memory flashcard

Encoding is the process of acquiring new information

Storage is the process of placing it in memory

Retrieval is the process of remembering said information

Modal Model of the Mind/Atkinson Shiffrin   

Sensory

Short term memory

Long term memory

Memory Techniques 

-chunking

Grouping items together based on characteristics 

-memory palace/ loci of information

-mnemonics

-hierarchies

Organizing information based on broad characteristics and making it more narrow inside each category

-distributed practice/ spacing effect

When practice is broken into smaller sessions we have a better chance of rememberingit

-testing effect

Recalling your memory more frequently (testing yourself) increases your chance of successfully recalling i it in the future

-context dependent memory

Tendency to better remember something when the context in which it was encoded is the same as the one retrieved

-serial position

The effect when the order in which something was said or placed correlates with your ability/probability of recalling it. We are most likely to remember the first and last of a list, as opposed to the stuff in the middle. Remembering the first is called primacy effect, remembering the last is the recency effect

Sensory Memory                                              

Holding area for all incoming input so that we can analyze it an either move it to stm or forget it

Iconic Memory                                                        

The ability to still see something for  a few seconds after looking away from it

Echoic Memory                

Ability to “hear” and recall something after it's been said

Working Memory/Short-term Memory          

Conscious thought and perception

Long-term Memory                

Attention            

process that control the flow of information form sensory into short term                                                    

Cocktail Party Phenomenon and selective listening   

Being able to select what information we listen and process, and filter out what we find irrelevant

Selective Visual Attention   

Being able to tune out important vs unimportant details                                       

Brain areas for memory (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex)

Prefrontal cortex serves as neural hub for executive functions

Magical Number

7+/- 2

Chunking

Memorization by categorizing things based on characteristics

Power of Background Knowledge

Serial Position Effect

The order in which a series of items is presented to you will affect you ability to remember it

Primacy Effect

Tendency to remember the first things on a list

Recency Effect

Tendency to remember the last things on a list because you heard them more recently

Alan Baddeley Model of Working Memory

Changed “sensory memory” to “working memory”, and defined phonological, visual spatial and episodic memory

Phonological Loop

It holds verbal and auditory information

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Our ability to temporarily hold sensory and spatial information

Episodic Buffer

Where both phonological and visuospatial intersect

Central Executive

Coordinates mind activity and brings new information into working memory from sensory

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over again to keep it in your short term memory for a bit longer 

Shallow Processing

Encoding information based on sound, letter, aesthetic etc

Elaborative Rehearsal/Deep Processing

Encoding informations based on your understanding of the concept or idea 

Mental Walk/Memory Palace

Priming

Activation of something that is already in long term memory by sensory input

Multiple Systems Model

Refers to explicit memory (can be easily brought to consciousness) and its subcategories:

episodic memory (specific events)+semantic memory( general knowledge and facts) AND

Implicit memory (not brought to consciousness) with its subcategories:

Procedural memory (motor skills), classical conditioning (things that are learned unconsciously ), priming(something in your long term memory is activated by sensory input)

Declarative Memory/Explicit Memory

Memory that can be easily brought to a person’s conscious awareness

Episodic Memory

(Subclass of explicit memory) explicit memory of one’s past experiences 

Semantic Memory

(subclass of explicit memory) not ties to specific experience, it is made of knowledge, words ideas 

HM – Henry Molaison

Had surgery to remove part of his hippocampus in order to avoid his epilepsy 

Non-Declarative Memory/Implicit Memory

Memory that cannot be verbalized

Flashbulb memory

Vivid enduring memory associated with  a personally significant emotional  event 

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memory of events that occurred before injury 

Motor Memory

Temporal Lobe Amnesia/Anterograde Amnesia

Loss of capacity to form long term memories that occur AFTER said injury  

Retroactive Interference

Disruptive effect of new information (bc old interferes)

Proactive Interference

Disruptive effect on old information bc new replaces old

Associations (remote associations activity)

Retrieval Cue

Cue in environment that jogs our memory 

Association by Contiguity

Association between two things (salt and pepper, shampoo and conditioner, fork and knife etc)

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory that aids in motor skills performance 

Effect of Context and Context Dependent Memory

The effect that retrieval is easier when in the same environment and encoded 

Source Confusion

Misinformation effect

“Wording bias”, someone’s memory is skewed and changed based on cues and words used by others 

Elizabeth Loftus 

Eyewitness Memories

Production of false, distorted memories that occur when one’s memories become less precise post event 

Schema vs Script 

Schema is one’s generalized mental representation of any give class of objects, scenes etc

Script is one’s generalized metal representation of an event in time

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Curve shows how information is slowly lost over time. There is a big loss right after encoding and smaller gradual losses afterwards

Long term potentiation and memory are closely linked, as long-term potentiation (LTP) enhances synaptic strength, making it easier to retrieve memories and thus counteracting the effects of the forgetting curve.