chapter 6

When old memories interfere with a new memory, _____________ is said to have occurred.

proactive interference

Whenever Carlos reaches for the silverware, he keeps reaching for the drawer that used to contain the silverware. Carlos's failure to remember the new location of the silverware is probably due to:

proactive interference

Knowledge of how to perform different skills and actions is called ________ memory.

procedural memory

According to Ebbinghaus's research, the most rapid forgetting of new material happens ________ after the material is originally learned.

relatively soon

involves recovering the stored information so that we are consciously aware of it.

retrieval

A clue, prompt, or hint that helps trigger recall of a given piece of information stored in long-term memory is called a

retrieval cue

The inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues is called

retrieval cue failure

When a new memory interferes with an old memory, ___________ is said to have occurred.

retroactive interference

Knowledge of facts, concepts, and ideas is called _________ memory.

semantic

The tendency to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle is called

serial position effect

When 7-year-old Grace had to recite the Girl Scout Pledge in front of the other members of her Brownie troop, she had trouble remembering some of the lines in the middle of the pledge. This illustrates:

the serial position effect

A great deal of information is held during the sensory memory stage, but only for a couple of seconds at the longest.

true

is the inability to recall information that was previously available to memory.

forgetting

Forgetting the true source of a memory, or attributing a memory to the wrong source, is called source confusion.

true

Long-term memory storage capacity seems to be limitless.

true

New information can distort the recollection of information that is already stored in long-term memory.

true

is the mental or verbal repetition of information in order to maintain it beyond the usual 20-second duration of short term memory.

maintenance rehearsal

is a memory distortion phenomenon in which your existing memories can be altered if you are exposed to misleading information.

misinformation effect

is a memory distortion that occurs when the true source of the memory is forgotten.

source confusion

demonstrated that much of what we forget is lost relatively soon after we originally learn the information

The famous Ebbinghaus forgetting curve:

When information in short-term memory is NOT rehearsed or encoded, what happens to it?

The information fades, or decays, after a very brief period of time, usually within a matter of seconds

in increasing the amount of information that can be held in short- term memory by grouping related items together into a single unit.

chunking

Rehearsal that involves focusing on the meaning of information to help encode and transfer it to long-term memory is called __________.

elaborative rehearsal

The process of transforming information that enters and is retained by the memory system is called:

encoding

is transforming information into a form that can be entered and retained by the memory system.

encoding

The inability to recall specific information because of insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory is called __

encoding failure

You can keep information in short-term memory beyond the usual 20-second duration by:

engaging in maintenance rehearsal

Adam vividly remembers the accident that sent him to the emergency room for stitches. This is an example of which type of long-term memory?

episodic

Information in short term memory that is not further processes or rehearsed

fades or decays

If you were to apply the research on forgetting to studying for exams in college, you would try to learn as much material in as short a time as possible.

false

People who suffer from retrograde amnesia are unable to form new episodic memories.

false

The tip-of-the-tongue experience is a common example of a storage failure in memory.

false

Working memory is also referred to as long-term memory.

false

is a distorted or fabricated recollection of something that did not actually occur.

false memory

The recall of very specific images or details surrounding a vivid, rare, or significant personal event is called

flashbulb memory

Short-term memory is often referred to as __________ memory.

working