Chapter 6

Front 1

memory

Back 1

the retention of information or experience over time. Memory occurs through three important processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval

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encoding

Back 2

the process by which information gets into memory storage. When you are listening to a lecture, watching a play, reading a book, or talking with a friend, you are encoding information into memory.

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levels of processing

Back 3

refers to a continuum from shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory.

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shallow processing

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ncludes noting the physical features of a stimulus, such as the shapes of the letters in the word mom.

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intermediate processing

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involves giving the stimulus a label, as in reading the word mom.

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deep processing

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entails thinking about the meaning of a stimulus—for instance, thinking about the meaning of the word mom and about your own mother, her face, and her special qualities.

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elaboration

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refers to the number of different connections that are made around a stimulus at any given level of memory encoding. Elaboration is like creating a huge spider web of links between some new information and everything one already knows, and it can occur at any level of processing.

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retrieval

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takes place when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage.

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serial position effect

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the tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle.

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primacy effect

Back 10

refers to better recall for items at the beginning of a list.

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recency effect

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refers to better recall for items at the end of the list.

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autobiographical memory

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special form of episodic memory, is a person's recollections of his or her life experiences

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flashbulb memory

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the memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events. Perhaps you can remember, for example, where you were when you first heard of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

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motivated forgetting

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occurs when individuals forget something because it is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering is intolerable (Fujiwara, Levine, & Anderson, 2008). This type of forgetting may be a consequence of the emotional trauma experienced by victims of rape or physical abuse, war veterans, and survivors of earthquakes, plane crashes, and other terrifying events.

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interference theory

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people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember.

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proactive interference

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occurs when material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material learned later (Hedden & Yoon, 2006). Remember that pro- means “forward in time.” For example, suppose you had a good friend 10 years ago named Prudence and that last night you met someone named Patience.

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retroactive intererence

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occurs when material learned later disrupts the retrieval of information learned earlier (Delprato, 2005). Remember that retro- means “backward in time.”

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decay theory

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when we learn something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates. Decay theory suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting.

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tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon

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a type of “effortful retrieval” that occurs when we are confident that we know something but cannot quite pull it out of memory (Hanley & Chapman, 2008. In a TOT state we usually can successfully retrieve characteristics of the word, such as the first letter and the number of syllables, but not the word itself.

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retrospective memory

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remembering the past

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prospective memory

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involves remembering information about doing something in the future; it includes memory for intentions (MacKinlay, Kliegel, & Mäntylä, 2009; Meeks & Marsh, 2009). Prospective memory includes both timing—when we have to do something—and content—what we have to do.

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time-based prospective memory

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our intention to engage in a given behavior after a specified amount of time has gone by, such as an intention to make a phone call to someone in one hour.

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event-based prospective memory

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we engage in the intended behavior when some external event or cue elicits it, as when we give a message to a roommate when we see her. The cues available in event-based prospective memory make it more effective than time-based prospective memory

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amnesia

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the loss of memory

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anterograde amnesia

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a memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events (antero- indicates amnesia that moves forward in time) (Levine & others, 2009). What he learned before the surgery (and thus before the onset of amnesia) was not affected. For example, H. M. could identify his friends, recall their names, and even tell stories about them—if he had known them before the surgery.

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retrograde amnesia

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involves memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events (retro- indicates amnesia that moves back in time) (Collinson, Meyyappan, & Rosenfeld, 2009). Retrograde amnesia is much more common than anterograde amnesia and frequently occurs when the brain is assaulted by an electrical shock or a physical blow such as a head injury to a football player.

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storage

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encompasses how information is retained over time and how it is represented in memory.

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Atkinson-Shiffrin theory

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states that memory storage involves three separate systems: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory

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sensory memory

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holds information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses. Sensory memory is very rich and detailed, but we lose the information in it quickly unless we use certain strategies that transfer it into shortterm or long-term memory.

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short-term memory

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a limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it longer. Compared with sensory memory, short-term memory is limited in capacity, but it can store information for a longer time.

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working memory

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a three-part system that allows us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. Working memory is a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to help us understand, make decisions, and solve problems.

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phonological loop

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specialized to briefly store speech-based information about the sounds of language

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Visuospatial working memory

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stores visual and spatial information, including visual imagery.

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central executive

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ntegrates information not only from the phonological loop and visuospatial working memory but also from long-term memory.

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long-term memory

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a relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time. The capacity of long-term memory is staggering.

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explicit memory (declarative memory)

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is the conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts and events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated (Tulving, 1989, 2000). Examples of using explicit, or declarative, memory include recounting the events in a movie you have seen and recalling which politicians are in the president's cabinet.

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episodic memory

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the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings—basically, how we remember life's episodes. Episodic memory is autobiographical. For example, episodic memory includes the details of where you were when your younger brother or sister was born, what happened on your first date, and what you ate for breakfast this morning.

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semantic memory

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a person's knowledge about the world. It includes your areas of expertise, general knowledge of the sort you are learning in school, and everyday knowledge about the meanings of words, famous individuals, important places, and common things. For example, semantic memory is involved in a person's knowledge of chess, of geometry, and of who the Dalai Lama, Barack Obama, and Kate Winslet are.

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Implicit memory (nondeclarative memory)

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memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience. Implicit memory comes into play, for example, in the skills of playing tennis and snowboarding, as well as in the physical act of text messaging.

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procedural memory

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a type of implicit memory process that involves memory for skills. For example (assuming that you are an expert typist), as you type a paper, you are not conscious of where the keys are for the various letters, but your well-learned, nonconscious skill of typing allows you to hit the right keys.

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priming

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the activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster

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schema

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a preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information.

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script

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a schema for an event (Schank & Abelson, 1977). Scripts often have information about physical features, people, and typical occurrences. This kind of information is helpful when people need to figure out what is happening around them. For example, if you are enjoying your after-dinner coffee in an upscale restaurant and a man in a tuxedo comes over and puts a piece of paper on the table, your script tells you that the man probably is a waiter who has just given you the check.

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Connectionism, or parallel distributed processing (PDP)

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the theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons, several of which may work together to process a single memory