Psychology Unit 7A Vocabulary

Memory and Its Types

• Memory is the persistence of learning over time, involving storage and retrieval of information.
• Flashbulb memory refers to vivid recollections of emotionally significant events.

Memory Processes

• Encoding is the processing of information into memory, often by extracting meaning.
• Storage entails retaining encoded information over time.
• Retrieval involves accessing information from memory storage.

Types of Memory

• Sensory memory captures immediate sensory information quickly but briefly.
• Short-term memory holds a limited amount of information temporarily, like a phone number.
• Long-term memory is a vast, relatively permanent storage area for knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working and Automatic Processing

• Working memory is actively processing incoming information and retrieving from long-term memory.
• Automatic processing occurs unconsciously, encoding incidental information like time and frequency.

Effortful Processing Techniques

• Effortful processing requires conscious attention and effort to encode information.
• Rehearsal is consciously repeating information to encode or maintain it in memory.
• The spacing effect indicates that distributed study enhances long-term retention over massed practice.

Recall and Recognition

• The serial position effect describes the tendency to remember the first and last items in a series best.
• Recall is retrieving information learned earlier, while recognition involves identifying previously learned items.

Memory Aids and Techniques

• Visual encoding refers to processing images, while acoustic encoding relates to sounds, especially words.
• Semantic encoding involves understanding meanings, enhancing memory retention.
• Imagery aids effortful processing, especially alongside semantic encoding.
• Mnemonics are techniques using vivid imagery and organizational devices to assist memory.
• Chunking organizes items into manageable units, facilitating easier recall.

Memory Systems and Duration

• Iconic memory is a brief sensory memory for visual stimuli lasting fractions of a second.
• Echoic memory retains auditory stimuli momentarily, allowing recall within a few seconds.
• Long-term potentiation describes increased synapse firing after rapid stimulation, linked to learning and memory.

Memory Disorders

• Amnesia refers to the loss of memory.
• Implicit memory is retained without conscious recollection, also known as procedural memory.
• Explicit memory involves facts and experiences that can be declared, known as declarative memory.

Important Brain Structures

• The hippocampus processes explicit memories for storage in the limbic system.

Memory Measurement

• Relearning assesses time saved when learning material again.
• Priming refers to triggering a response by previously encountered stimuli.
• Mood-congruent memory is the tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s current mood.
• Déjà vu is the sensation that one has experienced a current situation before, triggered by cues from previous experiences.