Psychology Chapter on Memory

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Questions and Answers

What is a key characteristic of long-term memory as opposed to short-term memory?

  • It has a limited storage capacity.
  • It only retains sensory information.
  • Information is lost rapidly.
  • It allows for retrieval of stored information. (correct)

Which type of memory appears to remain intact in individuals with certain brain damage?

  • Long-term memory prior to the injury (correct)
  • Working memory during the injury
  • Sensory memory after the injury
  • Short-term memory before the injury

What effect did counting backward have on the recall of initial material in the study mentioned?

  • It increased retention of new information.
  • It enhanced recall significantly.
  • It prevented almost all the material from reaching long-term memory. (correct)
  • It had no effect on short-term memory.

How does the serial position effect influence memory recall?

<p>Early items in the list are often remembered better due to the primacy effect. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes the nature of short-term memory based on the provided content?

<p>It retains information only for a brief amount of time. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What conclusion can be drawn from the laboratory experiments regarding short-term memory?

<p>The decline in recall after a short duration suggests separate memory types. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why do people with brain damage have difficulty recalling new information after the injury?

<p>Short-term memory remains operational, but new entries cannot be stored. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the result of varying the time interval before the recall of initial material in the studies discussed?

<p>Recall significantly dropped after a 15-second delay. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What inference can be made from the observation that individuals retain memories prior to brain injury but struggle with new information afterwards?

<p>It suggests that there are distinct systems for short-term and long-term memory.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does the research involving counting backward illustrate the limitations of short-term memory?

<p>Counting backward diverts attention, preventing information from transferring to long-term memory and causing rapid decay of short-term recall.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role does the primacy effect play in the understanding of memory recall?

<p>The primacy effect highlights that items presented early in a list are often recalled better than those presented later.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What conclusion can be drawn from the findings on the recall rates after a 15-second interval?

<p>Recall rates drop to around 10 percent after 15 seconds, indicating that short-term memories deteriorate quickly without reinforcement.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In what way do the findings on memory support the existence of separate memory systems?

<p>The distinct patterns of recall in short-term versus long-term memory demonstrate that they operate through different processes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How can brain damage support theories about memory systems?

<p>Observations of brain-damaged individuals retaining old memories while failing to recall new ones provides evidence for separate memory mechanisms.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What implications do the studies on memory suggest about the encoding process?

<p>The studies imply that effective encoding is crucial for moving information from short-term to long-term memory.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is understanding the differences between short-term and long-term memory significant in cognitive psychology?

<p>Understanding these differences aids in developing strategies for improving memory and addressing memory impairments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Short-term memory

A type of memory that holds information for a short period, typically a few seconds.

Long-term memory

A type of memory with a vast capacity that stores information for extended periods.

Serial position effect

The tendency to better recall items at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list.

Primacy effect

The tendency to better remember items at the beginning of a list.

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Brain damage and memory

Certain brain injuries can affect long-term memory, but short-term memory might still function.

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Memory encoding

The process of transforming information into a form suitable for storage in long-term memory.

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Memory storage

The process of maintaining information in long-term memory for later retrieval.

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Retrieval from memory

The process of accessing stored information when needed.

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What is a key distinction between short-term and long-term memory?

Short-term memory holds information briefly, while long-term memory stores information for extended periods.

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What proves the distinction between short-term and long-term memory?

Brain damage studies show that people can lose the ability to form new long-term memories while retaining old ones, suggesting separate storage systems.

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Counting backward by threes

This task is used in memory experiments to prevent practice of the initial information, allowing researchers to see how much information transfers to long-term memory.

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What happens to information after 15 seconds?

After 15 seconds, recall of information drops to around 10%, suggesting that most information stored in short-term memory is lost without rehearsal.

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Why does the primacy effect occur?

The first items in a list have more time for rehearsal and encoding into long-term memory.

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What is like saving a file on a hard drive?

Information in long-term memory is coded and filed, ready to be retrieved when needed.

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Study Notes

Long-Term Memory

  • Long-term memory has almost unlimited capacity, like a large hard drive
  • Information is filed and coded for retrieval
  • Brain damage can result in loss of new information but old memories intact, showing distinct storage systems
  • Short-term memory still functions though, proving two different types of memory

Short-Term Memory

  • Short-term memory holds information briefly, like temporary files
  • Experiments using recall tasks (memorizing, reciting) reveal short timeframes for the information to stay in short-term memory
  • If distraction occurs, recall rate of short-term information drops rapidly after 15 seconds. Distraction prevents entry into long-term memory.

Serial Position Effect

  • Information recall varies depending on the list position
  • Primacy effect: items presented at the beginning of the list are better recalled
  • Recency effect: items later in the list (recent) are recalled better

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