| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Four Major Models acct. for organization of info in LTM | hierarchies, concepts/prototypes, semantic networks, schemas/scripts |
| hierarchies | systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific |
| concepts | mental representations of related things |
| prototypes | the most typical examples of a concept |
| semantic networks | more irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one concept to others |
| schemas | frameworks of basic ideas and preconceptions about people, objects, and events based on past experience |
| script | a schema for an event |
| flashbulb memory | vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event |
| connectionism | theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons, many of which can work together to process a single memory |
| artificial intelligence (AI) | a field of study in which computer programs are designed to simulate human cognitive aiblities such as reasoning, learning, and understanding language |
| neural network or parallel processing model | clusters of neurons that are interconnected (and computer models based on neuronlike systems) process information simultaneously, automatically, and without awareness |
| long-term potentiation (LTP) | an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation and possibly the neural basis for learning and memory |
| thalamus | involved in encoding sensory memory in STM |
| hippocampus | involved in putting information from STM into LTM |
| amygdala | involved in the storage of emotional memories |
| cerebellum | processes implicit memories and seems to store procedural memory and classically conditioned memories |
| retrieval | process of getting information out of memory storage |
| retrieval cue | a stimulus that provides a trigger to get an item out of memory |
| priming | activating specific associations in memory either consciously or unconsciously |
| recognition | identification of something as familiar |
| recall | retrieval of information from LTM in the absence of any other information or cues such as for an essay question or fill-in on a test |
| reconstruction | retrieval that can be distorted by adding, dropping, or changing details to complete a picture from incomplete stored information |
| confabulation | process of combining and substituting memories from events other than the one you are trying to remember |
| misinformation effect | incorporation of misleading information into memories of a given event |
| serial position effect | better recall of information that comes at the beginning (primacy effect) and at the end of a list of words (recency effect) |
| encoding specificity principle | retrieval depends upon the match between the way information is encoded and the way it is retrieved |
| context-dependent memory | physical setting in which a person learns information is encoded along with the information and becomes part of the memory trace |
| mood congruence (mood dependent memory) | tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood |
| state-dependent memory effect | tendency to recall information better when in the same internal state as when the information was encoded |
| distributed practice | spreading out the memorization of a information or the learning of skills over several sessions, typically producing better retrieval than massed practice |
| massed practice | cramming the memorization of information or learning of skills into one session |
| forgetting | the inability to retrieve previously stored information. Forgetting results from failure to encode, decay of stored memories or inability to access stored information |
| interference | learning some items prevents retrieving others, especially when items are similar |
| proactive interference | the process by which old memories prevent the retireval of newer memories |
| retroactive interference | the process by which new memories prevent the retrieval of older memories |
| repression | the tendency to forget unpleasant or traumatic memories hidden in the unconscious mind according to Freud |
| tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon | the often temporary inability to access information accompanied by a feeling that the information is in LTM |
| anterograde amnesia | inability to put new information into explicit memory, resulting from damage to hippocampus; no new semantic memories are formed |
| retrograde amnesia | memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident |
Combine with other sets
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