Chapter 6

Levels of Processing

A continuum of memory processing from shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory

Recall

A memory task in which the individual has to retrieve previously learned information

Semantic memory

A person's knowledge about the world

Schema

A preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information -support reconstruction process, helping us fill in gaps between our fragmented memories

Long-term Memory

A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time

Script

A schema for an event, often containing information about physical features, people, and typical occurences

Autobiographical memory

A special form of episodic memory, consisting of a person's recollections of his or her life experiences -contains three levels: life time periods, general events, and event-specific knowledge

Working memory

A three-part system that allows us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to help us understand, make decisions, and solve problems

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon

A type of effortfull retrieval that occurs when we are confident that we know something but cannot quite pull it out of memory

Echoic Memory

Auditory sensory memory, which is retained for up to several seconds

Long-term potentiation

Concept states that if two neurons are activated at the same time, the connection between them--and thus the memory-may be strengthened

Repression

Defense mechanism by which a person is so traumatized by an event that s/he forgets it and then forgets the act of forgetting

Reminiscence Bump

Effect that adults remember more events from the second and third decades of life than from other decades

Amygdala

Emotional memories

Frontal Lobes

Episodic Memory

Hippocampus

Explicit memory, priming

Temporal Lobes

Explicit memory, priming

Absentmindedness

Failures in prospective memory -more when we become preoccupied with something else, are distracted by something, or are under a lot of time pressure -often involves a breakdown between attention and memory storage

Herman Ebbinghuas

First to study "forgetting." Identified that we forget information soon after we learn it. However . . . if we place "meaning" we are more likely to remember this information

Motivated Forgetting

Forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety laden that remembering it is intolerable

Cerebellum

Implicit Memory

Short-term memory

Limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it longer -can remember 7 +/- 2 items

Procedural memory

Memory for skills

Implicit (nondeclarative) memory

Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience

Retrograde Amnesia

Memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events -much more common than anterograde amnesia

Sensory Memory

Memory system that involves holding information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses

Recognition

Memory task in which the individual only has to identify (recognize) learned items

General Events

Middle level in autobiographical memory

Event-Specific Knowledge

Most concrete level of autobiographical memory

Encoding Failure

Occurs when the information was never entered into long-term memory

Divided Attention

Occurs when we attend to several things simultaneously

Time-based Prospective Memory

Our intention to engage in a given behavior after a specified amount of time has gone by

Primacy Effect

Refers to better recall for items at the beginning of a list

Recency Effect

Refers to better recall for items at the end of a list

Iconic Memory

Refers to visual sensory memory, which is retained only for about 1/4 of a second

Prospective Memory

Remembering information about doing something in the future; includes memory for intentions

Retrospective Memory

Remembering information from the past

Proactive Interference

Situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the results of material that was learned later

Retroactive Interference

Situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier

Phonological Loop

Specialized to briefly store speech-based information about the sounds of language

Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory

THeory stating that memory storage involves three separate systems: sensory memory, Short-term memory, and long-term memory

Priming

The activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster

Explicit (declarative) memory

The conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated

Rehearsal

The conscious repetition of information

Encoding

The first step in memory; the process by which information gets into memory storage

Flashbulb Memory

The memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events

Retrieval

The memory process that occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage

Elaboration

The number of different connections that are made around a stimulus at a given level of memory encoding

Episodic memory

The retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings-that is, how individuals remember life's episodes

Memory

The retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key processes; encoding, storage, and retrieval

Storage

The retention of information overtime and how this information is represented in memory

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle

Connectionism (parallel distributed processing: PDP)

The theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons, several of which may work together to process a single memory

Interference Theory

The theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember

Decay Theory

Theory stating that when we learn something new, a neurological memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates; suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting

Event-based Prospective Memory

We engage in the intended behavior when some external event or cue elicits it -More effective than time-based prospective memory

Central executive

integrates information not only from the phonological loop and visuospatial working memory but also from long-term memory -plays important roles in attention, planning, and organizing

Chunking

involves grouping or "packing" information that exceeds the 7 +/- 2 memory span into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units

Classical conditioning

involves the automatic learning of associations between stimuli, so that one comes to evoke the same response as the other

Encoding specificity principle

states that information present at the time of encoding or learning tends to be effective as a retrieval cue

Visuospatial working memory

stores visual and spatial information, including visual imagery

Memory span

the number of digits an individual can report back in order after a single presentation of them

Anterograde amnesia

a memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events

Amnesia

loss of memory

Life time Periods

most abstract level in autobiographical memory