UNIT #5 : Essential Questions & Vocabulary

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

The processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Question 5

Parallel processing

Answer 5

The processing of many aspects of
a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Question 6

Sensory memory

Answer 6

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Question 7

Short-term memory

Answer 7

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Question 8

Long-term memory

Answer 8

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Question 9

Working memory

Answer 9

A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Question 10

Explicit memory

Answer 10

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.” (Also called declarative memory.)

Question 11

Effortful processing

Answer 11

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Question 12

Automatic processing

Answer 12

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Question 13

Implicit memory

Answer 13

Retention independent of conscious recollection. (Also called non-declarative memory.)

Question 14

Echoic memory

Answer 14

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Question 15

Iconic memory

Answer 15

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Question 16

Chunking

Answer 16

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Question 17

Mnemonics

Answer 17

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Question 18

Spacing effect

Answer 18

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Question 19

Testing effect

Answer 19

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

Question 20

Shallow processing

Answer 20

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.

Question 21

Deep processing

Answer 21

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.

Question 22

Flashbulb memory

Answer 22

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Question 23

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 23

An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Question 24

Recall

Answer 24

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Question 25

Recognition

Answer 25

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Question 26

Relearning

Answer 26

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Question 27

Priming

Answer 27

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Question 28

Mood-congruent memory

Answer 28

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

Question 29

Serial position effect

Answer 29

Our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

Question 30

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 30

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Question 31

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 31

An inability to form new memories

Question 32

Proactive interference

Answer 32

The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

Question 33

Retroactive interference

Answer 33

The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Question 34

Repression

Answer 34

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Question 35

Misinformation effect

Answer 35

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Question 36

Source amnesia

Answer 36

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Question 37

Déjà vu

Answer 37

That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience