Chapter 6: Memory

Question 1

Memory is?

Answer 1

Ability to store and retrieve information over time

Question 2

3 key functions of memory

Answer 2

Encode- process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory, store- maintaining information in memory over time, and retrieve- process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded. And stored

Question 3

What gets encoded?

Answer 3

Semantic coding- process of actively relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already in memory, visual imagery encoding- process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures, organizational encoding- process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items

Question 4

Survival-encoding

Answer 4

Survival encoding yields better memory.

Question 5

What type of encoding yields better memory?

Answer 5

Survival-encoding

Question 6

Sensory storage

Answer 6

Iconic memory- fast decaying store of visual information

Echoic memory- fast decaying store of auditory information

Question 7

Short-term storage

Answer 7

Storage that holds non sensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute. It can hold 7 items

Question 8

Types of short term storage

Answer 8

Rehearsal- process of keeping information in STM by mental repeating it

chunking- combining small pieces of information into larger clusters/chunks that are more easily held in STM

working memory- STM storage that actively maintains information

Question 9

Long-term memory

Answer 9

Storage that holds for hours, days, weeks, or years. No known capacity.

Question 10

Hippocampus’ role in memory

Answer 10

‘Indexes’ information to make memory concrete

Question 11

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 11

Inability to transfer new information form the short-term store into the long-term store

Question 12

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 12

Inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation

Question 13

Semantic encoding

Answer 13

Process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory

Question 14

Visual imagery encoding

Answer 14

The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures

Question 15

What is the process of putting new information into memory?

Answer 15

Encoding

Question 16

What is the self-reference effect?

Answer 16

The fact that the best recall is when we put something into the context of our own lives

Question 17

Mnemonics

Answer 17

Acronyms that can be used to help memorize information

Question 18

Method of loci

Answer 18

Associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

Question 19

Where is short term memory housed?

Answer 19

The hippocampus

Question 20

What are the two types of long term memory?

Answer 20

Implicit (nondeclarative) memory and explicit (declarative) memory

Question 21

What is declarative memory

Answer 21

Memories that require conscious recall. Divided into semantic memory and episodic memory

Question 22

No declarative memory

Answer 22

Consists of our skills and conditioned responses

Question 23

Semantic memory

Answer 23

Declarative memory type that involves all of the facts that we know

Question 24

Episodic memory

Answer 24

Explicit memory type that involve our experiences

Question 25

Retrieval-induced forgetting

Answer 25

Process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs later recall of related items

Question 26

Suggestibility

Answer 26

Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

Question 27

What is the spacing effect?

Answer 27

Phenomenon that spacing out the time between “relearning” helps later recall

Question 28

Persistence

Answer 28

The intrusive recollection of events we wish we could forget

Question 29

Flashbulb effect

Answer 29

Detailed recollections of when and where we hard about shocking events

Question 30

Confabulation

Answer 30

Process of creating vivid but fabricated memories

Question 31

Consolidation

Answer 31

Process by which memories become stable in the brain. Takes place in the hippocampus

Question 32

Reconsolidation

Answer 32

Memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, requiring them to be consolidate again

Question 33

Long term potentiation

Answer 33

Process whereby communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier

Question 34

Retrieval cue

Answer 34

External information associated with stored information that helps bring that information to mind

Question 35

Retrieval-induced forgetting

Answer 35

Process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items

Question 36

Explicit memory

Answer 36

Act of cobsoiusnesly or intentionally retrieving past experiences

Question 37

Implicit memory

Answer 37

Influence of past experiences on later behavior, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection

Question 38

Procedural memory

Answer 38

Gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice

Question 39

Priming

Answer 39

Enhanced ability to think of a stimulus as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus; less cortical activiation

Question 40

Semantic memory

Answer 40

Network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Question 41

Episodic memory

Answer 41

Collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Question 42

Collaborative memory

Answer 42

How people share in groups

Question 43

Transience

Answer 43

Memories fade (they are transient)

Question 44

Retroactive interference

Answer 44

Situations where information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier

Question 45

Proactive interference

Answer 45

Situations where information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later

Question 46

Absent mindedness

Answer 46

Lapse in attention results in memory failure

Question 47

Blocking

Answer 47

Failure to retrieve

Question 48

Memory misattribution

Answer 48

Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source

Question 49

Source memory

Answer 49

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired

Question 50

False recognition

Answer 50

Feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before

Question 51

Suggestibility

Answer 51

Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

Question 52

Bias

Answer 52

Distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences

Question 53

Consistency bias

Answer 53

Tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present

Question 54

Change bias

Answer 54

Tendency to exaggerate differences between what we feel or believe now and what we felt or believed in the past

Question 55

Egocentric bias

Answer 55

Tendency to exaggerate the change between the past and the present in order to make ourselves look good in retrospect

Question 56

Persistence

Answer 56

Intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget

Question 57

Flashbulb memories

Answer 57

Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events

Question 58

7 sins of memory

Answer 58

Misattribution, persistence, bias, suggestibility, false recognition, blocking, absent mindedness