Memory Flashcards
sensory memory
- information is stored as a visual or auditory image
- visual images (iconic memory) lasts 0.5 seconds
- auditory images (echoic memory) lasts up to 4 seconds
- selective attentions allows certain information to pass into short-term memory
short-term memory
- processes ongoing information
- stores memories for a short duration (up to 30 seconds)
- capacity = 7 items, +/- 2
- divided into primary memory and working memory
primary memory
- the “holding tank” for small amounts of information that requires no manipulation
(example - repeating 5 digits in a row)
working memory
- the “holding tank” for information that needs to be manipulated
(example - repeating 5 digits in reverse order)
rehearsal
- deliberate repetition (usually acoustic) of information that enhances our short-term memory for it, or enhances its transfer to long-term memory
chunking
- transforming separate items into meaningful units in order to remember it better
recent memory
(secondary, intermediate)
- lasts around 2 weeks
remote memory
(tertiary, long-term)
- lasts 2 years or more
Zeigarnik effect
- when a person is trying to solve a problem involving recall and they come to an impasse, the brain will continue to work unconsciously until a solution is obtained
redintegration
- when some sort of stimuli rapidly unlocks a chain of memories
(example - a smell from childhood)
declarative memory is divided into…
- semantic memory + episodic memory
semantic memory
memories for facts, concepts, and other kinds of knowledge
episodic memory
(autobiographical)
memories for personally experienced events
retrospective memory
memories for events that occurred in the past
prospective memory
memories for events that will occur in the future
(example - remembering a dentist appointment)
explicit memory
memories that require conscious effort to retrieve
implicit memory
consists of memories that are recalled without conscious effort
long-term potentiation
- the physiological process by which short-term memories become long-term memories
- repeated stimulation of a synapse leads to chemical and structural changes in the dendrite of a receiving neuron
- involves enzymes called kinases
retroactive amnesia
- the loss of memories for events that occurred before and injury or disease
anterograde amnesia
- impairment in forming new memories following an injury or disease
retroactive interference
- when recently learned information interferes with the ability to recall material learned in the past
proactive interference
- when previously learned information interferes with the ability to learn or recall current material
method of loci
- forming a visual image of item’s on one’s list and putting each in a specific place as one mentally walks through a room
the peg-word system
- memorizing a set of ten visual images that can be pegs on which to hang ideas