Factors that influence ability to remember Flashcards
What is forgetting?
inability to recover info that was previously stored
What is the encoding specificity principle?
discovered by Tulving and Thomson
- states that associations made in the time of encoding a memory - will be the most effective retrieval cue
What are retrieval cues?
stimulus that helps the process of recovering info in memory
What are context-dependent cues?
environmental cues of a situation where a memory was formed
What are some examples of context-dependent cues?
sight + smell + brightness of light
What are state-dependent cues?
physiological and psychological state the person was in when the memory was formed
What are some examples of state-dependent cues?
mood + level of anxiety
What is maintenance rehearsal?
repeating info over and over again in order to increase the duration of STM
What is elaborative rehearsal?
linking a new memory to a preexisting long term memory in a meaningful way
What are the pros and cons of both maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal?
Maintenance is good for meaningless info
= but can be interrupted by new info
= shallow level of processing
Elaborative rehearsal increases long term retention and increases understanding
= but can be time consuming
= takes more conscious effort
What is the serial position effect?
states that there will be better recall of words at the beginning and end of a list than the middle of a list
What is the primacy effect?
superior recall of words at the beginning of a list
What is the recency effect?
superior recall of words at the end of a list
Where are the words at the start transferred and where are the words at the end transferred?
words at the start = in LTM
words at the end = STM
What is an asymptote?
worse recall of words in the middle of the list
