiences that we can consciously recall. Example: Remembering your last vacation.

Episodic Memory – A type of explicit memory for personal experiences or events. Example: Remembering your first day of school.

Semantic Memory – A type of explicit memory for general knowledge and facts. Example: Knowing that Paris is the capital of France.

Implicit Memory – Memory that happens without conscious effort, often skills or conditioned responses. Example: Knowing how to type without thinking about each key.

Procedural Memory – A type of implicit memory for how to perform tasks or skills. Example: Riding a bike or tying your shoes.

Prospective Memory – Remembering to do something in the future. Example: Remembering to take medicine at a certain time.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) – The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use, making learning and memory stronger.

Working Memory Model – A theory that describes short-term memory as an active workspace with different parts handling different types of information.

Central Executive – The part of working memory that controls attention and manages other memory systems.

Phonological Loop – The part of working memory that handles verbal and auditory (sound) information. Example: Repeating a phone number in your head.

Visuospatial Sketchpad – The part of working memory that deals with visual and spatial (location) information. Example: Imagining how furniture will look in a room.

Long-Term Memory – The storage system for information that lasts a long time, possibly a lifetime.

Multi-Store Model – A theory that explains memory as three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory – The brief storage of sensory information (sights, sounds, smells) before it's either forgotten or transferred to short-term memory.

Iconic Memory – A very short-lasting memory of something you just saw. Example: When a bright image lingers in your vision for a second.

Echoic Memory – A very short-lasting memory of something you just heard. Example: When you ask "What?" and then realize what was just said.

Effortful Processing – When you have to actively try to remember something. Example: Studying for a test.

Retrieval – Bringing stored information back into conscious awareness. Example: Answering a question on a test.

Levels of Processing Model – A theory that says how well we remember something depends on how deeply we process it.

Shallow Encoding – Learning something in a superficial way, like memorizing what a word looks like but not its meaning.

Deep Encoding – Learning something in a meaningful way by connecting it to other knowledge, making it easier to remember.

Encoding – The process of getting information into memory so it can be stored.

Spacing Effect (Distributed Practice) – The idea that studying in small sessions over time helps you remember better than cramming all at once.

Hierarchies – Organizing information into categories to make it easier to remember. Example: Grouping animals into mammals, reptiles, and birds.

Categories – Sorting information into related groups to improve memory. Example: Grouping grocery items into fruits, dairy, and snacks.

Chunking – Breaking information into smaller, manageable pieces to remember it better. Example: Remembering a phone number as (555) 123-4567 instead of 5551234567.

Method of Loci – A memory technique where you associate information with specific locations. Example: Imagining placing groceries in different rooms of your house to remember your shopping list.

Massed Practice – Cramming information in one long session instead of spacing it out.

Distributed Practice – Another term for the spacing effect (see #23).

Serial Position Effect – The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.

Primacy Effect – Remembering the first items in a list better because they’ve had more time to be stored in long-term memory.

Recency Effect – Remembering the last items in a list better because they are still in short-term memory.

Sensory Memory – (Same as #14) The very short storage of sensory information before it moves to short-term memory or disappears.

Short-Term Memory – The memory system that holds a small amount of information for a short time. Example: Remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it.

Working Memory – An updated term for short-term memory that includes processing and manipulation of information.

Long-Term Memory – (Same as #12) The memory system that can store information for a long time.

Maintenance Rehearsal – Repeating information over and over to keep it in short-term memory. Example: Repeating a new friend’s name to yourself.

Elaborative Rehearsal – Thinking about the meaning of information and connecting it to things you already know to remember it better.

Retrograde Amnesia – Memory loss for past events before a brain injury.

Anterograde Amnesia – Inability to form new long-term memories after a brain injury.

Alzheimer’s Disease – A progressive brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking ability.

Infantile Amnesia – The inability to remember events from early childhood.

Connectionism – The theory that memory is spread across many neural networks in the brain rather than being stored in just one place.

Recall – Retrieving information without help. Example: Answering an essay question.

Recognition – Identifying something when given a clue. Example: Answering a multiple-choice question.

Retrieval Cues – Hints that help us remember something. Example: A smell triggering a childhood memory.

Context-Dependent Memory – Remembering something better when in the same place where you learned it.

Mood-Congruent Memory – Remembering things that match your current mood. Example: When you're sad, you recall other sad memories.

State-Dependent Memory – Remembering something better when in the same physical or emotional state as when you learned it.

Testing Effect – Practicing retrieval (like taking quizzes) improves memory more than just re-reading notes.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve – A graph showing how quickly we forget information if we don’t review it.

Repression – The unconscious blocking of distressing memories, according to Freud’s theory.

Encoding Failure – When information never gets stored in memory because we didn’t pay attention to it.

Proactive Interference – When old information makes it hard to learn new information. Example: Calling your new teacher by your old teacher’s name.

Retroactive Interference – When new information makes it hard to remember old information. Example: Learning a new password and forgetting the old one.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon – When you can almost remember something but can’t quite say it.

Imagination Inflation – When imagining an event makes you believe it actually happened.

Misinformation Effect – When misleading information changes your memory of an event.

Source Amnesia – Remembering information but forgetting where it came from.

Constructive Memory – When memories are created by combining actual events with expectations and prior knowledge.

Reconstructive Memory – The idea that we rebuild memories every time we recall them, sometimes changing details.

Hippocampus – The part of the brain responsible for forming new memories.

Mnemonic Device – Memory aids like acronyms or rhymes. Example: "ROY G BIV" for rainbow colors.

Flashbulb Memories – Extremely vivid memories of emotionally intense events.

H.M. – A famous patient who lost his ability to form new memories after brain surgery.