Week 2 Memory

Question 1

What is memory?

Answer 1

The process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.

Question 2

What are the three main processes of memory?

Answer 2

Encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Question 3

What is encoding?

Answer 3

Transforming information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Question 4

What is storage?

Answer 4

Maintaining encoded information over time.

Question 5

What is retrieval?

Answer 5

Accessing stored information when needed.

Question 6

What are mental representations?

Answer 6

Internal representations of stimuli such as visual, verbal, or motor information.

Question 7

What are the three stores in the information processing model of memory?

Answer 7

Sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Question 8

What is sensory memory?

Answer 8

Very brief storage of sensory information after a stimulus disappears.

Question 9

What is iconic memory?

Answer 9

Momentary storage of visual information.

Question 10

What is echoic memory?

Answer 10

Momentary storage of auditory information.

Question 11

What is short-term memory (STM)?

Answer 11

A limited-capacity system that holds information for about 20–30 seconds.

Question 12

What is the typical capacity of short-term memory?

Answer 12

About 7 items.

Question 13

What is rehearsal?

Answer 13

Repeating information to keep it active in short-term memory.

Question 14

What is long-term memory (LTM)?

Answer 14

A memory system with potentially unlimited capacity and duration.

Question 15

What is the serial position effect?

Answer 15

The tendency to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than those in the middle.

Question 16

What is the primacy effect?

Answer 16

Better recall of items at the beginning of a list, linked to long-term memory.

Question 17

What is the recency effect?

Answer 17

Better recall of items at the end of a list, linked to short-term memory.

Question 18

What is working memory?

Answer 18

A system responsible for temporarily storing and processing information.

Question 19

What is the central executive?

Answer 19

The component of working memory that controls attention and coordinates other systems.

Question 20

What is the phonological loop?

Answer 20

The working memory system responsible for storing verbal information.

Question 21

What is the visuospatial sketchpad?

Answer 21

The working memory system responsible for visual and spatial information.

Question 22

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 22

A working memory system that integrates information from different sources.

Question 23

Which brain region is strongly associated with working memory?

Answer 23

The prefrontal cortex.

Question 24

What is declarative memory?

Answer 24

Memory for facts and events that can be consciously recalled.

Question 25

What are the two types of declarative memory?

Answer 25

Semantic memory and episodic memory.

Question 26

What is semantic memory?

Answer 26

Memory for general knowledge and facts.

Question 27

What is episodic memory?

Answer 27

Memory for personal experiences and events.

Question 28

What is procedural memory?

Answer 28

Memory for skills and how to perform actions.

Question 29

What is explicit memory?

Answer 29

Memory expressed through conscious recollection.

Question 30

What is implicit memory?

Answer 30

Memory expressed through behaviour without conscious awareness.

Question 31

What is recall?

Answer 31

Retrieving information from memory without cues.

Question 32

What is recognition?

Answer 32

Identifying previously learned information when it is presented.

Question 33

What is shallow processing?

Answer 33

Encoding based on physical characteristics of information.

Question 34

What is deep processing?

Answer 34

Encoding based on meaning of information.

Question 35

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 35

Memory retrieval is easier when the context at recall matches the context during encoding.

Question 36

What is context-dependent memory?

Answer 36

Better recall when learning and retrieval occur in the same environment.

Question 37

What is mood-congruent memory?

Answer 37

Better recall when emotional states during encoding and retrieval match.

Question 38

What is the spacing effect?

Answer 38

Improved memory when learning is spread over time.

Question 39

What are associative networks in memory?

Answer 39

Networks of interconnected nodes representing related information.

Question 40

What is spreading activation?

Answer 40

Activation of one memory node triggering activation of related nodes.

Question 41

What are schemas?

Answer 41

Mental frameworks that organise knowledge and influence encoding and retrieval.

Question 42

What are the seven sins of memory?

Answer 42

Transience, absent-mindedness, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, persistence, and forgetting.

Question 43

What is transience?

Answer 43

Memories fading over time.

Question 44

What is absent-mindedness?

Answer 44

Forgetting due to lack of attention.

Question 45

What is misattribution?

Answer 45

Confusing the source of a memory.

Question 46

What is suggestibility?

Answer 46

Memory distortion due to misleading information.

Question 47

What is bias in memory?

Answer 47

Distortions caused by current beliefs or attitudes.

Question 48

What is persistence?

Answer 48

Unwanted memories that repeatedly come to mind.

Question 49

What is forgetting?

Answer 49

The inability to recall previously learned information.

Question 50

What is decay theory?

Answer 50

The idea that memories fade over time due to disuse.

Question 51

What is interference theory?

Answer 51

Forgetting caused by competing memories.

Question 52

What is proactive interference?

Answer 52

Older memories interfering with learning new information.

Question 53

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 53

New information interfering with recall of older memories.

Question 54

What is motivated forgetting?

Answer 54

Forgetting information to avoid distressing memories.

Question 55

What is a flashbulb memory?

Answer 55

A vivid memory of an emotionally significant event.