psych chapter 6
method of savings
a measure of retention in which the difference between the number of repetitions originally required to learn a list and the number of repetitions required to relearn the list after a certain amount of time has elapsed is calculated
relearning
a measure of retention. material is usually relearned more quickly that it is learned initially.
icon
a mental representation of a visual stimulus that is held briefly in sensory memory
echo
a mental representation of an auditory stimulus (sound) that is held briefly in sensory memory.
elaborative rehearsal
a method for increasing retention of new information by relating it to information that is well known.
chunk
a stimulus or group of stimuli that are perceived as a discrete piece of information
hippocampus
a structure in the limbic system that plays an important role in the formation of new memories
sensory register
a system of memory that holds information briefly, but long enough so that it can be processed further. there may be a ______ ______ for every sense.
schema
a way of mentally representing the world, such as a belief or an expectation, that can influence perception of persons, objects, and situations
dissociative amnesia
amnesia thought to stem from psychological conflict or trauma
memory trace
an assumed change in the nervous system that reflects the impression made by a stimulus. _______ ________ are sad to be "held" in sensory registers.
long-term potentiation
enhanced efficiency in synaptic transmission that follows brief, rapid stimulation
anterograde amnesia
failure to remember events that occur after physical trauma because of the effects of the trauma
retrograde amnesia
failure to remember events that occur prior to physical trauma because of the effects of the trauma
semantic memory
general knowledge as opposed to episodic memory.
repression
in Freud's psychodynamic theory, the ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from conscious awareness
recognition
in information processing, the easiest memory task, involving identification of objects or events encountered before.
displace
in memory theory, to cause information to be lost from short-term memory by adding new information
infantile amnesia
inability to recall events that occur prior to the age of 2 or 3. also termed childhood amnesia
context-dependent memory
information that is better retrieved in the context in which was encoded and stored, or learned
state-dependent memory
information that is better retrieved in the physiological or emotional state in which it was encoded and stored, or learned
nonsense syllables
meaningless sets of two consonants, with a vowel sandwiched in between, that are used to study memory
rote
mechanical associative learning that is based on repetition
episodic memory
memories of events experienced by a person or that take place in the person's presence.
retrospective memory
memory for past events, activities, and learning experiences, as shown by explicit (episodic and semantic) and implicit memories.
explicit memory
memory that clearly and distinctly expresses (explicates) specific information.
implicit memory
memory that is suggested (implied) but not plainly expressed, as illustrated in the things that people do but do not state clearly.
prospective memory
memory to perform an act in the future, as at a certain time or when a certain event occurs
maintenance rehearsal
mental repetition of information in order to keep it in memory
semantic code
mental representation of information according to its meaning
acoustic code
mental representation of information as a sequence of sounds.
visual code
mental representation of information as picture
encoding
modifying information so that it can be placed in memory. the first stag of information processing.
paired associates
nonsense syllables presented in pairs in experiments that measure recall.
working memory
other name for short-term memory
feeling-of-knowing experience
other name for tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
prefrontal cortex
part of the brain aware of past and present
frontal lobe
part of the brain aware of where and when
thalamus
part of the brain involved with verbal memories
Atkinson and Shiffrin
people who organized the three stages of memory chart
recall
retrieval or reconstruction of learned material
metamemory
self-awareness of the ways in which memory functions, allowing the person to encode, store, and retrieve information effectively
mnemonic devices
systems for remembering in which items are related to easily recalled sets of symbols such as acronyms, phrases, or jingles
savings
the difference between the number of repetitions originally required to learn a list and the number of repetitions required to relearn the list after a certain amount of time has elapsed.
tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
the feeling that information is stored in memory although it cannot be readily retrieved. also called the feeling-of-knowing experience
proactive interference
the interference by old learning with the ability to retrieve material learned recently.
retroactive interference
the interference of new learning with the ability to retrieve material learned previously
elaborative rehearsal
the kind of coding in which new information is related to information that is already known.
retrieval
the location of stored information and its return to consciousness. the third stage of formation processing.
eidetic imagery
the maintenance of detailed visual memories over several minutes
storage
the maintenance of information over time. the second stage of information processing.
memory
the processes by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved
saccadic eye movement
the rapid jumps made by a person's eyes as they fixate on different points.
echoic memory
the sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of auditory stimuli
iconic memory
the sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of visual stimuli
serial-position effect
the tendency to recall more accurately the first and last items in a series.
primacy effect
the tendency to recall the initial items in a series of items
recency effect
the tendency to recall the last items in a series of items
long-term memory
the type or stage memory capable of relatively permanent storage
sensory memory
the type or stage of memory first encountered by a stimulus. ________ __________ holds impressions briefly, but long enough so that series of perceptions are psychologically continuous.
short-term memory
the type or stage of memory that can hold information for up to a minute or so after the trace of the stimulus decays. also called working memory.
interference theory
the view that we may forget stored material because other learning interferes with it.
Elizabeth Loftus
took a random sample on : a black man holding a pen and a white man holding a weapon. [people switched the weapon and pen; even a.a.]
engram
1) an assumed electrical circuit in the brain that corresponds to a memory trace
engram
2) an assumed chemical change in the brain that accompanies learning