Psychology Chapter 8 Memory Review

Why We Forget

1) Decay Theory: The theory that information in memory eventually disappears if it is not accessed. Applies more to short term than long-term memory. 2) Replacement Theory: The theory that new information entering memory can wipe out old information. 3) Interference Theory Retroactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when recently learned material interferes with the ability to remember similar material stored previously. Proactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material. 4) Cue-Dependent Forgetting: The inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of insufficient cues for recall. 5) State-Dependent Theory: The tendency to remember something when the rememberer is in the same physical or mental state as during the original learning. 6) Mood-Congruent Theory: The tendency to remember experiences that are consistent with one's current mood and overlook or forget experiences that are not.

Contents of Long Term Memories

1) Procedural Memories: Memories for the performance of actions or skills. "Knowing how." 2) Declarative Memories: Memories of facts, rules, concepts, and events; includes semantic and episodic memory. "Knowing that" Semantic Memories: General knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts, and propositions. Episodic Memories: Personally experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred.

Question 1

Capability of short term memory. Short term memory holds a limited amount of information, usually around 5 to 7 items for a brief period of time, may be 30 seconds or so unless a conscious effort is made to keep it there longer.

Conditions of Confabulation

Confabulation: 1) Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you, or 2) a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened. Confabulation is mostly: 1) When you have thought or heard about the event many times; 2) the image of the event that contains many details; 3) the event is easy to imagine.

Explicit Memory

Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or item of information. Recall: The ability to retrieve and reproduce from memory previously learned material. Recognition: The ability to identify previously encountered material.

Question 2

Define and list examples of procedural memories. Procedural memories are a part of the long term memories. They are the memories for performance of actions or skills. ("Knowing how") Examples including how to drive a car, how to open a door, how to walk or run, how to use a phone when you are used to.

Question 3

Define and list examples of semantic memories. Semantic memories are a part of the declarative memories from the long term memories. It is the memories of general knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts, and propositions. Semantic memories could be about what's your name or parent's names. The date of Declaration of Independence. The concept of gravity. The meaning of a word.

Question 5

Identify 5 memory aides 1) Primary and recency (Serial-Position Effect) 2) Frequency 3) Distinctiveness 4) Organization 5) Reconstruction 6) Visual Imagery

Types of Long-Term Memories

LTM: 1) Procedural Memories ("Knowing how"); 2) Declarative Memories ("Knowing that")-a) Semantic Memories (General knowledge), b) Episodic (Personal recollection).

Question 4

List examples of mnemonics. Mnemonics are strategies and tricks for improving memory, such as the use of a verse or a formula. One example of a mnemonic could be you use a period table song with lively images to remember all the elements on the periodic table. Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach.(Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) -The order of taxonomy.

The Manufacture of Memory

Memory is the capacity to retain and retrieve information. Memory is a reconstructive process. Source Misattribution: The inability to distinguish what you originally experienced from what you heard or were told later about an event.

How We Remember

Rehearsal 1) Maintenance Rehearsal: Rote repetition of material in order to maintain its availability in memory. 2) Elaborative Rehearsal: Association of new information with already stored knowledge and analysis of the new information to make it memorable. Deep Process: In the encoding of information, the processing of meaning rather than simply the physical or sensory features of a stimulus.

Childhood Amnesia

The inability to remember events and experiences that occurred during the first two or three years of life. Cognitive Explanation: Lack of sense of self, impoverished encoding of memory, focus on the routine, different ways of thinking about the world.

Amnesia

The partial or complete loss of memory for important personal information. 1) Psychological Amnesia: The causes of forgetting are psychological, such as the need to escape feelings of embarrassment, guilt, shame, disappointment. 2) Traumatic Amnesia: The forgetting of specific traumatic events, sometimes for many years. 3) Organic Amnesia: The forgetting caused by a specific brain injury.

Information Processing Models

Three Interacting Memory Systems 1) Sensory Register: Retains incoming sensory information for a second or two, until it can be processed further. 2) Short-Term Memory (STM): Holds a limited amount of information (5-7 items) for a brief period of time, may be 30 seconds or so unless a conscious effort is made to keep it there longer. 3) Long-Term Memory: Longer storage from a few minutes to decades. Has no limits.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious Retention: In memory, as evidenced by the effect of a previous experience or previously encountered information on current thought or actions. Relearning Method: Compares the time required to relearn material with the time used in the initial learning material. This is one of the oldest methods of measuring implicit memory.