Memory

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information. Memory can change and be manipulated by our brains (is adaptive).

Question 2

3 Foundations of Memory

Answer 2

Encoding (initial recording of info)
Storage (information saved for future use)
Retrieval (recovery of stored information).

Question 3

Three-Stage Model of Memory

Answer 3

There are three stages/types of memory that differ in span and duration. Information must travel through all of these stages in order to be remembered (Sensory, STM, LTM).

Question 4

Sensory Memory

Answer 4

Storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes. A snapshot of memory that stores sensory info. Unless it is transferred to other types of memory, it is lost. High precision. Between 1 sec (Iconic/visual) and 2-3 seconds (echoic/auditory)

Question 5

Short-term memory

Answer 5

Limited capacity memory system where information is retained for only as long as 30 seconds. Capacity for short term memory is 7 +- 2. STMs are either discarded or stored in LTM.

Question 6

Chunking

Answer 6

A method by which we can expand our STM span that involves organizing a large body of info into smaller, meaningful groups.

Question 7

Rehearsal

Answer 7

The repetition of info that has entered the STM, leading to memory consolidation. Could be maintenance rehearsal (repeating the stimuli in the same form), or elaborative rehearsal (information is considered and organized, link stimuli to each other in a meaningful way, focuses on understanding, not memory).

Question 8

Working Memory

Answer 8

A set of active, temporary memory stores that actively manipulate and rehearse information. Working memory contains a central executive processor that is involved in reasoning and decision-making. Like a mental whiteboard.

Question 9

Long-term memory

Answer 9

Continuous storage of information that can last decades or lifetimes. It has no limit

Question 10

The serial position effect

Answer 10

The idea that we tend to remember stimuli presented first (primacy effect) or most recently (recency effect) more than others. Also applies to stimuli that are odd or unique.

Question 11

Explicit/Declarative Memory

Answer 11

A conscious recollection of information like facts and events. Can be semantic and involve general knowledge, or episodic and involve the recollection of events in our lives.

Question 12

Implicit/Non-Declarative Memory

Answer 12

Memory in which the behaviour is affected by a prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience. Includes procedural memory (memory for how to do things), and priming (activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new info faster).

Question 13

Locations of Memory in the Brain

Answer 13

Hippocampus - Memory consolidation and initial encoding. Damage leads to inability to process new declarative memories.
Amygdala - Memories involving emotion (traumatic experiences, phobias).

Question 14

Long-term potentiation

Answer 14

When certain neural pathways become easily excited while a new response is being learned, causing the neurons to fire and wire together to increase synapses and efficiency in the brain.

Question 15

encoding failures

Answer 15

When we forget things or remember things incorrectly because we never attended to it in order to encode it in the first place. Examples include the next-in-line effect, stress. Can also happen due to own age bias and cross race bias.

Question 16

Self-Reference Effect

Answer 16

We have better memory for information that relates to us.

Question 17

Retrieval Failure

Answer 17

When we can’t recall a memory. Could be a result of decay, when memories fade over time, or interference (loss of information due to competition with new information).

Question 18

Proactive interference

Answer 18

The first information learned occupies the memory, leaving fewer resources left to remember new info.

Question 19

Retroactive Interference

Answer 19

More recent learning information overshadows older memories that have not made it to LTM yet.

Question 20

Amnesia

Answer 20

The loss of LTM that occurs as a result of disease, physical trauma, or psychological trauma. Can be anterograde (inability to remember new info after a certain point, damage to hippocampus), or retrograde (loss of memory for events that occured prior to the trauma).

Question 21

Retrieval

Answer 21

The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness. Involves recall (being able to access information without cues), and Recognition (being able to identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again).

Question 22

Levels of Processing Theory

Answer 22

The depth of information during exposure to the material is critical to the learning process. The greater the intensity of the initial process, the more likely we are to remember it.

Question 23

Encoding Specificity

Answer 23

Remembering something better when the conditions under which we retrieve the info are similar to the encoding conditions. Can be context-dependent, or state-dependent.

Question 24

Flashbulb memory

Answer 24

A record of an atypical and unusual event that has very strong emotional associations. Idea that memories that are exceptional are more easily retrieved. Some flashbulb memories are generational reference points.

Question 25

Schemas/Scripts

Answer 25

Organized knowledge structures or mental models that we have stores in memory that our brain uses to "fill in the gaps", sometimes resulting in distorted memories.

Question 26

Suggestibility

Answer 26

The effects of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of false memories.

Question 27

The Misinformation Effect

Answer 27

When post-event information alters or becomes incorporated into the original memory.

Question 28

Mandela Effect

Answer 28

When a large group of people misremember a specific fact or event due to memory fallibility and suggestibility.