Memory
Encoding
The persistence of learning over time through
the storage and retrieval of information
The process of putting information into the
memory system
Storage
The retention of encoded info over time. Can
either be sensory, short term or long term
Retrieval
The process of getting info out of the memory
system
Sensory Memory
The immediate and very brief recording of
sensory information
Short Term Memory
Activated memory that holds a few ideas
briefly.7=+/- 2
Long Term Memory
The relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
Automatic Processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental info, such as
time and space.
Effortful Processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious
effort
Rehearsal
The conscious repetition of info. Can either be
maintenance or rehearsal
Spacing Effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to
yield better long term retention than is achieved
through massed study
Serial Position Effect
Visual Encoding
Our tendency to recall best the last and first
items in a list
The encoding of picture images
Acoustic Encoding
The encoding of sound, especially the sound of
words
Semantic encoding
The encoding of meaning , including the
meaning of words
Imagery
Mental pictures
Mnemonics
Memory aids. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Iconic Memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
Echoic Memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory
stimuli
Long Term Potentiation
Flashbulb Memory
Amnesia
Implicit Memory
An increase in a synapse’s firing potential after
brief , rapid stimulation. Neural basis for
learning and memory.
A clear memory of an emotionally significant
event
The loss of memory
Skill memory. Occurs automatically Also called
procedural memory
Explicit Memory
Hippocampus
Memory of facts. Also called declarative
memory
Located in the limbic system. Helps process
explicit memories.
Recall
Example- fill in the blank tests.
Recognition
Example- multiple choice tests.
Priming
Mood Congruent Memory
The activation, often unconsciously, of a
particular association in memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are
consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
Proactive Interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the
recall of new info
Retroactive Interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the
recall of old info
Misinformation Effect
Source Amnesia
Karl Lashley
Incorporating misleading info into one’s
memory of an event
Right info, but wrong source
Did the experiment that showed that
learning/memory is not localized to one part of
the brain , instead all parts of the brain work
together
State Dependent Memory
Transience
Blocking
Misattribution
Absent Mindedness
Repression
Cerebellum
Info is most easily recalled when in the same
“state” of consciousness it was learned in.
When unused info just fades away if your don’t
use it. One of the 7 sins
When info has been encoded, but you can’t
retrieve it. One of the 7 sins
Confusing the source of the info. One of the 7
sins
Inattention to details produces encoding
failures. One of the 7 Sins
Freud’s idea that anxiety arousing thoughts can
be banished from consciousness
Where classical conditioning /associative
memories are storied
Cognition
The mental activities associates with thinking,
knowing, remembering and communicating.
Concept
A mental grouping or similar objects, events or
people
Prototype
A mental image or best example
Algorithm
A methodical, logical procedure that guarantees
that you will solve a problem
Heuristic
A simple, common sense, thinking strategy that
allows us to make judgments. It can lead to
errors
Insight
Confirmation Bias
A sudden and often novel realization of the
solution to a problem
A tendency to search for info that supports our
preconceptions and to ignore contradictory
evidence
Fixation
The inability to see a problem from a new
perspective
Mental Set
A tendency to approach a problem in one
particular way
Functional Fixedness
The tendency to think of things only in terms of
their usual function
Representativeness Heuristic
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how
well they seem to represent or match our
prototype
Availability Heuristic
Over confidence
Belief Perseverance
Estimating the likelihood of events based on
their availability in our memory system.
The tendency to be more confident than
correct.
Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the
basis on which they were formed has been
discredited
Framing
The way an issue is posed can dramatically
affect decisions and judgments
Phoneme
In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morpheme
In language, the smallest unit that carries
meaning
Grammar
The system of rules in language
Semantics
The study of the meaning
Syntax
Babbling Stage
The rules for combining words into
grammatically sensible sentences
Starts at 4 months- infant will spontaneously
utter various sounds at first unrelated to the
household language
One- word stage
Age 1 to 2- language development
Two- word stage
Starts at age 2- language development
Telegraphic Speech
”go car”, “ cat bad”
Linguistic Determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines
the way we think
Language Acquisition Device
LAD
Theory proposed by Chomsky, humans are
born with innate abilities to acquire
language.