Memory/Attention

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

The first step in memory; the process by which information gets into the memory storage

Question 3

Divided Attention

Answer 3

Concentrating on more than one activity at the same time

Question 4

Sustained Attention (Vigilance)

Answer 4

The ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time

Question 5

Levels of Processing

Answer 5

A continuum of memory processing from shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory

Question 6

Elaboration

Answer 6

The formation of a number of different connections around a stimulus at any given level of memory encoding

Question 7

Storage

Answer 7

The retention of information over time and how this information is represented in memory

Question 8

Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory

Answer 8

Theory stating that memory storage involves three separate systems: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

Question 9

Sensory Memory

Answer 9

Memory system that involves holding information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses

Question 10

Short-term Memory

Answer 10

Limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds, unless the individual uses strategies to retain it longer

Question 11

Working Memory

Answer 11

Combination of components (including short-term memory, and attention) that allows people to hold information temporarily as they perform cognitive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to guide understanding, decision making, and problem solving

Question 12

Long-term Memory

Answer 12

A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time

Question 13

Explicit (Declarative) Memory

Answer 13

The conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated

Question 14

Episodic Memory

Answer 14

The retention of information about the where, when, and what of life’s happenings–that is, how individuals remember life’s episodes

Question 15

Semantic Memory

Answer 15

A person’s knowledge about the world, including his or her areas of expertise; general knowledge, such as of things learned in school, and everyday knowledge

Question 16

Procedural Memory

Answer 16

Memory for skills

Question 17

Implicit (Non-declarative) Memory

Answer 17

Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience

Question 18

Priming

Answer 18

The activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster

Question 19

Schema

Answer 19

Pre-existing mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information. Schemas from prior encounters with the environment influence the way individuals encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information

Question 20

Script

Answer 20

A schema for an event, often containing information about physical features, people, and typical occurrences

Question 21

Parallel Distributed Processing (Connectionism/PDP)

Answer 21

Theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons. Several of which may work together to process a single memory

Question 22

Retrieval

Answer 22

The memory process that occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage

Question 23

Serial Position Effect

Answer 23

The tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle

Question 24

Autobiographical Memory

Answer 24

A special form of episodic memory, consisting of a person’s recollections of his or her life experiences

Question 25

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 25

The memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events

Question 26

Motivated Forgetting

Answer 26

Forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering it is intolerable

Question 27

Proactive Interference

Answer 27

Situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material that was learned later

Question 28

Retroactive Interference

Answer 28

Situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier

Question 29

Decay Theory

Answer 29

States that when an individual learns something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates, suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting

Question 30

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) Phenomenon

Answer 30

Type of effortful retrieval associated with a person's feeling that he or she knows something (say and word or name) but cannot quite pull it out of memory

Question 31

Retrospective Memory

Answer 31

Remembering information from the past

Question 32

Prospective Memory

Answer 32

Remembering information about doing something in the future; includes memory for intentions

Question 33

Amnesia

Answer 33

The loss of memory

Question 34

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 34

A memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events

Question 35

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 35

Memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events

Question 36

Attention

Answer 36

The process of focusing awareness on a narrow aspect of the environment

Question 37

Selective Attention

Answer 37

The act of focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others