Introductory Psychology: Memory (Retrieval and forgetting)

Context Effects

Involves placing yourself in the context where you initially experienced something; Helps to prime memory retrieval; May trigger Deja Vu; Cues from the current situation that may subconsciously trigger the retrieval of a similar experience in one's past

Encoding failure

Obviously, we will not remember what we fail to encode; Without encoding ,information never enters into one's long-term memory

Storage Decay

Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay; Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885); The forgetting curve- the course of forgetting is initially rapid but levels off over time

Memory: Storage

Recall- a measure of memory in which a person must retrieve/reproduce information in the absence of cues Recognition- A measure of memory in which a person must identify items previously learned Relearning- A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time

Proactive interference

The disruptive effect of old learning on the recall of new information; As you collect more information, your mental "attic" becomes cluttered Example: You have to get a new phone number, your OLD phone number interferes with your memory because of the NEW one

Forgetting

The inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding, storage or retrieval The seven sins of memory- Absent- Mindedness, Transience, Blocking, Misattribution, Suggestibility, Bias

Motivated Forgetting

The unknowing revision of memories; Freud proposed that our memory systems do indeed self-censor painful information; Repression- A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories from consciousness

Mood-Congruent memory

We usually recall experiences that are consistent with our current mood; In a bad mood, one ,at interpret someone's look as a glare ( Can affect behavior); In a good mood, one may encode the same look as interest

State-Dependent memory

What someone learns in a particular state, is more easily recalled when he/ she is again in that state; Someone who hides money while drink may forget its location until drunk again

Retrieval Failure

although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed; You may lack the information needed to retrieve it; Tip-of-the-tounge phenomenon

Retrieval cues

stimuli that help gain access to memories; serve as anchor points; Mnemonic devices, priming (Recall of information), Context Cues, Deja Vu

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory; Often referred to as "Memory-less memory" (barley have to think about it): Occurs without explicit remembering

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; As you collect more information, your mental "attic" becomes cluttered Example: You have to get a new number, your NEW number interferes with your memory of the OLD one