Psychology Chapter 7: Memory

Mnemonics

_ are encoding methods that increase the efficiency of your memory.

immediate memory span

An _ is the largest number of items or chunks of information that you can recall perfectly from short-term memory after one presentation of the stimuli. Most people have an immediate memory span of five to nine items.

encoding specificity principle

The _ maintains that if the way information is encoded and the way it is retrieved are similar, remembering the information will be easier.

The recency effect

The _ occurs when we remember the last few words on a list better than others on the list. The list's final items are in short-term memory at the time of recall.

primacy effect

The _ occurs when we remember words at the beginning of a list better than those in the middle of the list.

information-processing model

The _ of memory has three stages: sensory memory; short-term, or working, memory; and long-term memory.

state-dependent memory

In _, your psychological state acts as a retrieval cue. When you are trying to remember, if you are in the same psychological state you were in at the time of learning, you will retrieve more material.

context-dependent memory

In _, the environment acts as a retrieval cue. This means that it is easier to remember information when you are in the location (context) where you originally learned that information.

levels-of-processing model

The _ holds that differences in how well something is remembered reflect the degree or depth to which incoming information is mentally processed.

Brown-Peterson procedure

The _ is a research method that prevents rehearsal. A person is presented with a group of three letters and then counts backward by threes from an arbitrarily selected number until a signal is given. The counting prevents the person from rehearsing the information.

method of savings

The _ is a term introduced by Ebbinghaus to refer to the difference in the amount of time required to relearn material that has been forgotten and the amount of time it took to learn the material initially.

transfer-appropriate processing model

The _ suggests that memory retrieval will be improved if the encoding method matches the retrieval method.

Chunks

_ are meaningful groupings of information that you place in short-term memory. The immediate memory span of short-term memory is probably between five and nine chunks of information. Each chunk contains bits of information grouped into a single unit.

Schemas

_ are summaries of knowledge about categories. We tend to automatically place people, objects, and events into classes.

Semantic memory

_ contains factual knowledge. This memory differs from episodic memory in that its contents are not associated with a specific event.

Spreading activation

_ describes the way in which information is retrieved from long-term memory according to semantic network theories. Whenever a question is asked, neural activation spreads from those concepts contained in the question down all paths related to them.

Selective attention

_ determines what information is held in sensory registers. Information that is not attended to decays and cannot be processed any further.

Retrieval cues

_ help us recognize information in long-term memory. In other words, they help you "jog" your memory.

Sensory registers

_ hold incoming sensory information until it is processed, recognized, and remembered. There is a sensory register for each sense.

Procedural memory (skill memory)

_ holds "how-to" methods or processes that usually require some motor movement.

Sensory memory

_ holds sensory information for a fraction of a second in sensory registers. If the information is attended to and recognized, perception takes place, and the information can enter short-term memory.

Elaborative rehearsal

_ involves thinking about how new material is linked or related in some way to information already stored in long-term memory. It is an effective method of encoding information into long-term memory.

Anterograde amnesia

_ is a loss of memory for events that occur after a brain injury. Memory for experiences prior to the trauma remains intact.

Retrograde amnesia

_ is a loss of memory of events prior to a brain injury. Memories encoded days or years before the injury or trauma can be lost. Usually most memories return.

Decay

_ is a mechanism whereby information not used in long-term memory gradually fades until lost completely.

Interference

_ is a mechanism whereby the retrieval or storage of information in long-term memory is impaired by other learning

Episodic memory

_ is any memory of a specific event that happened while you were present.

Working memory

_ is the part of the memory system that allows us to mentally manipulate information being held in short-term memory.

Encoding

_ is the process of coding information so that it can be placed in sensory, short-term, or long-term memory. There are three types of encoding: visual, acoustic, and semantic.

Storage

_ is the process of maintaining or keeping a memory.

Explicit memory

_ is the process of purposely trying to remember something.

Retrieval

_ is the process of transferring memories from storage to consciousness.

Long-term memory

_ is the stage of memory in which the capacity to store new information is believed to be unlimited.

Implicit memory

_ is the subconscious recall or influence of past experiences.

Retroactive interference

_ occurs when information in memory is displaced by new information.

Proactive interference

_ occurs when old information in long-term memory interferes with the remembering of new information.

Parallel distributed processing (or PDP) models

_ of memory suggest that the connections between units of knowledge are strengthened with experience. Tapping into any connection (via a memory process) provides us with access to all the other connections in the network.

Short-term memory

_ receives information that was perceived in sensory memory. Information in short-term memory is conscious but quite fragile and will be lost within seconds if not further processed.

Visual encoding

_ represents the images we see in memory.

Semantic encoding

_ represents the meaning of experiences or factual information in memory.

Acoustic encoding

_ represents the sounds we hear in memory.

Maintenance rehearsal

_, repeating information over and over, keeps information in short-term memory.