Long-Term Memory Flashcards

Long-Term Memory Concepts

• Long-term memory (LTM) involves the storage of information for extended periods, potentially permanently, with an essentially infinite capacity.
• Explicit memory (declarative) refers to remembering facts and personal experiences, requiring conscious effort and declaration.

Types of Explicit Memory

• Semantic memory is the storage of factual knowledge, composed of personally deemed truths (e.g., Washington being the first president).
• Episodic memory refers to autobiographical recollections of personal experiences (e.g., memories of a first kiss).

Implicit Memory

• Implicit memory (non-declarative) encompasses procedural tasks and learned responses that do not require conscious awareness, like driving a car.
• Procedural memories involve cognitive and motor tasks with a physical component (e.g., ringing a bell for a tennis ball).

Memory and Emotion

• Emotional memories refer to emotions linked to specific recollections, influencing recall based on feelings associated with the memory.

Memory Processes

• Priming describes how past stimuli influence responses to new stimuli without conscious recollection of the earlier information.
• A person with amnesia experiences severe memory deficits often linked to brain injury or surgery.

Forms of Amnesia

• Anterograde amnesia prevents the formation of new explicit long-term memories after brain damage, preserving pre-existing memories.
• Retrograde amnesia disrupts memory retrieval for events prior to trauma, significantly affecting episodic memories.

Brain Structures and Memory

• Damage to the hippocampus results in difficulties with explicit memory formation.
• Cerebellar damage impacts implicit memory, affecting skills such as tying shoes or riding a bike.

Childhood and Memory Recall

• Infantile/child amnesia refers to the inability to recall memories before age three due to the underdevelopment of the hippocampus.

Memory Retrieval Techniques

• Free recall task requires participants to retrieve a list of items in any order after presentation.
• Recognition involves identifying presented information (e.g., multiple-choice tests).
• Recall is retrieving information without cues (e.g., short answer assessments).

Memory Effects

• Primacy effect highlights superior recall of early items in a list during free recall tasks.
• Recency effect demonstrates better recall for the last items in a list.
• Serial position effect explains the tendency to remember items based on their position within a sequence.

Test your knowledge on long-term memory concepts with these flashcards. Learn about different types of long-term memory, including explicit and declarative memory. Perfect for students studying psychology or cognitive science.