• Memory: persistence of learning over time; it is information that has been acquired and stored and can be retrieved.

  • 3 Steps:

    • Encoding: where perceived information is transformed into a format that can be processed and stored in the brain

    • Storage: the process of retaining information in the brain over time

    • Retrieval: the process of accessing and bringing stored information back into conscious awareness

• Short-term: temporarily holds a small amount of information, typically for about 15-30 seconds. has a limited capacity

• Long-term: the stage of memory where information is stored indefinitely, with a virtually unlimited capacity. allows for the long-term retention of knowledge, skills, experiences and facts

• Explicit memory: involves conscious recall of facts and experiences

  • Episodic memory: for specific events and experiences

  • Semantic memory: for general knowledge and facts

• Implicit memory: does not require conscious thought and is crucial for performing everyday tasks automatically

  • Procedural memory: for procedures and processes (riding a bike)

  • Prospective memory: relates to remembering future actions (dentist appointment next week)

• Sensory Memory: the initial stage of memory where sensory information is stored for a very brief period. It acts as a buffer for stimuli received through the senses and retains impressions of these stimuli for a few seconds at most.

  • Iconic Memory: type of sensory memory that briefly holds visual images. It captures a precise copy of a visual scene for a fraction of a second before it fades. 

  • Echoic Memory: type of sensory memory that retains auditory information. It holds sounds for about 3-4 seconds, allowing the brain to process spoken language and other auditory stimuli.

• Long-Term Potentiation (LTP): long-lasting increase in signal transmission between neurons that results from their simultaneous activation. LTP is considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory.  Long-term potentiation strengthens synaptic connections between neurons with frequent activation.  

  • Biological process underlying memory formation and storage

  • Repeated stimulation of connected neurons enhances signal transmission efficiency

  • Leads to long-lasting increases in synaptic strength facilitating information retrieval

• Flashbulb memories: a vivid memory about an emotionally significant event, usually a historic or other notable event; very susceptible to changes over times

• Hippocampus: a neural center in the limbic system that processes explicit memories

  • Explicit memories: conscious recall of facts and experiences

    • Semantic Memory: type of explicit memory that involves the recall of general facts and knowledge about the world

    • Episodic memory: involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events

    • Autobiographical Memory: encompasses events and experiences from your own life

• Cerebellum

  • Implicit memory: doesn’t require conscious thought and is crucial for performing everyday tasks automatically

    • Procedural memory: involved the recall of how to perform tasks or skills automatically (muscle memory)

      • Skill-Based action: such as driving, typing, or playing `musical instruments

    • Prospective Memory: remembering how to do something in the future

  • Spacing Effect “Distributed Practice”: where learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out over time

  • Massed Practice “Cramming”: where content is studied intensively over a short period without breakings

• Maintenance Rehearsal: involves repeatedly reviewing information to keep it in short-term memory

• Elaborative Rehearsal: involves deep processing of information by adding meaning

• Retrieval Cues: stimuli that help bring previously learned information to mind. they play a critical role in the process of retrieving memories and can be

  • External cues: environmental factors or objects that trigger memories

  • Internal cues: thoughts or feelings associated with the original learning

• Recall: type of memory retrieval that involves accessing information without the aid of cues (retrieve information from memory spontaneously.)

• Recognition: type of memory retrieval that involves identifying information when it is presented. It includes

  • Familiarity: Sensing that something has been encountered before.

  • Identification: Matching new information with stored knowledge (e.g., recognizing the correct answer on a multiple-choice test).

• Context-Dependent Memory: when you remember information better in the same environment where you first learned it. 

  • Physical surroundings: Like being in the same room where you studied.

  • Similar conditions: Such as the same background noises or smells.

• State-Dependent Memory: the phenomenon where memory retrieval is most effective when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed.

  • Physical State: such as being tired or energized

  • Emotional State: such as being happy or sad

• Mood-Congruent Memory: tendency to recall information that is consistent with one’s current mood

  • Memories are more easily retrieved when they match the emotional state at the time of recall

  • This can lead to a selective recall of memories that reinforce one’s mood, either positive and negative,

• Serial Position Effect: the tendency to remember items at the beginning (primary effect) and end (recency effect) of a list better than those in the middle

  • Primacy Effect: cognitive phenomenon where individuals tend to remember items presented at the beginning of a list better than those that follow.

  • Recency Effect: phenomenon observed in memory recall where the most recently presented items in a list are recalled more clearly and accurately than the items in the middle.

• Testing Effect: phenomenon where long-term memory is enhanced when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving the information through testing.

• Metacognition: awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes, especially in relation to learning and memory

Self-monitoring: assessing one’s own learning and memory processes, such as knowing when one knows something or not.