Psych Chapter 6

context-dependent memory.

An important consequence of encoding specificity is that a change in _____ between encoding and retrieval can cause memory to fail. In many instances, people remember better when they attempt to recall information in the same ______ in which they learned it

Storage

encompasses how information is retained over time and how it is represented in memory

Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory

In addition to explicit memory, there is a type of long-term memory that is related to non-consciously remembering skills and sensory perceptions rather than consciously remembering facts. ____ memory (nondeclarative memory) is memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience.

Atkinson-Shiffton Theory

Memory storage involves 3 separate systems: Sensory, Short-term and Long-term memory

Retrieval Failure

Problems in ______ information from memory are clearly examples of forgetting

decay theory

Theory stating that when an individual learns something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates; suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting. , when we learn something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates. ___________ suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting.

Short-Term Memory

a 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.

H. M. suffered from anterograde amnesia

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

Recognition

a memory task in which the individual only has to identify learned items, as on multiple-choice tests

Semantic memory

a person's knowledge about the world. It includes one's areas of expertise, general knowledge of the sort learned in school, and everyday knowledge about the meanings of words, famous individuals, important places, and common things. For example, ____ memory is involved in a person's knowledge of chess, of geometry, and of who the Dalai Lama, LeBron James, and Lady Gaga are. An important aspect of _____ memory is that it appears to be independent of an individual's personal identity with the past. You can access a fact—such as the detail that Lima is the capital of Peru—and not have the foggiest notion of when and where you learned it.

Long-Term Memory

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

Autobiographical memory

a special form of episodic memory, is a person's recollections of his or her life experiences. An intriguing discovery about _________ is the reminiscence bump, the effect that adults remember more events from the second and third decades of life than from other decades

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon

a type of "effortful retrieval" that occurs when we are confident that we know something but cannot quite pull it out of memory

Procedural memory

a type of implicit memory process that involves memory for skills. For example, assuming that you are an expert typist, when you type a paper you are not conscious of where the keys are for the various letters; somehow, your well-learned, non-conscious skill of typing allows you to hit the right keys. Similarly, once you have learned to drive a car, you remember how to go about it: You do not have to remember consciously how to drive the car as you put the key in the ignition, turn the steering wheel, depress the gas pedal, and step on the brake pedal.

Chunking

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

implicit memory

has to do with remembering how.

explicit memory

has to do with remembering who, what, where, when, and why;

Sensory Memory

holds information from the world in its original _______ form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses.

Prospective memory

involves remembering information about doing something in the future; it includes memory for intentions

Retroactive interference

occurs when material learned later disrupts the retrieval of information learned earlier. Suppose you have lately become friends with Ralph. In sending a note to your old friend Raul, you might mistakenly address it to Ralph because the new information (Ralph) interferes with the old information (Raul).

Proactive interference

occurs when material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material learned later. For example, suppose you had a good friend 10 years ago named Prudence and that last night you met someone named Patience. You might find yourself calling your new friend Prudence because the old information

Encoding Failure

occurs when the information was never entered into long-term memory. As an example of ________ think about what the U.S. penny looks like. In one study, researchers showed 15 versions of the penny to participants and asked them which one was correct

Time-based prospective memory

our intention to engage in a given behavior after a specified amount of time has gone by, such as an intention to make a phone call to someone in one hour.

interference theory

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

motivated forgetting

which occurs when individuals forget something because it is so painful or anxiety laden that remembering it is intolerable

Working Memory

refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks

Echoic memory (from the word echo)

refers to auditory sensory memory, which is retained for up to several seconds.

The primacy effect

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

the recency effect

refers to better recall for items at the end.

Iconic memory (from the word icon, which means "image")

refers to visual sensory memory, which is retained only for about ¼ of a second

the encoding specificity principle

states that information present at the time of ______ or learning tends to be effective as a retrieval cue. For example, you know your instructors when they are in the classroom setting—you see them there all the time. If, however, you run into one of them in an unexpected setting and in more casual attire, such as at the gym in workout clothes, the person's name might escape you. Your memory might fail because the cues you ______ are not available for use.

Retrieval

takes place when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage. You might think of long-term memory as a library. You _________ information in a fashion similar to the process you use to locate and check out a book in an actual library. To _______ something from your mental data bank, you search your store of memory to find the relevant information.

Explicit memory (declarative memory)

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

Rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information

Flashbulb memory

the memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events . Perhaps you can remember, for example, where you were when you first heard of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. An intriguing dimension of _________ is that several decades later, people often remember where they were and what was going on in their lives at the time of such an emotionally charged event. These memories seem to be part of an adaptive system that fixes in memory the details that accompany important events so that they can be interpreted at a later time.

Episodic memory

the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings—how we remember life's episodes. _________ memory is autobiographical. For example, __________ memory includes the details of where you were when your younger brother or sister was born, what happened on your first date, and what you ate for breakfast this morning.

The serial position effect

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

event-based prospective memory

we engage in the intended behavior when some external event or cue elicits it, as when we give a message to a roommate upon seeing her.

retrograde amnesia

which involves memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events

retrospective memory

which is remembering the past.