Copy of AP Psych Memory Review Guide 23-24

AP PSYCHOLOGY

MEMORY

REVIEW GUIDE

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

Flashbulb Memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Encoding: the processing of information into the memory system (i.e., getting information into memory).

Storage: the retention of the encoded information over time.

Retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Information Processing

External events are first recorded in fleeting sensory memory. If we pay attention to this information, it will be encoded into short-term memory. With further encoding and rehearsal, the information will be recorded in long-term memory.

Sensory Memory: the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system (iconic = visual sensory memory; echoic = auditory sensory memory).

Short-term Memory: activated memory that holds a few items (7 + or - 2) briefly (about 30 seconds), such

as the 7 digits of a telephone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-term Memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

ENCODING: GETTING INFO IN

Automatic Processing: effortless, unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Effortful Processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.

Ebbinghaus' Retention Curve: Ebbinghaus found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the fewer repetitions needed to relearn them on day 2. In other words, the more time we spend learning new information, the better we retain it.

Spacing Effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice (i.e., cramming doesn't work well).

Serial Position Effect: our tendency to recall best the first and last items in a list. More specifically:

Recency Effect: When asked to recall items immediately, we remember items at the end of the

list best.

Primacy Effect: When asked to recall items at a later time, we remember items at the beginning

of the list best.

How We Encode Information

Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.

Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sounds, especially the sound of words.

Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

*NOTE: Processing a word deeply--by its meaning (semantic encoding)--produces better recognition of it at a later time than does shallow processing of its appearance (visual encoding) or its sound (acoustic encoding).

Imagery: mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

Mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

STORAGE: RETAINING INFO

Sensory Memory

Iconic Memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second (this phenomenon was studied by Sperling).

Echoic Memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled with 3 or 4 seconds.

Short-term Memory: temporary memory storage. Most people can hold about 7, plus or minus 2, bits of information in STM. Depending on the type of info, it won't remain in STM much longer than about 10-30 seconds.

Long-term Memory: relatively permanent and limitless memory storehouse. Both serotonin and stress hormones have been found to be important in the formation of memories.

1. Implicit Memory (non-declarative): recall of information that does not require conscious effort.

a) Procedural Memory: Memory for skills (cognitive and motor), such as riding a bicycle or

saying the alphabet. These skills become almost automatic with time.

b) Dispositional Memory: all of the behaviors learned through classical and operant

conditioning.

**Implicit memories are processed by the cerebellum.

2. Explicit Memory (declarative): memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare".

a) Episodic Memory: Memory of personal experiences; it is like your memory "diary".

b) Semantic Memory: Memory of facts and general knowledge; it is like your memory

"encyclopedia".

**Explicit memories are processed by the hippocampus.

Prospective Memory – Remembering to perform actions in the future

Retrospective Memory – Remembering events from the past or previously learned information

RETRIEVAL: GETTING INFO OUT

Recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier (e.g., fill-in-the-blank test)

Recognition: a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned (e.g., multiple-choice test.

Relearning: a memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.

Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Context Effects: memory is better for information that is retrieved in the same (or similar) context in which it was learned (e.g., words memorized underwater are best recalled underwater).

Mood-congruent Memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

FORGETTING:

1. We may not remember information simply because we never encoded it.

2. We also lose information simply due to the passage of time, this is called decay.

3. We also lose information due to interference.

a) Proactive Interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new

information.

b) Retroactive Interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old

information.

4. Through motivated forgetting, we may alter or rearrange our memories to make ourselves feel better (e.g., forgetting that you ate 10 cookies in a sitting while on a diet).

Repression: A form of motivated forgetting. In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense

mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings,

and memories.

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve: Ebbinghaus found that we forget/lose half of the information we learn 30 minutes after learning it

Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event (studied extensively by Elizabeth Loftus).

Source Amnesia: attributing something we have heard about, read about, or imagined to the wrong source (often believing we personally experienced it).

**Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Remember: overall, eyewitness memories are quite fallible...especially children's recollections of events. Additionally, when "repressed" memories of abuse are "recovered" through the use of hypnosis, there is a high probability that the memories are false (false-memory syndrome)