Memory

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

fundamental cognitive mechanism that allows you to encode, store, and retrieve information

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

reflects data entry or how information initially enters into memory, a selective process that is highly dependent on attention

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

concerns how the record of memory is maintained over time; this record is not fixed and can be modified

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

the act of recovering stored information; dependent on retrieval cues, a key piece of information that has the potential to activate a memory in full

Question 5

Memory metaphors

Answer 5

video camera, filing cabinet, computer

Question 6

Data vs. memory

Answer 6

data = stored data is identical to inputted information, retrieved data is identical to inputted information;
memory = stored memory includes personal details and interpretations,
retrieved memory may be altered or lost

Question 7

Retention interval

Answer 7

the longer you wait to recall specific memory, the more likely to forget some of the details

Question 8

Recall test

Answer 8

generate as many items as you remember

Question 9

Recognition test

Answer 9

judge whether items are old or new

Question 10

Sensory memory

Answer 10

transient maintenance of perceptual and physical information from the very recent past; not limited by attention; decays extremely quickly

Question 11

Iconic memory

Answer 11

visual information represented by visual system

Question 12

Echoic memory

Answer 12

auditory information represented by auditory system

Question 13

Short-term memory

Answer 13

only some of the information in sensory memory is selected for further processing and enters short term memory

Question 14

Storage of short-term memory

Answer 14

if unrehearsed, selected information can be maintained in the short-term memory buffer for about 20 seconds;
when information is rehearsed, it can be maintained for longer periods of time;
number of items that can be stored is 7 +/- 2 times

Question 15

Chunking

Answer 15

organizing information into sets of familiar groups or categories of items; increases short-term memory

Question 16

Working memory

Answer 16

upgrade to the original conceptualization of short term memory; consists of three short-term buffers

Question 17

Phonological loop

Answer 17

temporary storage of 7 +/- 2 bits of phonological information for a short period of time;
maintains information that can be rehearsed verbally

Question 18

Visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 18

temporarily represents and manipulates visual information

Question 19

Episodic buffer

Answer 19

draws on the other buffers as well as on other stored long-term memories; engaged when remembering specific past episodes

Question 20

Central executive

Answer 20

coordinates and manipulates information that is temporarily maintained in the buffers;
allows working memory to be more flexible and controllable than short-term memory

Question 21

Long-term memory

Answer 21

only some memories make it to the long-term store;
information can be copied from short term to long term memory but this transfer is dependent on the rehearsal or encoding of that information

Question 22

Organization of long-term memory

Answer 22

new information seems to be organized according to prior knowledge;
tendency to recall related information is clusters or groups even if information was learned in random order

Question 23

Flow between short-term and long-term memory

Answer 23

flow between short term and long term memory is not unidirectional;
information is transferred from stored to conscious state when we are remembering the past

Question 24

Declarative memories

Answer 24

memory for factual information, explicit memories (prototypical conception)

Question 25

Semantic memories

Answer 25

general knowledge not tied to a particular place or time

Question 26

Episodic memories

Answer 26

specific memories of past personal experiences tied to a particular place and time

Question 27

Nondeclarative memories

Answer 27

learned actions and procedures, conditioned responses, implicit memories

Question 28

Patient H.M

Answer 28

had medial temporal lobes removed in an attempt to mitigate severe epilepsy; reduced epilepsy but caused memory deficit; experienced retrograde and anterograde amnesia

Question 29

Short-term memory and the brain

Answer 29

short term memory is established in the hippocampus; | this experience modifies connections among neurons to create an active link

Question 30

Long-term memory and the brain

Answer 30

hippocampus might also assist in coordinating the activation of distributed cortical regions that are involved in representing parts of the whole memory

Question 31

Serial position curve

Answer 31

memory performance is often best for items presented earlier or later in the list, and worst for items presented in the middle

Question 32

Primacy effect

Answer 32

performance is good at beginning of list; first to enter short term memory, most opportunity to be rehearsed and transferred to long term memory

Question 33

Recency effect

Answer 33

performance is good at end of list; the newest items replace the oldest items in the short term memory buffer remain active in short term memory

Question 34

Manipulating primacy and recency effects

Answer 34

increasing time between item presentations affects primacy effect; recency task is diminished for groups who had to perform a distracting test immediately following encoding process

Question 35

Levels of processing principle

Answer 35

the more we try to organize and understand the material, the better we remember it

Question 36

Deep vs. shallow processing

Answer 36

items encoded at a deeper level (more attention, more elaboration) result in longer lasting memory; items encoded at a shallower level (less attention, less elaboration) result in weaker lasting memory

Question 37

Self-reference effect

Answer 37

thinking about the information as it pertains to you; | deeper level than even semantic processing

Question 38

Encoding specificity

Answer 38

an item is not processed in isolation but together with the surrounding context; dependent on specificity of relation to the item

Question 39

Scuba divers experiment

Answer 39

scuba divers studying word lists underwater subsequently remember more words underwater than on dry land; memory is better for items that were encoded and retrieved in the same environment

Question 40

Drug use experiment

Answer 40

information encoded under the influence of marijuana was best recalled while in the same drug state; however, best overall performance was in the placebo-placebo condition

Question 41

Transfer-appropriate processing

Answer 41

proposes that memory is aided when similar processes are engaged at encoding and retrieval

Question 42

Forgetting

Answer 42

forgetting occurs when we lose the ability to retrieve previously stored information; allows current information to be remembered more effectively

Question 43

Forgetting curve

Answer 43

memory saving decrease greatly at the beginning, then decline more gradually over time

Question 44

Decay theory

Answer 44

forgetting occurs because memories fade with time; however it is not a well established theory

Question 45

Interference

Answer 45

associating a cue with different information

Question 46

Proactive interference

Answer 46

occurs if interfering information was learned prior to specific memory

Question 47

Retroactive interference

Answer 47

occurs if new information interferes with retrieval of old information

Question 48

Temporary forgetting

Answer 48

words that have induced tip-of-tongue state in the past are more likely to do so in the future; associated with error-prone retrieval process

Question 49

Repression

Answer 49

horrific memories can be repressed as a defense mechanism; | however, it is possible that it is an example of ordinary forgetting

Question 50

Elizabeth Loftus - false memories

Answer 50

participants had to remember a list of childhood memories, but one given was a false memory; by the third day, more than 20% of subjects believed that it was a true memory

Question 51

Memory errors

Answer 51

memories are not replicas of the past but rather reconstructions that can be shaped by related but misleading information

Question 52

Misinformation effect

Answer 52

creation of false memories by incorporating new erroneous information with an old memory

Question 53

Source monitoring

Answer 53

process by which we make attributions about the origins of memory

Question 54

Fluency

Answer 54

the ease with which an experience is processed; | based on familiarity vs. novel experiences

Question 55

Attribution

Answer 55

judgment tying together causes with effects

Question 56

False fame effect

Answer 56

misattribution generated to explain processing fluency; | due to delay, more difficult to attribute processing fluency

Question 57

False memory implantation

Answer 57

repeatedly imagining an event can lead to a false memory, even for very bizarre situations