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Psychology Memory Vocabulary

Terms in this set (77)

acoustic encoding
the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words
anterograde amnesia
involves the loss of memories for events that occur after the onset of amnesia
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings
cerebellum
a neural center in the hindbrain that processes implicit memories
chunk
a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit
cocktail-party phenomenon
a phenomenon in which people tune in one message, like their name, even while they filter out others nearby
conceptual hierarchy
a multilevel classification system based on common properties among items
decay theory
proposes that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time
declarative memory
system that handles factual information
déjà vu
the experience of thinking that a new situation had occurred before
echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
elaboration
linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding
encoding
involves forming a memory code
episodic memory
system that is made up of chronological, or temporally dated, recollections of personal experiences
explicit memory (declarative)
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"
flashbulb memories
unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events
forgetting curve
graphs retention and forgetting over time
hindsight bias
the tendency to mold one's interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out
hippocampus
a neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage
iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
imagery
creation of mental pictures by pertinent, vivid word choice
implicit memory (procedural)
refers to memory without conscious recollection- memories of skills and routine procedures that are performed automatically
interference
occurs when recall of certain information is inhibited by the presence of other information in memory
levels-of-processing theory
proposes that deeper levels of processing result in longer-lasting memory codes
long-term memory (LTM)
an unlimited capacity store that can hold information over lengthy periods of time
long-term potentiation (LTP)
a long-lasting increase in neural excitability at synapses along a specific neural pathway
memory
a mental process that allows the storage of experience and perceptions for recall at a later time
memory construction
we filter information and fill in missing pieces with plausible guesses and assumptions
method of loci
involves taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where images of items to be remembered are associated with certain locations
misinformation effect
occurs when participants' recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading postevent information
mnemonic devices
strategies for enhancing memory
mood-congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood
motivated forgetting
occurs when frightening, traumatic events are forgotten because people want to forget them
next-in-line-effect
people's poorest memories are of the person next to them
nondeclarative memory (procedural)
system that houses memory for actions, skills, conditioned responses, and emotional responses
overconfidence effect
a tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgements
overlearning
refers to continued rehearsal of material after you first appear to have mastered it
parallel distributed processing models
assume that cognitive processes depend on patterns of activation in highly interconnected computational networks that resemble neural networks
priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response
proactive interference
occurs when previously learned information interferes with the retention of new information
prospective memory
involves remembering to perform actions in the future
reality monitoring
refers to the process of deciding whether memories are based on external sources or internal sources
recall
measure of retention requires subjects to reproduce information on their own without any cues
recognition
measure of retention requires subjects to select previously learned information from an array of options
rehearsal
the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about the information
relearning
requires a subject to memorize information a second time to determine how much or how many practice trials are saved by having learned it before
repression
refers to keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious
retention
refers to the proportion of material remembered
retrieval
involves recovering information from memory stores
retroactive interference
occurs when new information impairs the retention of previously learned information
retrograde amnesia
involves the loss of memories for events that occurred prior to the onset of amnesia
retrospective memory
involves remembering events from the past of previously learned information
schema
an organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or event abstracted from previous experience with the object or event
self-referent encoding
involves deciding how or whether information is personally relevant
semantic encoding
encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words
semantic memory
system that contains general knowledge that is not tied to the time when the information was learned
sensory memory
preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time, usually only a fraction of a second
serial-position effect
occurs when subjects show better recall for items at the beginning and end of a list than for items in the middle
short-term memory (STM)
a limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds
source amnesia
attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
source monitoring
involves making attributions about the origins of memories
source monitoring error
occurs when a memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source
spacing effect
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
state-dependent memory
refers to emotions, location, state of consciousness
storage
involves maintaining encoded information in memory in over time
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
the temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach
visual encoding
the use of picture images to process information into memory
working memory
a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory
7 +/- 2
average short term memory capacity for items
Alan Baddeley
proposed a more complex, modular model of short-term memory that characterizes it as "working memory"
Fergus Craik
learning and recall depend on depth of processing; from most superficial phonological (pronunciation) to deep semantic level, the deeper the easier to learn and recall
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
Eric Kandel
studied the sea slug Aplysia and posited that learning and memory are evidenced by changes in synapses and neural pathways
Elizabeth Loftus
"misinformation effect" shown in memory studies
George Miller
capacity of short-term memory is the "magic seven" (i.e. 7 +/- 2)
George Sperling
experimenter who defined the capacities of sensory memory with his letter flashing experiment
Endel Tulving
first proposed the distinction between episodic and semantic types of declarative memories
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