Ap Psych Memory Vocabulary

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Memory

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the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

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Flashbulb Memory

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a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

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Encoding

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the processing of information into the memory system-- for example, by extracting meaning.

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Storage

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the retention of encoded information out of memory storage.

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Retrieval

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the process of getting information out of memory storage.

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Sensory Memory

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the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

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Short-term Memory

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activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

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Long-term Memory

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the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experience.

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Working Memory

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a newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming audiotry and visual-spatial information retrieved from long-term memory.

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Automatic Memory

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unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

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Effortful Processing

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encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

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Rehearsal

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the conscious repettition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.

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Spacing Effect

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the tendency for distributing study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

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Serial Position Effect

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Our tendency to recall best the first and last item in a list.

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Visual Encoding

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the encoding of picture images.

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Acoustic Encoding

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the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.

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Semantic Encoding

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the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

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Imagery

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mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

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Mnemonics

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memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

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Chucking

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organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

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Iconic Memory

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a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

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Echoic Memory

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a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled with 3 or 4 seconds.

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Long-term Potentiation (LTP)

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an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

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Amnesia

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the loss of memory.

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Implicit Memory/ Procedural Memory

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retention independent of conscious recollection.

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Explicit Memory

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memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." (Also called, declarative memory.)

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Hippocampus

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a neural center that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage.

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Recall

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a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-a-blank test.

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Recognition

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a measure of of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test.

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Relearning

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a memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.

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Priming

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the activation, often unconsciously, of particular assocations in memory.

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Deja Vu

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that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger a retrieval of an earlier experience.

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Mood-congruent Memory

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the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

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Proactive Interference

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the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

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Retroactive Interference

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the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

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Repression

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in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelins, and memories.

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Misinformation Effect

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incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

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Source Amnesia

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attributting to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (Also called misattribution.) This is at the heart of many false memories.