FlashcardsChapter07

Question 1

Term

Answer 1

Description

Question 2

Absentmindedness

Answer 2

The inattentive or shallow encoding of events. (page 275)

Question 3

Amnesia

Answer 3

A deficit in long-term memory – resulting from disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma – in which the individual loses the ability to retrieve vast quantities of information. (page 276)

Question 4

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 4

A condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories. (page 276)

Question 5

Blocking

Answer 5

The temporary inability to remember something. (page 274)

Question 6

Chunking

Answer 6

Organizing information into meaningful units to make it easier to remember. (page 259)

Question 7

Consolidation

Answer 7

The neural process by which encoded information becomes stored in memory. (page 250)

Question 8

Cryptomnesia

Answer 8

A type of misattribution that occurs when a person thinks he has come up with a new idea, yet has only retrieved a stored idea and failed to attribute the idea to its proper source. (page 280)

Question 9

Declarative memory

Answer 9

The cognitive information retrieved from explicit memory; knowledge that can be declared. (page 271)

Question 10

Encoding

Answer 10

The processing of information so that it can be stored. (page 250)

Question 11

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 11

The idea that any stimulus that is encoded along with an experience can later trigger a memory of the experience. (page 266)

Question 12

Episodic memory

Answer 12

Memory for one’s personal past experiences. (page 272)

Question 13

Explicit memory

Answer 13

The system underlying conscious memories. (page 271)

Question 14

Flashbulb memories

Answer 14

Vivid episodic memories for the circumstances in which people first learned of a surprising and consequential or emotionally arousing event. (page 279)

Question 15

Implicit memory

Answer 15

The system underlying unconscious memories. (page 271)

Question 16

Long-term memory

Answer 16

The relatively permanent storage of information. (page 260)

Question 17

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 17

Strengthening of a synaptic connection, making the postsynaptic neurons more easily activated by presynaptic neurons. (page 252)

Question 18

Memory

Answer 18

The nervous system’s capacity to retain and retrieve skills and knowledge. (page 250)

Question 19

Memory bias

Answer 19

The changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with current beliefs or attitudes. (page 278)

Question 20

Mnemonics

Answer 20

Learning aids or strategies that improve recall through the use of retrieval cues. (page 267)

Question 21

Persistence

Answer 21

The continual recurrence of unwanted memories. (page 277)

Question 22

Proactive interference

Answer 22

Interference that occurs when prior information inhibits the ability to remember new information. (page 274)

Question 23

Procedural memory

Answer 23

A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills, habits, and other behaviors. (page 272)

Question 24

Prospective memory

Answer 24

Remembering to do something at some future time. (page 267)

Question 25

Reconsolidation

Answer 25

Neural processes involved when memories are recalled and then stored again for retrieval. (page 250)

Question 26

Retrieval

Answer 26

The act of recalling or remembering stored information when it is needed. (page 250)

Question 27

Retrieval cue

Answer 27

Any stimulus that increases memory recall. (page 266)

Question 28

Retroactive interference

Answer 28

Interference that occurs when new information inhibits the ability to remember old information. (page 274)

Question 29

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 29

A condition in which people lose past memories, such as memories for events, facts, people, or even personal information. (page 276)

Question 30

Schemas

Answer 30

Cognitive structures in long-term memory that help us perceive, organize, process, and use information. (page 263)

Question 31

Semantic memory

Answer 31

Memory for knowledge of facts independent of personal experience. (page 272)

Question 32

Sensory memory

Answer 32

A memory system that very briefly stores sensory information in close to its original sensory form. (page 256)

Question 33

Serial position effect

Answer 33

The idea that the ability to recall items from a list depends on the order of presentation, with items presented early or late in the list remembered better than those in the middle. (page 260)

Question 34

Short-term memory

Answer 34

A memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness. (page 258)

Question 35

Source amnesia

Answer 35

A type of misattribution that occurs when a person has a memory for an event but cannot remember where he or she encountered the information. (page 280)

Question 36

Source misattribution

Answer 36

Memory distortion that occurs when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with a memory. (page 280)

Question 37

Storage

Answer 37

The retention of encoded representations. (page 250)

Question 38

Suggestibility

Answer 38

The development of biased memories from misleading information. (page 281)

Question 39

Working memory

Answer 39

An active processing system that keeps different types of information available for current use. (page 258)