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Memory

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is an active system that receives information from the senses, puts the information into usable form, organizes it as it stores it away and then retrieves the information form storage

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Encoding

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the first process in the memory system is to get sensory information into a form the brain can use; set of operations that are used to convert sensory information to a form that is usable in the brains storage system

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Storage

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2nd step in memory is to hold on the information for some period of time; held for different lengths depending on the system of memory being used; can be held onto more or less permanently

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retrieval

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Biggest problem many people face with memory; getting the information they have out of storage

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Encoding

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Hearing a sound and the ears turn the vibrations in the air into neural messages from auditory nerve, which allows the brain to interpret the sound

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Information processing model

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most comprehensive and most influential model; focuses on the way information is handled or processed though different systems of memory; encoding, storage, retrieval are all seen as part of this model

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Parallel distributed processing

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Focuses on memory as a simultaneous process; derived from work in the development of artificial intelligence; related to connectionism, the use of artificial neural networks to explain the mental abilities of humans

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Sensory

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The first stage of memory, the point at which information enters the nervous system through the eyes and ears

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Short-term/working memory

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an incoming sensory message is important enough to enter consciousness; message moves from sensory memory to here; memories are held for 12-30 seconds; +/-7 item capacity

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Long term memory

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All information is placed to be kept more or less permanently; unlimited for all practical purposes

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Selective attention

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the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input; allows information to enter the STM

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Automatic encoding

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not having to put effort into the information that is stored; time, frequency, and space; enters into LTM with no effortful encoding

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Flashbulb encoding

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Automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has strong emotional associations for the person remembering it; become less complete over time

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Encode space

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place or location the event took place

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Encode time

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note the events that took place in the day

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Encode frequency

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keep track of things that happen to you

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Effort Processing

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Novel information

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Serial position effect

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Occurs when the first items and the last items in a list of information are recalled more efficiently than items in the middle of the list.

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Semantic network model

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concepts that are related in meaning are thought to be stored physically near each other in the brain rather than near objects that are not related

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semantic networks

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LTM memory is organized in the form of ____ ; nodes of related information spreading out from a central piece of knowledge

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Iconic sensory memory

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visual sensory memory; only last for a fraction of a second; pushed out very quickly by new information through masking; very important function in visual system is deciding if the information is important enough to be brought to the conscious

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Eidetic Imagery memory

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rare; the ability to access a visual sensory memory for a long period of time; more common in children & tends to go away by adolescence; not the same as photographic memory

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Echoic Sensory Memory

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the brief moment of something a person has heard; the "what" phenomenon; lasts 2-4 seconds and has smaller capacity than iconic memory

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Chunking

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Taking information and putting it into meaningful units; organizing items into familiar manageable units; Acronyms are often used

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Maintenance rehearsal

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most effective way Information can be rehearsed enough until it becomes long term memory; used to memorize poem, multiplication facts, social security numbers; memory will stay in STM until rehearsal stops

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Digit span

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Miller led an experiment that refers to the number of items that a person can hold in working memory; +/-7 items or 3-5 bits if strategy is not used

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Working memory

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an active system that processes the information present in short term memory; consist of 3 interrelated systems; relates to storage and manipulation of information

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Central exclusive

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"CEO" "big boss" that controls and coordinates the other two systems; acts as a interpreter for both the visual and auditory information

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Visual sketchpad

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A dancer planning moves out in her head will not only visualize the moves but also be most likely to verbalize the moves in her head

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Auditory recorder

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a kind of auditory action "recorder"

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Elaborative rehearsal

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a way of transferring information from STM to LTM by making that information meaningful in some way; connecting new information with something that is already well known

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Procedural/Implicit LTM

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ability to re-perform skills, tasks, habits; procedural skills typically unaffected by amnesia; stored in cerebellum

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Declarative / Explicit LTM

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Semantic and Episodic; the more conscious and verbal memory; does not develop until after age 2; stored in frontal/temporal lobes but diff location than STM

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Semantic memory

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type of declarative LTM that describes general knowledge that anyone has the ability to know; most of this information is learned in school by reading; awareness of the meaning of words, concepts, terms, math skills

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Episodic memory

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type of declarative LTM that is the personal knowledge that each person has of his daily life and personal history; autobiography memory; certain birthdays, anniversaries because they represent episodes from their lives

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Autobiographical memory

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memory for facts and events related to one's life; develop once children are able to talk about shared memories with adults

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Context- dependent learning

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When physical surroundings are encoded as retrieval cues for specific information; memories may be improved if the physical surroundings are applied when the person is trying to remember information

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State- dependent learning

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Memories formed in a particular psychological state will be easier to retrieve while in the similar state

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Prefrontal cortex and temporal lobes

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Short term memories are stored in ________

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Cerebellum

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Procedural memories are stored in________

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Frontal and temporal lobes (different location than STM)

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Semantic and Episodic memories are associated with _______

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Amygdala

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Memories associated with fear are stored in _____

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Hippocampus

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plays a vital role in the process of consolidating new long-term declarative memories

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Recognition

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the person has to match an item or piece of information to a stored image or fact; multiple choice test

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Recall

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requires much more effort; one must retrieve information using greater effort with few external cues; fill in the blank question

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Retrieval cues

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words, sounds, meanings, and other stimuli that are encoded at the same time as a new memory; the more of these, the easier to remember

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Misinformation Effect

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refers to the tendency of people who are asked misleading questions or given misleading information to incorporate that information into their memories for a particular event

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False positive

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occurs when a person thinks that they have recognized something or someone but in fact does not have that something or someone on their memory; identifying a criminal unjustly in eyewitness testimonies

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False memory

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creation of inaccurate or false memories through the suggestion of others, often while the person is under hypnosis; created in the brain in much the same way as real memories are formed; false memories more likely to be accepted if they are plausible

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Poor encoding / Encoding failure

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Non-attended sensory information is not encoded into memory

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Storage decay or disuse

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Short-term stored memories that are not used/poor durability will decay; long-term memories will be disused and fade away

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Retrieval failure

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Although the information is retained in the memory it can not be accessed; "tip of the tough phenomena"

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Forgetting curve

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graph that clearly shows that forgetting happens quickly within the first hour after learning and tapers off gradually; forgetting is greatest just an hour within learning;

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Proactive interference

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the tendency for older previously learned material to interfere with the proactive learning of new material

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Retroactive interference

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When new information interferes with the retrieval of older information

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Anterograde Amnesia

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the loss of memories from the point of injury or illness forward; difficulty remembering anything new; most common in people with senile dementia (severe confusion and mental confusion)

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Retrograde Amnesia

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hippocampus is injured in accident and people are unable to recall even the accident itself; loss of memory from the point of injury backwards; consolidation of new memory gets disrupted and loses everything it was working on

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Infantile Amnesia

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due to the implicit nature of infant memory, most people cannot remember anything prior to age 2 or 3

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consolidation

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the change that takes place in the structure of the brain when a memory is formed. Can take days to years to complete the process; interruption (like a seizure) results in total loss of the memory in process

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Imagery method of Loci

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method of memorizing information by placing each item to be remembered at a point along a familiar line

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Levels of processing model

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focuses on the depth of processing focusing on specific information; deeper processing, associated with longer retention

Chapter 6: memory

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