Memory Review Concepts

Difference Between Maintenance and Elaborative Rehearsal

  • Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information to keep it in short-term memory.
    • Example: Repeating a phone number until you dial it.
  • Elaborative Rehearsal: Linking new information to existing knowledge to help encode it into long-term memory.
    • Example: Associating a new word with a personal experience.
  • Best Strategy for Long-term Memories: Elaborative rehearsal is more effective because it creates meaningful connections that enhance memory retention.

Ebbinghaus and Forgetting

  • Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve: Describes how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.
  • Key Points:
    • Forgetting occurs rapidly immediately after learning, then levels off.
    • Most forgetting typically happens in the first few days after learning.

Types of Amnesia

  • Retrograde Amnesia: Memory loss for events prior to a specific incident, often a brain injury.
    • Example: Someone may not remember their past before a car accident.
  • Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories after a specific incident.
    • Example: A person can recall past events but can't remember new information.

Serial Position Effect

  • Concept: People tend to remember the first (primacy effect) and last items (recency effect) in a list better than the middle items.
  • Changing Study Methods:
    • To counteract the serial position effect, study items from different parts of the list at different times or use spaced repetition to enhance recall.

Flashbulb Memories

  • Definition: Vivid, detailed memories of significant events.
  • Real-life Example: Remembering where you were and what you were doing when you heard about a major event, like 9/11.

Memory Interference in Language Learning

  • Type of Memory Interference: Proactive interference may occur when previously learned information (French vocabulary) interferes with learning new information (Spanish vocabulary).

Examples of Memory Types

  • Procedural Memory: Skills and tasks learned through practice.
    • Example: Riding a bicycle.
  • Semantic Memory: Facts and concepts about the world.
    • Example: Knowing the capital of France is Paris.
  • Episodic Memory: Personal experiences and specific events.
    • Example: Remembering your last birthday celebration.

Matching Definitions

  1. Anterograde Amnesia - C. Amnesia from the point of injury forward
  2. Proactive Interference - D. New information prevents us from remembering older information
  3. Primacy Effect - A. We best remember information from the beginning
  4. Iconic Memory - B. Visual Sensory Memory
  5. Retrograde Amnesia - H. Amnesia from the point of injury backward
  6. Recency Effect - E. We best remember information from the end
  7. Retroactive Interference - G. Older information prevents us from remembering newer information
  8. Echoic Memory - F. Auditory sensory memory

Short-term Memory Capacity

  • Short-term memory typically holds about 7 (+/- 2) items.

Chunking

  • Definition: Grouping information into larger, manageable units to enhance memory retention.
    • Example: Memorizing a phone number in segments rather than as one long number.

Types of Sensory Memory

  • Iconic Memory: A brief visual memory lasting about 0.5 seconds.
    • Example: Remembering a scene after glancing at it.
  • Echoic Memory: A brief auditory memory lasting about 3-4 seconds.
    • Example: Remembering a song lyric right after hearing it.

Long-term Memory Types

  • Implicit Memory: Unconscious memory of skills and procedures.
    • Example: Knowing how to swim without consciously thinking about it.
  • Explicit Memory: conscious recollection of facts and events.
    • Example: Remembering the date of your graduation.

Recall vs. Recognition

  • Recall: Retrieving information from memory without cues.
    • Example: Answering an essay question.
  • Recognition: Identifying information from a list of options or cues.
    • Example: Answering multiple-choice questions.