Unit 7: Memory

Explicit memory

knowledge or experiences that can be consciously and intentionally remembered

Episodic memory

the firsthand experiences, or episodes, that we have on a daily basis (e.g., recollections of our high school graduation day or of the fantastic show we saw in New York last summer)

Implicit memory

the influence of experience on behavior, even if the individual is not aware of those influences

central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing. The central executive will make use of whatever strategies seem to be best for the given task. For instance, the central executive will direct the rehearsal process and at the same time direct the visual cortex to form an image of the list of letters in memory

working memory

the processes that we use to make sense of, modify, interpret, and store information in STM

echoic memory

Auditory sensory memory is known as echoic memory. In contrast to iconic memories, which decay very rapidly, echoic memories can last as long as 4 seconds.

iconic memory

Visual sensory memory is known as iconic memory. iconic memory for unimportant details quickly fades.

recall test

a measure of explicit memory that involves retrieving information that has been previously learned

recognition memory test

a measure of memory that involves determining whether information has been seen or learned before

priming

changes in behavior as a result of experiences that have happened frequently or recently

Short-term memory (STM)

he place where small amounts of information can be temporarily kept for more than a few seconds but usually for less than one minute. The cognitive psychologist George Miller referred to "seven plus or minus two" pieces of information as the "magic number" in short-term memory.

Maintenance rehearsal

he process of repeating information mentally or out loud with the goal of keeping it in memory

eidetic imagery (or "photographic memory")

iconic memory seems to last longer. people can report details of an image over long periods of time. These people, who often suffer from psychological disorders such as autism, claim that they can "see" an image long after it has been presented, and can often report accurately on that image. There is also some evidence for eidetic memories in hearing; some people report that their echoic memories persist for unusually long periods of time.

classical conditioning effects

in which we learn, often without effort or awareness, to associate neutral stimuli (such as a sound or a light) with another stimulus (such as food), which creates a naturally occurring response, such as enjoyment or salivation.

long-term memory (LTM)

memory storage that can hold information for days, months, and years. The capacity of long-term memory is large, and there is no known limit to what we can remember. Although we may forget at least some information after we learn it, other things will stay with us forever.

Semantic memory

our knowledge of facts and concepts about the world (e.g., that the absolute value of −90 is greater than the absolute value of 9 and that one definition of the word affect is "the experience of feeling or emotion").

Procedural memory

our often unexplainable knowledge of how to do things

Sensory memory

the brief storage of sensory information. Sensory memory is a memory buffer that lasts only very briefly and then, unless it is attended to and passed on for more processing, is forgotten. The purpose of sensory memory is to give the brain some time to process the incoming sensations and to allow us to see the world as an unbroken stream of events rather than as individual pieces.