Download Chapter 7: Memory


The process by which we
encode, store, and
retrieve information
Encoding
Refers to the
process by
which
information is
initially recorded
in a form usable
to memory
Storage
The maintenance
of material saved
in the memory
system
Retrieval
Material in
memory storage
is located,
brought into
awareness, and
used

The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting
only an instant

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Echoic memory
– Stores
auditory
information
coming from
the ears
Iconic
memory
◦ Reflects
informatio
n from
our visual
system

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Memory store in which
information first has
meaning
May hold approximately 7
(plus or minus 2) chunks of
information
◦ A chunk is a meaningful
grouping of stimuli that can
be stored as a unit in shortterm memory

Holds information for
approximately 15 to 20
seconds
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Rehearsal
◦ The repetition of information
that has entered short-term
memory

Elaborative rehearsal
◦ Occurs when information is
considered and organized in
some fashion resulting in a
greater likelihood to be
transferred into long-term
memory
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Mnemonics
◦ Formal techniques for
organizing information in
a way that makes it more
likely to be remembered
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A storehouse of almost
unlimited capacity
Information in long-term
memory is filed and coded
so that we can retrieve it
when we need it

Working memory
◦ View of short-term
memory as an active
“workspace” in which
information is retrieved
and manipulated, and in
which information is held
through rehearsal
Central Executive Processor
(reasoning and decision making)
Visual store
Verbal store
(visual & spatial
information)
(speech, words, &
numbers)
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Associative module
◦ Memory consists of mental
representations of clusters
of interconnected
information

Priming
◦ Phenomenon in which
exposure to a word or
concept later makes it easier
to recall related information

Spreading activation
◦ Activating one memory
triggers the activation of
related memories

Explicit memory
◦ Intentional or conscious
recollection of information

Implicit memory
◦ Memories of which people
are not consciously aware,
but which can affect
subsequent performance
and behavior

Tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon
◦ Inability to recall information
that one realizes one knows

Retrieval cue
◦ Stimulus that allows us to
recall more easily
information that is located in
long-term memory

Levels-of-processing
theory
◦ Emphasizes the degree to
which new material is
mentally analyzed

Flashbulb memories
◦ Memories around a specific,
important, or surprising
event that are so vivid they
represent a virtual snapshot
of the event

Constructive process
◦ Processes in which
memories are influenced by
the meaning that we give to
events

Schemas
◦ Organized bodies of
information stored in
memory that bias the way
new information is
interpreted, stored, and
recalled

Memory in the courtroom
◦ Repressed memory
◦ False memory

Autobiographical memory
◦ Recollections of
circumstances and episodes
from our own lives

Decay
◦ Loss of information through
nonuse
◦ Assumes that when new
material is learned a
memory trace appears
(actual physical change in
the brain
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Interference
◦ Information in memory
displaces or blocks out other
information, preventing its
recall

Information learned earlier interferes with recall of
newer material

Difficulty in recall of information because of later
exposure to different material

Long-term potentiation
◦ Certain neural pathways
become easily excited while
a new response is being
learned

Consolidation
◦ Changes in the number of
synapses between neurons
as the dendrites branch out
to receive messages and
memories become fixed and
stable in long-term memory

Alzheimer’s disease
◦ An illness that includes
among its symptoms severe
memory problems

Korsakoff’s syndrome
◦ A disease afflicting longterm alcoholics
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Amnesia
◦ Memory loss that occurs
without other mental
difficulties
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Retrograde amnesia
◦ Memory is lost for
occurrences prior to a
certain event

Anterograde amnesia
◦ Loss of memory occurs for
events following an injury