Chapter 9: Memory

Divergent Thinking

Measuring Creativity

Characteristics of Creative People - Expertise, Openness to Experience, Independence of Mind, Intrinsic Motivation, Perseverance 

Savant Syndrome - a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific goal, such as in computation or drawing

— Memory — 

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

Basic Memory Processes

• Encoding - the processing of information into the memory system- for example by extracting meaning

• Automatic processing - unconscious encoding of incidental information

• Effortful processing - encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

• Rehearsal - conscious repetition of information to encode it for storage 

• Imagery - mental pictures, powerful aid to effortful processing

• Visual encoding - the encoding of picture images

• Acoustic encoding - the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words Semantic encoding- the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words Storage- the retention of encoded information over time

• Hippocampus - a neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage

• 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 Long term potentiation - an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.

  • Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

• Spacing effect - the tendency for distributing study or practice to yield better long term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

• Iconic memory - a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli Echoic memory- a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli 

• Implicit memory - retention independent of conscious recollection

• Explicit memory - memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare

• Stress hormones - when we are greatly aroused our stress hormones help make memories indelible

• Retrieval - the process of getting information out of memory storage

• Recall - a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

• Cues - associations that prime the memory, cues sometimes come from returning to the original

• Priming - activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory 

• Mood - serves as a retrieval cue, activating other memories associated with the same emotion. These memories help sustain the current mood

• Forgetting - can occur at any memory stage. As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it.

• Encoding failure - information failed to be encoded and therefore never entered into the long term memory CCK. Age can affect encoding efficiency

• Storage Decay - gradual fading of the physical memory trace, memory can also fade because of the accumulation of other learning that disrupts our retrieval

• Retrieval failure - information sometimes gets into our brain and though we know it is there, we cannot get it out

• Proactive interferences - the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information Retroactive interference - the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

• Repression - in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism hat banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories

• Improving Memory - The psychology of memory suggests concrete strategies for improving memory. These include space study; active rehearsal; encoding of well-organized, vivid, meaningful associations; mnemonic techniques; returning to contexts and moods that are rich with associations; recording memories before misinformation can corrupt them; minimizing interference; and self-testing and rehearsal.

— Language — 

• Language - our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

• Phoneme - a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

• Morpheme - in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word