chapter 8 memory psych 101

what are the recommended memory strategies?

-study repeatedly to boost long-term recall - scheduled spaced (not crammed) study times -spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material - make the material personally meaningful, with well-organized and vivid associations - refresh your memory by returning to contexts and moods to activate retrieval cues - use mnemonic devices - plans for a complete nights sleep - test yourself repeatedly- retrieval practice is a proven retention strategy

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank-test question tests your recall

recognition

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test tests your recognition

relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again (studying for a test)

echoic memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds

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

hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

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

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten (info gets processed in here unable to encode it through rehearsal)

which strategies are better for long term retention?

although cramming may lead to short-term gains in knowledge, distributed practice and repeated self-testing will result in the greatest long-term retention

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from ones past

long-term potential (LTP)

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard, read about, or imagined. (also called source misattribution). source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning

frontal lobes and hippocampus

explicit memory formation

cerebellum and basal ganglia

implicit memory formation

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one'e memory of an event

if you try to make the material you are learning personally meaningful, are you processing at a shallow or deep level? which level leads to a greater retention?

making material personally meaningful involves processing at a deep level, because you are processing semantically- based on the meaning of the words. deep processing leads to greater retention

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

your friend has experienced brain damage in an accident. he can remember how to tie his shoes but has a hard time remembering anything told him during a conversation. whats going on here?

our explicit memories (facts and episodes) differ from our implicit memories of skills and procedures. our implicit memories are processed by more ancient brain areas, which apparently escaped damage during the accident

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

what is priming?

priming is the activation (often without our awareness) of associations

what- given the commonality of source amnesia- might life be like if we remembered all our walking experiences and all our dreams?

real experiences would be confused with those we dreamed. when meeting someone, we might therefore be unsure whether we were reacting to something they previously did or to something we dreamed they did

fill-in-the-blank questions test our

recall

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection (also called non declarative memory)

which three memory stages would iconic and echoic occur?

sensory memory

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. includes knowledge, skills and experiences (information later moves here for later retrieval)

storage

the retention of encoded information over time (retain that information)

spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good or bad mood

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and well-learned information, such as word meaning (happens without awareness and produces implicit memories)

what two new concepts update the classic Atkinson-Shiffrin three-stage information-processing model?

(1) we form some memories through automatic processing without awareness. this model only focused on conscious memories. (2) the newer concept of a working memory emphasizes the active processing that we now know takes place in the short-term memory stage

what are two basic functions of working memory?

(1)active processing of incoming visual and auditory information and (2) focusing our spotlight of attention

what are three ways we forget, and how does each of these happen?

(1)encoding failure: unattended information never entered our memory system. (2) storage decay: information fades from our memory (3) retrieval failure: we cannot access stored information accurately, sometimes due to interference or motivated forgetting

what is the difference between automatic and effortful processing, and what are some examples of each?

automatic processing occurs unconsciously (automatically) for such things as the sequence and frequency of a days events, and reading and comprehending words in our own language. effortful processing requires attention and awareness happens, for example, when we work hard to learn new material in class, or new lines for a play

amygdala

emotion-related memory formation

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

if you want to be sure what you're learning for an upcoming test, would it be better to recall or recognition to check your memory? why?

it would be better to test your memory with recall (such as short answer or fill in the blank tests questions) rather than recognition (such as multiple choice question tests). recalling information is harder than recognizing it, so if you can recall it that means your retention of the material is better than if you could only recognize it, and your chances of test success are therefore greater

this neural basis for learning and memory, found at the synapses in memory-circuit connections, results from brief, rapid stimulation. it is called...

long-term potentiation (LTP)

mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare" (also called declarative memory)

multiple-choice questions test our

recognition

deja vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before" cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

which brain area responds to stress hormones by helping to create stronger memories?

the amygdala

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

which parts of the brain are important for implicit memory processing, and which parts play a key role in explicit memory processing?

the frontal lobes and hippocampus are important for explicit memory formation and the cerebellum and basal ganglia are key to implicit memory processing

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system (first record this to-be-remembered information)

memory

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage (later get the information back out)

encoding

the processing of information into the memory system- for example, by extracting meaning (get information into our brain)