Chapter 8: Memory

Question 1

3 basic activities involved in memory

Answer 1

encoding- taking perceptual sensory data and transferring to the brain where it can be stored

storage- retaining memories for future use

retrieval- recapturing memories into consciousness

Question 2

Information processing model

Answer 2

suggests that information passes through three memory stages during encoding, storage, and retrieval.
(sensory memory, working memory, long term memory)

Question 3

Sensory Memory

Answer 3

Detailed, brief sensory image of stimuli that is retained for a brief period of time

Lasts up to 1/2 sec for visual and 2-4 sec for auditory
Large capacity

Question 4

Working Memory

Answer 4

Holds information temporarily for analysis. Conscious effort

Lasts up to 30 sec without rehearsal
Limited capacity of 5-9 items

“use it or lose it” – enter long term memory when rehearsed

Question 5

Long Term Memory

Answer 5

Relatively permanent storage. Hold information we previously gathered, available for retrieval and use in a new situation

Relatively permanent and relatively unlimited capacity

Question 6

Parallel Distributed Processing Model

Answer 6

Suggests information is represented in the brain as a pattern of activation across entire neural networks

These networks resulted in sophisticated memories, broad knowledge, and ability to make better decisions

Question 7

Automatic Processing

Answer 7

Attend info without much conscious awareness and with little to no effort.
Particularly information about time, space, and frequency

Question 8

Effortful Processing

Answer 8

Encoding of information through careful attention and conscious effort
Heavily disrupted by multitasking

Question 9

Rehearsal

Answer 9

Conscious repetition of information in an attempt to make sure information is encoded

Moves information from sensory to working and from working to long term memory

Question 10

Spacing Effect

Answer 10

Facilitated encoding of material through rehearsal situations spread out over time

Question 11

Phonological Code

Answer 11

repeating sounds of number again and again

Better for verbal information like digits and words

Question 12

Visual Code

Answer 12

holding image of stimuli

Better for non verbal things like people faces and objects

Question 13

Eidetic Memories

Answer 13

photographic memory

recall object or scene with great detail and near perfect accuracy. lasts for several minutes

Question 14

Semantic Codes

Answer 14

representations based on meaning of information

used to encode verbal information into long term memory

Question 15

Mnemonic Devices

Answer 15

techniques used to enhance the meaningfulness of information to make it more memorable

ex:

Question 16

Disruptions to Memory

Answer 16

Failure of attention
Lack of rehearsal
Decay
Proactive interference
Retroactive interference
Damage to the brain

Question 17

Memory Span

Answer 17

maximum number of items that can be recalled in correct order (7 +/- 2)

Question 18

Chunking

Answer 18

grouping bits of information together to enhance ability to hold that information in working memory

Question 19

Explicit Memory

Answer 19

Memory with conscious recall

semantic memory- facts and general knowledge
episodic memory- personal experiences and events

storage in hippocampus

Question 20

Implicit Memory

Answer 20

Memory without conscious recall

motor/procedural memory
classically conditioned memory- conditioned response to conditioned stimuli
Priming- earlier exposure facilitates retrieval

storage in striatum and cerebellum

Question 21

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Answer 21

when piece of information feels right at the edge of our consciousness

Question 22

Retrieval cues

Answer 22

words, sights, other stimuli that remind us of the information we need to retrieve from our memory

Question 23

Hyperthymesia

Answer 23

enhanced memory.
An ability that allows people to remember nearly every event of their life with great precision

Question 24

State Dependent Memory

Answer 24

memory retrieval facilitated by being in the same state of kind un which you encoded the memory in the first place

Question 25

Flash Bulb Memory

Answer 25

detailed and near-permeant memories of emotionally significant events and/pr of the circumstances surrounding the moment we learned about the event

intense emotions trigger special memory mechanism that produce near-permeant record

feels super real. However, flashbulb memories are not more accurate then memories of neutral events
study by Talarico & Rubin (2003): content of flashbulb memory still decays

Question 26

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve

Answer 26

pattern of rapid memory loss followed by stable retention of remaining information

Question 27

Decay Theory of Forgetting

Answer 27

suggests that memories fade over time due to neglect or failure to access over long period of time

Question 28

Interference Theory

Answer 28

forgetting is influenced by what happens to people before or after they take information in

Question 29

Proactive Interference

Answer 29

past memory interferes with new memory

Question 30

Retroactive Interference

Answer 30

new memory interferes with recall of old memory

Question 31

Motivating Forgetting

Answer 31

actively working to forget an unpleasant event

connects to Sigmund Freud’s theory of Repression

Question 32

Source Misattribution

Answer 32

remembering the information, but not the source it came from.
can lead to remembering things as true info from unreliable source

Question 33

Exposure to Misinformation

Answer 33

new information that is inaccurate or misleading can distort our recall or lead us to manufacture new memories

Question 34

Effects of Imagination

Answer 34

our imagination can lead us to recall events that never took place

Question 35

Infantile Amnesia

Answer 35

children before age 4 do not hold onto memories of life very long
adults do not have any recollections of events that occur before age 3/4

Question 36

Organic Memory disorders

Answer 36

physical causes of memory impairment can be identified

Amnesia, dementia

Question 37

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 37

inability to remember things that occur before an organic event that triggered amnesia

Question 38

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 38

inability to form new memories after the onset of disorder

Question 39

Dementia

Answer 39

severe memory problems combine with losses in at least one of there cognitive function, such as abstract thinking or language

Question 40

Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 40

most common form of dementia
beginning with mild memory problems, lapses of attention, and problem with language
progressing to difficulty with even simple tasks and recall of long held memories

Question 41

Dissociative Disorders

Answer 41

psychological disorder characterized by major loss of memory without clear physical cause

Question 42

Dissociative Amnesia

Answer 42

inability to recall important information, usually of an unsetting nature, about one’s life

Question 43

Dissociative Fugue

Answer 43

loss of memory of personal identity and details of one’s past life and flight to an entirely different location

Question 44

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Answer 44

development of two or more distinct personalities (subpersonalities)

Question 45

Thompson Cotton Case

Answer 45

factors affecting her memory
she identified the wrong person as her rapist

Question 46

innocence project

Answer 46

as of jan 2020,
367 convictions have been overturned based on dna evidence
71 percent of those convictions relied on eye-witness testimony

Question 47

own race bias

Answer 47

we are better at identifying differences of our own race than of those of other races