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Memory
the nervous system's capacity to acquire and retain usable skills and knowledge
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Parallel Processing
processing information from different visual features at the same time by focusing on targets and blacking out distractors
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Cocktail Party Phenomenon
We can focus on one conversation in the midst of chaos, but a trigger stimulus (i.e. hearing your name) will cause us to switch focus
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Filter Theory
we have a limited capacity for sensory info, so we only let in the most important
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Change blindness
common failure to notice large changes in our environment
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Encoding
processing of info to be stored
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Storage
the retention of encoded representations over time that corresponds to some change in the nervous system that registers that event
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Retrieval
The act of recalling or remembering stored info to use it
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Modal Memory Model
three stage memory system: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory
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Sensory Memory
- sensory info that is stored briefly and close to its original sensory form
- (fraction of a second)
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Short-Term Memory
limited capacity memory system that holds information in awareness for a brief period
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Working Memory
active processing system that keeps different types of info available for current use
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Chunking
organizing information into meaningful blocks to make it easier to remember
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Central Executive
encodes info from sensory system and filters info that is important to be stored in long term memory
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Phonological Loop
encodes auditory info and is active when people try to remember words; "inner voice"
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Visualspatial Sketchpad
processes objects' features and location
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Episodic Buffer
holds temporary information about oneself
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Long-Term Memory
the relatively permanent storage of information
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Serial Position Effect
More likely to remember the first and last items on a list
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Implicit Memory
system underlying unconscious motives
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Explicit Memory
remembering specific information
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Declarative Memory
knowledge that can be declared
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Episodic Memory
memory for one's personal past experiences
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Semantic Memory
Memory for knowledge about the world
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Procedural Memory
implicit memory involving motor skills and behavioral habits
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Prospective Memory
remembering to do something at some time in the future
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Maintenance Rehearsal
repeating an item over and over
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Elaborative Rehearsal
thinking about an item conceptually or tying it to oneself
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Schema
hypothetical cognitive structure that helps us perceive, organize, process, and use information
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Retrieval Cue
anything that helps a person recall information from memory
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encoding specificity principle
any stimulus that is encoded along with an experience can later trigger memory for that experience
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Engram
Karl Lashley's idea of the physical site of memory storage
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Consolidation
a hypothetical process involving the transfer of contents from immediate into long-term memory
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Reconsolidation
neural processes involved when memories are recalled and then stored again for later retrieval
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Spatial Memory
memory for the physical environment; location of objects, direction, etc.
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posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
nightmares, instrusive thoughts, and flashbacks related to earlier trauma
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Transcience
forgetting over time
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proactive interference
prior info inhibits the ability to remember new info
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retroactive interference
new info inhibits the ability to remember old info
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blocking
the temporary intability to remember something that is known
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absentmindedness
inattentive or shallow encoding of events
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amnesia
deficits in long-term memory that result from a disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma
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Retrograde Amnesia
Condition in which people lose past memories; i.e. people, facts, events, etc
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Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories
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Flashbulb memories
vivid memories for the circumstances in which one first learned of a surprising, consequential, emotionally arousing event
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Source Misattribution
memory distortion that occurs when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with one memory
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Crytpomnesia
type of misattribution that occurs when one thinks he or she has come up with a new idea, yet has only retrieved a stored idea
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Suggestibility
development of biased memories when people are provided with misleading information
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Source Amnesia
showing memory for an event but cannot remember where you encountered the information
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Confabulation
false recollection of episodic memory
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Memory bias
the changing of memories over time in ways consistent with prior beliefs
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Mnemonics
strategies for improving memory
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