Term Test 2 Flashcards
What are the three keys of memory?
Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval.
What does encoding refer to?
The process of transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory.
What does storage refer to?
The process of maintaining information in memory over time.
What does retrieval refer to?
The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored.
What are the three types of encoding processes?
- Semantic encoding
- Visual Imagery
- Organizational encoding
What is semantic encoding?
Semantic encoding is the process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory.
What do researchers say about semantic encoding?
Researchers have discovered that long-term retention is greatly enhanced by semantic encoding.
What does visual imagery encoding refer to?
Visual imagery encoding refers to the process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures.
Why does visual imagery encoding work so well?
- Visual imagery encoding does some of the same things as semantic encoding. When you create a visual image, you relate incoming information to knowledge already in memory.
- When you use visual imagery to encode words and other verbal information, you end up with two mental placeholders: a visual one, and a verbal one.
What does organizational encoding refer to?
The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items.
If you memorize a bunch of different words such as apple, cherry, table lion, couch, etc. You can encode them organizationally by separating them into categories such as fruits, animals, and furniture.
What does the evolutionary perspective say about encoding?
Memory mechanisms that help us survive and reproduce should be preserved by natural selection.
What is one advantage of encoding surival-related information?
- It draws on elements of semantic, visual, and organizational encoding. All three together produce high levels of subsequent memory.
What is sensory storage?
Sensory storage is a type of memory storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less.
What is iconic and echoic memory?
Iconic - a fast decaying store of visual information
Echoic - a fast decaying store of auditory information.
Sensory memory gives us a _______?
smooth perceptual experience.
What is short-term memory?
Short-term memory holds nonsensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute.
How do make sure information enters our short-term memory?
Attention. We need to attend to information by being attentive to what we are being told. If we get distracted and shift our focus, we tend to lose that previous information.
How do we strengthen our short-term memory?
Rehearsal and Chunking.
What does rehearsal refer to?
Rehearsal is the process of keeping the information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.
What are the common types of rehearsal?
Maintenance rehearsal - Repeating things over and over again.
Elaborative Rehearsal - a technique that involves thinking about the meaning of the term to be remembered, as opposed to simply repeating the word to yourself over and over.
What type of rehearsal is more efficient?
Elaborative rehearsal is more efficient.
What is the serial position effect?
This refers to the observation that the first few and last few items in a series are more likely to be recalled than the items in the middle.
What does the primacy effect refer to?
Refers to the enhanced recall of the first few items in the list
What does the recency effect refer to?
Refers to the enhanced recall of the last few items in the list
How many items can short term memory hold at once?
Short-term memory can hold up to 7 meaningful items at once.
What does chunking refer to?
Chunking involves combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks.
What is an example of chunking?
Restaurant servers who use organizational encoding to remember orders are essentially chunking the information.
When can chunking become difficult?
When you read a paper in a field you are not familiar with, or in a language, you are not familiar with it, it becomes harder to chunk.
What is working memory/short term memory?
Working memory refers to the active maintenance of information in short-term storage.
What are the subsystems of working memory?
There are two subsystems that store and manipulate information.
1. Visual images - (the visuospatial sketchpad)
2. Verbal Information - (the phonological loop)
Episodic buffer - integrates visual and verbal information from the subsystems
Central executive - coordinates the subsystems and the episodic buffer
What happens to individuals who struggle with working memory tasks?
These individuals have shown difficulty in learning new information, as well as performing in the classroom.
What is long-term memory storage?
A type of memory storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years.
You can access your long-term memories even after years of not having thought of those items.
What region of the brain is critical for putting new information into the long-term store?
The hippocampal region.
Individuals who have sustained damage to this region suffer from____?
Anterograde amnesia - the inability to transfer new information from the short-term storage to the long-term storage
Retrograde amnesia - the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before the injury or a particular date
What does consolidation refer to?
Consolidation is the process by which memories become stable in the brain.
Why is consolidation important?
Shortly after encoding, memories exist in a fragile state that can be disrupted easily. Once consolidation has occurred, they are more resistant to disruption.
What types of consolidation are there?
- Occurs over seconds to minutes.
2. Occurs over days, weeks, months, and years. This involves the transfer of information to long-term storage sites.
If a person suffered an injury from a car crash, and cannot recall what happened during those few seconds or minutes before the crash, the injury probably prevented______?
consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory.
How does memory get consolidated?
The act of recollecting, thinking, and talking about a memory helps contribute to consolidation. Even sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation.
What is reconsolidation?
Memories can be vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, thus requiring them to be consolidated again. This process is known as reconsolidation.
How does reconsolidation help in reducing traumatic memories?
If memory is disrupted during reconsolidation, it can modify the previous memory.
Where are the memories stored?
Memory storage depends on synapses. Research suggests that long-term storage involves the growth of new synaptic connections.
What are retrieval cues?
Pieces of external information associated with the stored information that helps us bring it to mind.
What is an example of a retrieval cue?
Perhaps you went to a party many years ago. One day while you are driving, a song comes on the radio that reminds you of the event.
What is the encoding-specificity principle?
Thie principle states that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded. It also states that human memories are more easily retried if external conditions at the time of retrieval are similar to those in existence at the time the memory was stored (external conditions).
What is state-dependent retrieval?
The process whereby information tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same physiological or psychological state that they were in during the time of encoding.
What is transfer-appropriate processing?
The process engaged during retrieval match the cognitive processes that were engaged when the material was encoded.
What is an example of transfer-appropriate processing?
Say you were studying for an exam and you chose to practice using multiple-choice questions, and your friend chose to re-read the textbook over to practice. When you got to the exam and it happened to be multiple-choice, it is likely you will do better than your friend.
How can retrieval improve or change your memories?
- Improvement - rather than re-reading twice, retrieving information more often can strengthen a retrieved memory.
- Disadvantage - retrieval from long-term memory can sometimes impair subsequent recall of related items.
What are the two main types of long-term memory?
Implicit and explicit memory.
What are explicit (declarative) memories?
Memories that consciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences.
What are implicit memories?
When past experiences influence later behaviour and performance, even without an effort or awareness of recollection.
Implicit memories are not consciously recalled, but their presence is implied by our actions.
What is procedural memory?
Procedural memory refers to the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or by “knowing how” to do things.
What is an example of procedural memory?
The ability to ride your bike, tie your laces, or play the guitar.
What is priming?
A form of implicit memory. Priming refers to an enhanced ability to think of a stimulus such as a word or an object as a result of recent exposure to that stimulus.
What are the types of priming?
Perceptual Priming - reflects implicit memory for the sensory features of an item
Conceptual Priming - reflects implicit memory for the meaning of a word or how you would use an object
What is an example of priming?
If you walked past a golden retriever on your way to school, and then at school, you were asked to name a dog breed, you will likely say golden retriever because it’s in your recent memory.
What are the types of explicit memories?
Episodic and semantic.
What are semantic memories?
A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world.
What are episodic memories?
A collection of past, personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place.
What determines what we remember?
The things that we remember, happen to be the things we pay attention to.
What are the 4 stages of recognition? (refer to photo)
- Stimulus
- Sensory Detection
- Recognition of Meaning
- Response
What is early-stage filtering?
Attention can filter out things that are not necessary before recognition of meaning.
What is late-stage filtering?
This filtering occurs after the recognition of meaning. At this stage, we have not fully processed the information, but we have recognized that it does have meaning. Usually occurs with human speech.
Explain the cocktail party effect
This effect explains the concept of selective attention
In a crowded place, you may be talking to someone, and you may think you are filtering out other information in the room, but if you suddenly hear your name, you immediately orient yourself to that sound,
The cocktail party effect is an example of ______?
Late-stage filtering. This is because you have recognized that there is a meaning of the stimulus.
