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PSYC1001 - Chapter 7
Textbook Material
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Memory | A cognitive process that involves encoding, storing, and retrieving information and defines who we are, forms our sense of self, and is tied to our ability to function in the present. |
| Encoding | The forming of a memory code, which depends on attention (the focusing of awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events). |
| Selective attention | A filter that screens out most potential stimuli while allowing a select few into conscious awareness. Input may be filtered before meaning is processed, after, or during. |
| Multitasking | The switching of attention between two tasks rather than simultaneous processing, as the brain can only handle one attention-consuming task at once. Attempting two results in large reductions in memory performance. |
| Levels of Processing Theory | Deeper levels of processing stimuli result in longer-lasting memory codes. |
| Structural Encoding | The encoding of the physical structure of a stimulus (the first level of the Levels of Processing Theory). |
| Phonemic Encoding | The encoding of the sound of a word (the second level of the Levels of Processing Theory). |
| Semantic Encoding | The encoding of the meaning of verbal input (the third level of the Levels of Processing Theory). |
| Elaboration | An encoding process that involves linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding. |
| Imagery | An encoding process that involves the creation of visual images to represent the words to be remembered. It is easier to form images of concrete words than it is of abstract words. |
| Self-Referent Encoding | An encoding process that involves deciding how or whether information is personally relevant, which enhances recall by promoting additional elaboration and better organization of information. |
| The Dual-Coding Theory | Memory is enhanced by forming semantic and visual codes, since either can lead to recall. |
| Storage | The maintenance of encoded information in memory over time, divided into three memory stores: sensory, short-term, and long-term. |
| Sensory Memory | The preservation of information in its original sensory form for a brief time (fraction of a second), which allows the sensation of sensory patterns to linger after the stimulation is over, allowing additional time to recognize stimuli. |
| Iconic Memory | The sensory memory store for visual information. |
| Echoic Memory | The sensory memory store for auditory information. |
| Short-Term/Working Memory | A limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds. Its storage capacity was thought to be 7±2 items, but is now considered flexible rather than fixed, depending on the familiarity and complexity of stimuli. |
| Rehearsal | The process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information. Maintenance rehearsal keeps information in the consciousness, while elaborative rehearsal increases the probability of the information being retained for the future. |
| Chunks | A group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit that increase the capacity of short-term memory. Familiar chunks consume less space than unfamiliar chunks. |
| Working Memory | Another name for STM: a system that temporarily maintains and stores information by providing an interface between perception, memory, and action. Its capacity refers to one’s ability to hold and manipulate information in conscious attention. |
| The Phonological Loop | A component of working memory that represented the whole of short-term memory in earlier models, at work during rehearsal. |
| The Visuospatial Sketchpad | A component of working memory that permits people to temporarily holds and manipulate visual images, at work when you are trying to mentally map out a route. |
| The Central Executive System | A component of working memory that controls the deployment of attention as needed and the actions of other modules. |
| The Episodic Buffer | A temporary, limited-capacity store that allows the components of working memory to integrate information and serves as an interface between short-term memory and long-term memory (a component of working memory). |
| Long-Term Memory | An unlimited capacity store that can hold information over lengthy, indefinite periods of time. |
| Clustering | The tendency to remember similar or related items in groups, improving recall. |
| Conceptual Hierarchy | A multilevel classification system based on common properties among items (ex: continents level 1, countries level 2, cities level 3). |
| Schema | An organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object/event abstracted from previous experience with the object/event. |
| Semantic Network | A network consisting of nodes representing concepts, joined together by pathways that link related concepts. Spreading activation occurs when people think about a word and their thoughts naturally go to related words. |
| Flashbulb Memories | Unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events, providing potential evidence for the belief that long-term memory is permanent and forgetting only occurs from failure to retrieve memories. |
| Retrieval | The recovery of information from memory stores. The ability to retrieve information depends on its availability (whether it is present in the memory system) and accessibility (whether it is accessible at the desired time of retrieval). |
| The Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon | A common, universal experience marked by the temporary inability to remember something, accompanied by a feeling that is just out of reach. |
| Retrieval Cues | Stimuli that help gain access to memories and that help in combatting the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. For example, reliving the context in which information was stored can help to remember said information. |
| The Misinformation Effect | A person's recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading post-event information. This can also occur in their own memory reports (by telling a story) and even in their knowledge of basic facts. |
| Source Monitoring | The process of making inferences about the origins of memories. A source-monitoring error occurs when a memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source. |
| Forgetting | A process that occurs when factors inhibit our ability to remember information and that reduces competition among memories, contributes to the regulation of emotions, and helps us to generalize our experiences. |
| Recall (Measure of Retention) | A measure in studies of forgetting that requires participants to reproduce information on their own without any cues. |
| Recognition (Measure of Retention) | A measure in studies of forgetting that requires participants to select previously learned information from an array of options. |
| Relearning (Measure of Retention) | A measure in studies of forgetting that requires participants to memorize information a second time to determine how much time or how many practice trials are saved by having learned it before. |
| Saving Scores | The difference of time required between first learning information and learning it a second time, providing an estimate of participants' retention by relearning in studies of forgetting. |
| Retention Interval | The amount of time between the presentation of the information to be remembered and the measurement of forgetting in a study of forgetting. |
| Ineffective Encoding | The ineffective encoding of information, as a result of a lack of attention (ex: not semantically). |
| Pseudoforgetting | The appearance of information that was never actually stored in memory to begin with as forgotten. |
| Decay Theory | Forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time, specifically the physiological mechanisms responsible for memories. This is the case with sensory and short-term memory, but it is unknown whether this applies to long-term memory. |
| Interference Theory | Forgetting occurs because of competition from other material, greatest when interfering material is most similar to test material (ex: pairs of synonyms), and weakest when interfering material is least like test material (ex: pairs of words and numbers). |
| Retroactive Interference | The retention of previously learned information is impaired by new information, occurring during the retention interval. |
| Proactive Interference | The retention of new information is impaired by previously learned information, occurring before exposure to test material. |
| Retrieval Failure | The inability to retrieve information, potentially occurring if there is a mismatch between retrieval cues and the encoding of information attempting to be retrieved. |
| The Encoding Specificity Principle | The value of a retrieval cue depends on how well it corresponds to the memory code. |
| Repression | Also known as motivated forgetting, it occurs when distressing thoughts and feelings are buried in the unconscious, offering an alternative explanation for retrieval failure. |
| Memory Sin of Omission | The inability to bring a memory to mind. |
| Transience | A sin of omission defined as the simple weakening of memory over time. |
| Absent-Mindedness | A sin of omission defined as a memory failure due to a failure to pay attention because we are preoccupied with other things. |
| Blocking | A sin of omission defined as a temporary problem that occurs when we fail to retrieve an item of information, such as someone’s name. |
| Memory Sin of Commission | The presence of an incorrect or unwanted memory. |
| Misattribution | A sin of commission defined as the assignment of a memory to the wrong source. |
| Suggestibility | A sin of commission defined as the distortion of a memory because of the misinformation effect. |
| Bias | A sin of commission defined as inaccuracy from the effect of our current knowledge on our reconstruction of the past. |
| Persistence | A sin of commission defined as the presence of unwanted memories that you cannot forget, that haunt you. |
| Long-Term Potentiation | A long-lasting neural excitability at synapses along a specific neural pathway. |
| Organic Amnesia | The loss of memory as a result of a head injury. |
| Retrograde Amnesia | The loss of memories for events that occurred prior to the onset of amnesia. |
| Anterograde Amnesia | The loss of memories for events that occur after the onset of amnesia. |
| Consolidation | The gradual conversion of new, unstable memories into stable, durable memory codes stored in long-term memory. |
| The Medial Temporal Lobe Memory System | The entire hippocampal region and adjacent areas, responsible for the consolidation of memories. |
| Implicit Memory | Retention is exhibited on a task that does not require intentional recollection (ex: riding a bike). |
| Characteristics of Implicit Memory | Indirect, unconscious, and unintentional; mostly perceptual and motor skills; stored in the cerebellum along reflex pathways; best assessed with relearning; unaffected by amnesia, age, drugs, the retention interval, and interference. |
| Explicit Memory | The intentional recollection of previous experiences. |
| Characteristics of Explicit Memory | Direct, conscious, and deliberate; mostly facts and events; stored in the hippocampus and temporal lobe; best assessed with recall and recognition; affected by amnesia, age, drugs, the retention interval, and interference. |
| Declarative Memory System | The system that handles factual information such as words, definitions, and names, involved in conscious, effortful processes, and sensitive to amnesia (explicit memory). |
| Non-Declarative Memory System | The system that handles actions, skills, operations, and conditioned responses, involved in automatic, effortless processes, and insensitive to amnesia (implicit memory). |
| Episodic Memory System | Recollections of personal experiences that keep a record of stimuli you have experienced and the personal context in which you were exposed to them, allowing us to imagine ourselves in possible future situations. |
| Semantic Memory System | General knowledge that is not tied to the time when the information was learned (ex: the fact that Christmas is on December 25th). |
| Prospective Memory | Remembering to perform actions in the future (ex: remembering to walk the dog), which is critical for everyday functioning and declining with age. |
| Retrospective Memory | Remembering events from the past or previously learned information (ex: remembering who won a sports game last year). |
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archmall
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