Study Guide
King Ch. 7 Memory
Learning Goal One: Identify three fundamental processes of memory.
I. The Nature of Memory
A. Three stages of memory
1. encoding
2. storage
3. retrieval
Learning Goal Two: Explain how memories are encoded.
II. Memory Encoding
A. Attention
1. selective attention
2. divided attention
3. sustained attention
B. Levels of Processing
1. shallow level
2. intermediate level
3. deepest level
C. Elaboration
1. Elaboration is the extensiveness of processing at any of the three levels.
2. Elaboration helps in making a good memory because it adds to the distinctiveness
of “memory codes.”
3. The process of elaboration is also evident in the physical activity of the brain.
D. Imagery
1. Psychologist Alexander Luria studied S., who had an amazing memory.
2. S. could not only recall an unlimited amount of information, but he could also
recall various aspects of the environment around him when the memories were
originally stored.
3. S. could remember, fifteen years later, what the researcher was wearing the day he
was first tested.
Learning Goal Three: Discuss how memories are stored.
III. Memory Storage
A. Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory
1. Three systems are involved in memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and
long-term memory.
B. Sensory Memory
Study Guide
King Ch. 7 Memory
1. Sensory memory holds information only briefly before it is either lost or
transferred to short-term memory.
2. Echoic memory is auditory sensory memory.
3. Iconic memory is visual sensory memory.
4. George Sperling conducted the first research on sensory memory.
C. Short-Term Memory
1. Short-term memory has a limited capacity and usually holds information up to 30
seconds.
2. The memory span for holding information in short-term memory is 7 bits of
information + or – 2 bits.
a. Chunking and Rehearsal
b. Working Memory
1. phonological loop
2. visuospatial working memory
3. central executive
D. Long-Term Memory
1. Explicit Memory
a. Episodic Memory
b. Semantic Memory
2. Implicit Memory
a. Procedural Memory
b. Classical Conditioning
c. Priming
3. How Memory is Organized
a. Hierarchies
b. Semantic Networks
c. Schemas
d. Connectionist Networks
4. Where Memories Are Stored
a. Neurons and Memory
b. Brain Structures and Memory Functions
Learning Goal Four: Summarize how memories are retrieved.
IV. Memory Retrieval
A. Serial Position Effect
1. The primacy effect is better recall of information at the beginning of a list.
2. The recency effect is better recall of information at the end of a list.
B. Retrieval Cues and the Retrieval Task
1. Recall and Recognition
2. Encoding Specificity
3. Context at Encoding and Retrieval
Study Guide
King Ch. 7 Memory
a. context-dependent memory
C. Special Cases of Retrieval
1. Retrieval of Autobiographical Memories
2. Retrieval of Emotional Memories
a. flashbulb memories
3. Memory for Traumatic Events
4. Repressed Memories
5. Eyewitness Testimony
Learning Goal Five: Describe how the failure of encoding and retrieval are involved in
forgetting.
V. Forgetting
A. Encoding Failure
B. Retrieval Failure
1. Interference
a. proactive interference
b. retroactive interference
2. Decay and Transience
3. Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
4. Prospective Memory: Remembering (or Forgetting) When To Do Something
5. Amnesia
Learning Goal Six: Evaluate study strategies based on an understanding of memory.
VI. Study Tips from the Science of Memory
A. Organizing, Encoding, Rehearsal, and Retrieval of Course Content
1. Study accurate content
2. Organize for easy storage
3. Memorize or effectively encode the content
4. Rehearse the content
5. Test yourself-retrieve the content
Learning Goal Seven: Discuss the multiple functions of memory in human life.
VII. Memory and Health and Wellness
A. The Vital Role of Autobiographical Memory
1. Autobiographical memories allow people to learn from their experiences and to
store lessons they learned in life.
2. Autobiographical memories allow people to understand themselves and provide a
source of identity.
Study Guide
King Ch. 7 Memory
3. Autobiographical memories allow people to foster intimacy and to create and
deepen social bonds.
B. Keeping Memory Sharp
1. People that are mentally active have a better chance of not suffering as much from
the symptoms of Alzheimer disease, even when they have it.
2. The message from research on memory: “Use it or Lose it!”
3. People experience many events in everyday life that can make remarkable
memories, but only if their approach to these events is available and engaged.