Chapter 6

Memory

Memory

The mental processes that enable us to retain and sue information over time

Encoding

The process of transforming information into a form that can be entered into and retained by the memory system

Storage

The process of retaining information stored in memory so that it can be used later in time

Retieval

The process of recovering information so that we are consciously aware of it.

Stage model of memory

A model describing memory as consisting of three distinct stages; sensory memory, short term memory, and long-term memory

Sensory memory

The stage of memory that registers information from the environment and holds it for a very brief period in time

Short-term memory / Working Memory

The active stage of memory in which information is stored for about 30 seconds

Long-term Memory

The stage of memory that represents the long-term storage of information

Maintenance Rehearsal

The mental or verbal repetition of information in order to maintain it beyond the usual 30 –seconds duration of short-term memory

Chunking

Increasing the amount of info that can be held in short-term memory by grouping related items together into a single unit

Elaborative rehearsal

Rehearsal that involves focusing on the meaning of information to help encode and transfer it to long-term memory

Levels of Processing framework

the view that info that is processed at a deeper(more meaningful) level is more likely to be remembered than info that is processed at a shallow level

Procedural memory

Category of long-term memory that includes memories of different skills, operations, and actions

Episodic memory

Category of long-term memory that includes memories of particular events

Semantic memory

Category of long-term memory that includes memories of general knowledge of facts, names and concepts

Explicit memory

Information or knowledge that can be consciously recollected; also known as declarative memory

Implicit memory

Information or knowledge that affects behavior or task performance but cannot be consciously recollected

Clustering

Organizing items into related groups during recall from long-term memory

Semantic Network Model

A model that describes units of information in long-term memory as being organized in a complex network of association

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information

Retrieval cue

A clue, prompt, or hint that helps trigger recall of a given piece of information in long-term memory

Retrieval Cue Failure

The inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues

Tip-of-the tongue Experience

A memory phenomenon that involves the sensation of knowing that specific information is stored in long-term memory, but being temporarily unable to retrieve it

Recall

A test of long-term memory that involves retrieving information without the aid of retrieval cues; also called Free Recall

Cued Recall

A test of the long-term memory that involves remembering an item of information in response to a retrieval cue

Recognition

A test of long-term memory that involves identifying correct information out of several possible choices

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle

Encoding Specificity Principle

The principle that when the conditions of information retrieval are similar to the conditions of information encoding, retrieval is more likely to be successful

Context effect

The tendency to recover information more easily when the retrieval occurs in the same setting as the original learning of the information

State-dependent Retrieval

An encoding specificity phenomenon in which information that is learned in a particular drug state is more likely to be recalled while the person is in the same state

Mood Congruence

An encoding specificity phenomenon in which a given mood to evoke memories that are consistent with that mood

Flashbulb Memory

The recall of very specific images or details surrounding a vivid, rare, or significant personal event

Schema

An organized cluster of information about a particular topic

Source Confusion

A memory distortion that occurs when the true source of the memory is forgotten

Cryptomnesia

A memory distortion in which a seemingly “new” or “original” memory is actually based on an unrecalled previous memory

Misinformation effect

A memory-distortion phenomenon in which a person’s existing memory can be altered if the person I exposed to misleading information

Forgetting

the inability to recall information that was previously available

Encoding failure

The inability to recall specific info because of insufficient encoding for storage in a long term memory

Interference Theory

The theory that forgetting is caused by one memory competing with or replacing the other

Retroactive interference

Forgetting in which new memory interferes with remembering an old memory; backward-acting memory interference

Proactive interference

forgetting in which the old memories interfere with remembering an old memory

Motivated Forgetting

the theory that forgetting occurs because an undesired memory is held back from awareness

Suppression

Motivated forgetting that occurs consciously

Repression

Motivated forgetting that occurs unconsciously

Decay theory

The view that forgetting is due to normal metabolic processes that occur in the brain over time

Memory Trace

The brain changes associated with a particular memory stored

Long-term potentiation

A long-lasting increase in synaptic strength between two neurons

Amnesia

Severe memory loss

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of memory, especially for episodic information; backward-acting amnesia

Memory consolidation

The gradual, physical process of converting new, long-term memories to stable, enduring long-term codes

Anterograde amnesia

Loss of memory cause by the inability to store new memories; forward- acting amnesia

People

Hermann Ebbinghaus

German psychologist who originated the scientific study of forgetting; plotted the first forgetting curve, which describes the basic pattern of forgetting learned information over time

Eric Kandel

American neurobiologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his work on the neural basis of learning and memory in the sea snail Aplysia

Karl Lashley

American physiological psychologist who attempted to find the specific brain location of particular memories

Elizabeth Loftus

American psychologist who has conducted extensive research on the memory distortions that can occur in eyewitness testimony

George Sperling

American psychologist who identified the duration of visual sensory memory in a series of classical experiments in 1960

Richard Thompson

American psychologist and neuroscientist who has conducted extensive research on the neurobiological foundations of learning and memory