A.P. Psychology Modules 31-34

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.

Testing Effect

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

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's memory of an event

Mnemonics

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

Retroactive Interference

Occurs when new learning disrupts recall of old information

Proactive Interference

Occurs when prior learning disrupts your recall of new information

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Serial Position effect

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

Implicit Memory

Retention independent of conscious recollection

Sensory Memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time

Encoding

The processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning

Parallel Processing

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Spacing Effect

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

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

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

Recognition

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

Relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories

Hippocampus

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

Anterograde Amnesia

an inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past.

Long-term potentiation

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 about, read about, or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories

Effortful Processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Divergent Thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

Explicit Memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare

Convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

déjà vu

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

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Mood-Congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

Echoic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 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

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 the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating