Chapter 6
Memory
Memory
The mental processes that enable us to retain
and sue information over time
Encoding
The process of transforming information into
a form that can be entered into and retained
by the memory system
Storage
The process of retaining information stored
in memory so that it can be used later in
time
Retieval
The process of recovering information so
that we are consciously aware of it.
Stage model of memory
A model describing memory as consisting of
three distinct stages; sensory memory,
short term memory, and long-term memory
Sensory memory
The stage of memory that registers
information from the environment and
holds it for a very brief period in time
Short-term memory / Working
Memory
The active stage of memory in which
information is stored for about 30 seconds
Long-term Memory
The stage of memory that represents the
long-term storage of information
Maintenance Rehearsal
The mental or verbal repetition of
information in order to maintain it beyond
the usual 30 –seconds duration of shortterm memory
Chunking
Increasing the amount of info that can be
held in short-term memory by grouping
related items together into a single unit
Elaborative rehearsal
Rehearsal that involves focusing on the
meaning of information to help encode and
transfer it to long-term memory
Levels of Processing framework
the view that info that is processed at a
deeper(more meaningful) level is more
likely to be remembered than info that is
processed at a shallow level
Procedural memory
Category of long-term memory that includes
memories of different skills, operations,
and actions
Episodic memory
Category of long-term memory that includes
memories of particular events
Semantic memory
Category of long-term memory that includes
memories of general knowledge of facts,
names and concepts
Explicit memory
Information or knowledge that can be
consciously recollected; also known as
declarative memory
Implicit memory
Information or knowledge that affects
behavior or task performance but cannot be
consciously recollected
Clustering
Organizing items into related groups during
recall from long-term memory
Semantic Network Model
A model that describes units of information
in long-term memory as being organized in
a complex network of association
Retrieval
The process of accessing stored information
Retrieval cue
A clue, prompt, or hint that helps trigger
recall of a given piece of information in
long-term memory
Retrieval Cue Failure
The inability to recall long-term memories
because of inadequate or missing retrieval
cues
Tip-of-the tongue Experience
A memory phenomenon that involves the
sensation of knowing that specific
information is stored in long-term memory,
but being temporarily unable to retrieve it
Recall
A test of long-term memory that involves
retrieving information without the aid of
retrieval cues; also called Free Recall
Cued Recall
A test of the long-term memory that involves
remembering an item of information in
response to a retrieval cue
Recognition
A test of long-term memory that involves
identifying correct information out of
several possible choices
Serial Position Effect
The tendency to remember items at the
beginning and end of a list better than
items in the middle
Encoding Specificity Principle
The principle that when the conditions of
information retrieval are similar to the
conditions of information encoding,
retrieval is more likely to be successful
Context effect
The tendency to recover information more
easily when the retrieval occurs in the
same setting as the original learning of the
information
State-dependent Retrieval
An encoding specificity phenomenon in
which information that is learned in a
particular drug state is more likely to be
recalled while the person is in the same
state
Mood Congruence
An encoding specificity phenomenon in
which a given mood to evoke memories
that are consistent with that mood
Flashbulb Memory
The recall of very specific images or details
surrounding a vivid, rare, or significant
personal event
Schema
An organized cluster of information about a
particular topic
Source Confusion
A memory distortion that occurs when the
true source of the memory is forgotten
Cryptomnesia
A memory distortion in which a seemingly
“new” or “original” memory is actually
based on an unrecalled previous memory
Misinformation effect
A memory-distortion phenomenon in which a
person’s existing memory can be altered if
the person I exposed to misleading
information
Forgetting
the inability to recall information that was
previously available
Encoding failure
The inability to recall specific info because
of insufficient encoding for storage in a
long term memory
Interference Theory
The theory that forgetting is caused by one
memory competing with or replacing the
other
Retroactive interference
Forgetting in which new memory interferes
with remembering an old memory;
backward-acting memory interference
Proactive interference
forgetting in which the old memories
interfere with remembering an old memory
Motivated Forgetting
the theory that forgetting occurs because an
undesired memory is held back from
awareness
Suppression
Motivated forgetting that occurs consciously
Repression
Motivated forgetting that occurs
unconsciously
Decay theory
The view that forgetting is due to normal
metabolic processes that occur in the brain
over time
Memory Trace
The brain changes associated with a
particular memory stored
Long-term potentiation
A long-lasting increase in synaptic strength
between two neurons
Amnesia
Severe memory loss
Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory, especially for episodic
information; backward-acting amnesia
Memory consolidation
The gradual, physical process of converting
new, long-term memories to stable,
enduring long-term codes
Anterograde amnesia
Loss of memory cause by the inability to
store new memories; forward- acting
amnesia
People
Hermann Ebbinghaus
German psychologist who originated the
scientific study of forgetting; plotted the
first forgetting curve, which describes the
basic pattern of forgetting learned
information over time
Eric Kandel
American neurobiologist who won the Nobel
Prize in 2000 for his work on the neural
basis of learning and memory in the sea
snail Aplysia
Karl Lashley
American physiological psychologist who
attempted to find the specific brain location
of particular memories
Elizabeth Loftus
American psychologist who has conducted
extensive research on the memory
distortions that can occur in eyewitness
testimony
George Sperling
American psychologist who identified the
duration of visual sensory memory in a
series of classical experiments in 1960
Richard Thompson
American psychologist and neuroscientist
who has conducted extensive research on
the neurobiological foundations of learning
and memory