Untitled Flashcards Set

Encoding: The process of turning information into a form your brain can understand and store.

Storage: The process of keeping information in your memory over time.

Retrieval: The process of getting information out of your memory when you need it.

Association by Contiguity: The idea that we associate things that occur close together in time or space (e.g., hearing a song and remembering a specific event).

Modal Model of the Mind: A theory that explains memory as a process with three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Association by Similarity: The idea that we associate things based on how similar they are (e.g., remembering a red apple when you see another red object).

Sensory Memory: The very short-term memory that holds sensory information (like sounds or sights) for a fraction of a second.

Schema: A mental framework that helps us organize and interpret information based on past experiences.

Iconic Memory: A type of sensory memory that holds visual information for a very short time (like an image).

Scripts: Mental representations of familiar events or sequences of actions, like what usually happens when you go to a restaurant.

Echoic Memory: A type of sensory memory that holds auditory information for a short time (like remembering a sound right after you hear it).

Eyewitness Memories: Memories of events that we’ve witnessed, which can sometimes be unreliable or distorted.

Working Memory/Short-term Memory: The memory you use to hold and process information for a short time (like remembering a phone number long enough to dial it).

Long-term Memory: The memory store that holds information for a long time, from hours to a lifetime.

Attention: The ability to focus on certain information while ignoring other distractions.

Cocktail Party Phenomenon: The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment, while filtering out other background sounds.

Selective Visual Attention: The process of focusing on specific visual information while ignoring irrelevant details.

Pre-attentive Processing: The automatic processing of information before we consciously pay attention to it.

Stroop Interference Effect: The delay in reaction time that occurs when the color of a word conflicts with the word itself (e.g., the word “red” written in blue ink).

Brain areas for memory (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex):

Magical Number: The number 7 (plus or minus 2), referring to the number of items we can hold in our short-term memory.

Chunking: Grouping information into larger, meaningful units to make it easier to remember (like remembering a phone number in parts).

Power of Background Knowledge: How what we already know helps us understand and remember new information.

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

Primacy Effect: The tendency to remember the first items in a list better.

Recency Effect: The tendency to remember the last items in a list better.

Alan Baddeley Model of Working Memory: A model that divides working memory into several components: phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, and central executive.

Phonological Loop: The part of working memory that deals with verbal and auditory information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad: The part of working memory that deals with visual and spatial information.

Episodic Buffer: The part of working memory that connects information from different sources (like sound and visuals) and long-term memory.

Central Executive: The part of working memory that controls attention and coordinates other components.

Maintenance Rehearsal/Shallow Processing: Repeating information to keep it in short-term memory without making it meaningful.

Elaborative Rehearsal/Deep Processing: Making information meaningful and linking it to what you already know to help it move to long-term memory.

Mental Walk: A technique where you mentally walk through a familiar place to retrieve information.

Consolidation: The process of turning short-term memories into long-term memories.

Priming: A process where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus (e.g., seeing the word "yellow" makes you think of bananas).

Multiple Systems Model: The idea that there are different types of memory systems in the brain, each responsible for different kinds of memories.

Declarative Memory/Explicit Memory: Memory of facts and events that you can consciously recall and explain.

Episodic Memory: A type of declarative memory that involves remembering specific events and experiences.

Semantic Memory: A type of declarative memory that involves remembering facts and general knowledge.

HM – Henry Molaison: A famous case of a man who had his hippocampus removed, resulting in severe memory problems, particularly with forming new long-term memories.

Non-Declarative Memory/Implicit Memory: Memory that you can’t consciously recall, like how to ride a bike.

Anterograde Amnesia: The inability to form new memories after an injury or event.

Retrograde Amnesia: The inability to recall memories formed before an injury or event.

Motor Memory: The memory for skills and actions, like tying your shoes or riding a bike.

Temporal Lobe Amnesia: Memory loss caused by damage to the temporal lobe, which can affect long-term memory and other cognitive functions.

Retroactive Interference: When new information makes it harder to remember old information.

Proactive Interference: When old information makes it harder to remember new information.

Fan Effect, Retrieval-induced Forgetting, Encoding Specificity:

Associations: Connections between different pieces of information in memory.

Spreading Activation Model: The theory that when you think of one memory, it activates related memories, making them easier to recall.

Retrieval Cue: A hint or clue that helps you remember information stored in memory.