Memory
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.
Chunk
A stimulus or group of stimuli that is 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 sensory register 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.
Memory trace
An assumed change in the nervous system that reflects the impression made by a stimulus. Memory traces are said to be held in sensory registers.
Engram
An assumed electrical circuit in the brain that corresponds to a memory trace.
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
Enhanced efficiency in synaptic transmission that follows brief, rapid stimulation.
anterograde amnesia
Failure to remember events that occurred after physical trauma because of the effects of the trauma.
Retrograde amnesia
Failure to remember events that occurred prior to physical trauma because of the effects of the trauma.
Semantic memory
General Knowledge, as opposed to episodic memory.
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 occurred prior to the age of 2 or 3. Also termed childhood amnesia.
state dependent memory
Info that is better retrieved in the physiological or emotional state in which it was encoded and stored, or learned.
Context-dependent memory
Information that is better retrieved in the context in which it was encoded and stored, or learned.
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.
Sensory memory
The type or stage of memory first encountered by a stimulus. Sensory memory holds impressions briefly, but long enough so that series of perceptions are psychologically continuous.
Interference theory
The view that we may forget stored material because other learning interferes with it.
Dissociative amnesia
amnesia thought to stem from psychological conflict or trauma.
Long-term memory
he type or stage of memory capable of relatively permanent storage.
encoding
modifying information so that it can be placed in memory; the first stage of information processing.
Metamemory
self-awarness of the ways in which memory functions, allowing the person to encode, store, and retrieve information effectively.
Repression
the theory in which the ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from conscious awareness.
Memory
The processes by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.
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 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.
Visual code
Mental representation of information as a picture.
Acoustic code
Mental representation of information as a sequence of sounds.
Paired associates
Nonsense syllables presented in pairs in experiments that measure recall.
Recall
Retrieval or reconstruction of learned material.
Working Memory
Same as short-term memory.
Priming
The activation of specific associations in memory, often as a result of repetition and without making a conscious effort to acess the memory.
Tip of the tounge (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 information 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.