Memory Exam Notes

Memory – Learning that persists over time; information that has been acquired, stored, and can be retrieved.

Recognition – Identifying items previously learned.

Relearning – Learning something more quickly when encountered a second or later time.

Retention – The ability to retain or keep information in memory over time.

Overlearning – Additional rehearsal of verbal information that increases retention, especially when practice is distributed over time.

Super-recognizers – People with an extraordinary ability to recognize and remember faces.

Ebbinghaus’ Retention Curve – A theory that suggests the more one rehearses information, the better it is retained and the faster it is relearned.

Encoding – The process of getting information into the brain.

Storage – The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval – The process of getting stored information back out of memory.

Retrieval Cues – Bits of information associated with a memory that help in accessing it later.

Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory) – Memories of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Implicit Memory (Nondeclarative Memory) – Retention of learned skills or conditioned associations without conscious awareness.

Procedural Memory – A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits, such as riding a bike.

Sensory Memory – The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

• Iconic Memory – A fleeting sensory memory of visual stimuli that lasts only a few tenths of a second.

• Echoic Memory – A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, where sounds can be recalled within 3-4 seconds.

Short-Term Memory – The activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.

Working Memory – A temporary storage system where information is actively processed and linked to existing knowledge.

Long-Term Memory – The relatively permanent and limitless storage of information in the memory system.

Semantic Memory – A type of explicit memory involving facts and general knowledge.

Episodic Memory – A type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events.

Memory Consolidation – The process by which short-term memories are transferred to long-term storage.

Basal Ganglia – Deep brain structures involved in motor movement and procedural memory formation.

Neural Circuits – Networks of neurons involved in processing and storing memories.

Memory Trace – A lasting physical change in the brain as a memory forms.

Stress Hormones – Chemicals released during emotional arousal that enhance memory formation.

Forgetting – The process of losing or being unable to recall stored information.

Anterograde Amnesia – A condition in which a person can remember past events but cannot form new explicit memories.

Retrograde Amnesia – A condition in which a person loses memories of past events but can form new ones.

Infantile Amnesia – The inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories from before the age of about 3 or 4 years.

Encoding Failure – The inability to remember information due to it never being properly stored in memory.

Storage Decay – The gradual fading of stored information over time when it is not accessed.

Dual-Track Mind – The concept that the brain processes information using two systems: one that is conscious and effortful and another that is automatic and unconscious.

Effortful Processing – Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort, such as studying for an exam.

Automatic Processing – Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, as well as well-learned information like word meanings.

Schema – A mental framework that organizes and interprets information, helping with memory processing.

Spacing Effect – The tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term memory retention than cramming.

Recall – The ability to produce previously learned information from memory.

Retrospective Memory – The ability to remember past events.

Prospective Memory – The ability to remember to perform an action in the future.

Priming – The unconscious activation of certain associations in memory.

Context-Dependent Memory – The tendency to recall information better when in the same context in which it was learned.

Encoding Specificity Principle – The idea that specific cues will most effectively trigger memories when they match the conditions in which the memory was formed.

State-Dependent Memory – The tendency to recall information better when in the same physical or emotional state as when it was learned.

Mood-Congruent Memory – The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood.

Serial Position Effect – The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle.

• Recency Effect – The tendency to recall the most recently presented information best.

• Primacy Effect – The tendency to recall the first items in a list better than later ones.

George Sperling – A researcher who demonstrated the existence of iconic memory through an experiment using flashed letters and tones.

George Miller – A cognitive psychologist who proposed that short-term memory can hold about seven items (plus or minus two).

Alzheimer’s Disease – A progressive neurological disorder that leads to memory loss and cognitive decline, eventually making it difficult to perform daily tasks.

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) – An extremely rare ability to recall personal life events with extraordinary detail and accuracy.

Task Switching – Alternating attention between multiple tasks, which can reduce working memory efficiency.

Displacement – The process by which new information replaces older information in short-term memory.

Classical Conditioning – A learning process in which an organism associates two stimuli and anticipates events.

Cognitive Processing – The mental actions involved in acquiring, storing, and understanding information.

Case Study – A research method involving an in-depth analysis of an individual or group to reveal universal principles.