| Term | Definition |
|---|
| memory | the ability to recall past events, images, ideas, or previously learned information or skills; the storage system that allows a person to retain and retrieve previously learned information |
| encoding | organizing sensory information so it can be processed by the nervous system |
| levels-of-processing approach | brain encodes information in different ways or on different levels; deeper processing leads to deeper memory |
| encoding specificity principle | retrieval cues that match original information work better |
| transfer appropriate processing | occurs when initial processing of information is similar to the process of retrieval; the better the match, the better the recall |
| storage | the process of maintaining or keeping information readily available; the locations where information is held |
| sensory memory | performs initial encoding; provides brief storage; also called sensory register |
| short-term storage | holds information for processing; fragile; also called short term memory or working memory |
| Lloyd and Margaret Peterson | did work on short-term memory |
| memory span | the number of items a person can reproduce from short-term memory, usually consisting of one or two chunks |
| chunks | manageable and meaningful units of information organized in such a way that it can be easily encoded, stored, and retrieved |
| rehearsal | process of repeatedly verbalizing, thinking about, or otherwise acting on or transforming information in order to keep that information active in memory |
| maintenance rehearsal | repetitive review of information with little or no interpretation |
| elaborative rehearsal | rehearsal involving repletion and analysis, in which a stimulus may be associated with (linked to) other information and further processed |
| working memory | Temporarily holds current or recent information for immediate or short-term use; Information is maintained for 20–30 seconds while active processing (e.g., rehearsal) takes place |
| long-term memory | storage mechanism that keeps a relatively permanent record of memory |
| procedural memory | memory for skills, including perceptual, motor, and cognitive skills required to complete tasks |
| declarative memory | memory for specific information |
| episodic memory | memory of specific personal events and situations (episodes) tagged with information about time |
| semantic memory | memory of ideas, rules, words, and general concepts about the world |
| explicit memory | conscious memory that a person is aware of |
| implicit memory | memory a person is not aware of possessing |
| consolidation | the process of changing a short-term memory to a long-term one |
| retrieval | process by which stored information is recovered from memory |
| ex post facto study | a type of design that contrasts groups of people who differ on some variable of interest to the researcher |
| state-dependent learning | the tendency to recall information learned while in a particular physiological state most accurately when one is in that physiological state again |
| primacy effect | the more accurate recall of items presented at the beginning of a series |
| recency effect | the more accurate recall of items presented at the end of a series |
| imagery | the creation or re-creation of a mental picture of a sensory or perceptual experience |
| schema | a conceptual framework that organizes information and allows a person to make sense of the world |
| decay | loss of information from memory as a result of disuse and the passage of time |
| Von Restorff effect | occurs when recall is better for a distinctive item, even if it occurs in the middle of a list |
| interference | the suppression of one bit of information by another |
| proactive interference | previously learned information interferes with the ability to learn new information |
| retroactive interference | newly learned information interferes with the ability to recall previously learned information |
| amnesia | inability to remember information (typically, all events within a specific period), usually due to physiological trauma |
| retrograde amnesia | loss of memory of events and experiences that preceded an amnesia-causing event |
| anterograde amnesia | loss of memory for events and experiences occurring from the time of an amnesia-causing event forward |
| motivated forgetting | occurs when frightening, traumatic events are forgotten because people want to forget them |
| long-term potentiation | the biochemical processes that make it easier for the neuron to respond again when it has been stimulated |
| flashbulb memories | detailed memory for events surrounding a dramatic event that is vivid and remembered with confidence |
| Hermann Ebbinghaus | the first person to study memory scientifically and systematically; used nonsense syllables and recorded how many times he had to study a list to remember it well |
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