Week 7 (Memory)

Question 1

Levels of processing

Answer 1

Different rates of forgetting occur due to
differences in the durability of memory codes

Question 2

Structural Encoding

Answer 2

Shallow processing
* Emphasizes the
physical structure
of the stimulus

Question 3

Phonetic Encoding

Answer 3

Intermediate
processing
* Emphasizes the
sound of the word

Question 4

Semantic Encoding

Answer 4

Deep processing
* Emphasizes
meaning of the
verbal input

Question 5

Elaboration

Answer 5

Linking a stimulus to other
information at the time of encoding
▫ Can explain differences in memory
performance when semantic
encoding is used

Question 6

Visual imagery

Answer 6

The creation of visual images to
represent words to be remembered

Question 7

Self-referent encoding

Answer 7

Deciding how or whether
information is personally relevant

Question 8

Dual coding theory

Answer 8

memory is enhanced by forming both semantic and visual codes

Question 9

Sensory Memory

Answer 9

Preserves information in its sensory form for a
brief period of time

Question 10

Short-Term Memory

Answer 10

A limited memory store that can maintain
unrehearsed information for up to ~20 s
▫ Can be maintained indefinitely with rehearsal (7 +/- 2 items)
Capacity can be increased via chunking (ex: phone numbers)

Question 11

Working Memory

Answer 11

More complex, modularized model of short-term
memory
* Limited capacity storage system that temporarily
maintains and stores info by providing an
interface between perception, memory, and
action

Question 12

Working Memory component: Phonological loop

Answer 12

stores auditory info

Question 13

Working Memory component: Visuospatial
sketchpad

Answer 13

spatial and visual information

Question 14

Working Memory component: Episodic buffer

Answer 14

interaction between working and LTM

Question 15

Working Memory component: Central executive

Answer 15

directs attention
organization
decision making
memory retreival

Question 16

Long-Term Memory

Answer 16

Unlimited capacity store that can hold
information for an indefinite amount of time

Question 17

Sematic networks

Answer 17

Knowledge organized in a system of nodes
representing concepts, joined together by
pathways that link related concepts

Question 18

Retroactive interference

Answer 18

new information impairs the retention of
previously-learned information

Question 19

Proactive interference

Answer 19

previously-learned information impairs
the retention of new information

Question 20

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 20

loss of
memories for events prior to
the onset of amnesia

Question 21

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 21

loss of
memories for events after the
onset of amnesia

Question 22

Hippocampus

Answer 22

indexes memory locations and is
activated during memory retrieval and
reconsolidation

Question 23

Implicit Memory

Answer 23

Memory that is apparent when
retention is exhibited on a task
that does not require
intentional remembering
* Mostly knowledge of
perceptual and motor skills
* Primary sites located in
cerebellum
* Unconscious, indirect access
* Largely unaffected by age,
drugs, length of retention, and
interference

Question 24

Explicit Memory

Answer 24

Memory that involves the
intentional recollection of
previous experiences
* Mostly knowledge of facts and
events
* Primary sites located in the
hippocampus and temporal
lobe
* Consciously, directly accessed

Question 25

Declarative memory

Answer 25

Handles factual information * Depends on conscious, effortful processes * Much more susceptible to decline

Question 26

Nondeclarative memory

Answer 26

Handles skills, actions, operations, and conditioned responses ▫ Contains procedural memories * Largely automatic, with little processing involved * Doesn’t decline much over retention interval

Question 27

Semantic memory

Answer 27

Contains general knowledge that is not tied to the time it was learned

Question 28

Episodic memory

Answer 28

chronological recollections of personal experiences * Can inform how we think about the future * Important for keeping records of our personal experiences

Question 29

Retrospective memory

Answer 29

Remembering events from the past, or previously-learned information

Question 30

Prospective memory

Answer 30

Remembering to perform events in the future ▫ Remembering to remember ▫ Important system, but it’s easy to forget to remember * Wide individual variation ▫ Declines with age

Question 31

encoding specificity principle

Answer 31

value of a retrieval cue depends on how well it corresponds to the memory code

Question 32

consolidation

Answer 32

hypothetical process involving conversion of new memories into stable memory codes stored in long-term memory

Question 33

conceptual hierarchy

Answer 33

multilevel classification system based on common properties among items

Question 34

hindsight bias

Answer 34

tendency to mold one's interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out

Question 35

decay theory

Answer 35

proposes that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time

Question 36

long-term potentiation

Answer 36

a long-lasting increase in neural excitability at synapse along a specific neural pathway