Human Cognition Chapter 5

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Retrieval

Back 1

the process by which stored information is brought back to conscious awareness

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Encoding

Back 2

the cognitive process(es) by which information is translated into mental or internal representation and stored

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Storage

Back 3

the mental “holding on” to information between the time it is encoded and the time it is retrieved

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Forgetting

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the processes that prevent information from being retrieved from a memory store

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Modal model of memory

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a theoretical approach to the study of memory that emphasizes the existence of different memory stores (for example sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory)

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Sensory memory

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a memory store thought to hold onto incoming sensory information for very brief periods of time: a different sensory memory store is hypothesized for each sensory system

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Short-term memory (STM)

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A memory store thought to hold onto incoming information for up to 20-30 seconds: it is thought to have a small capacity of up to 7 plus or minus to slots: aka primary memory

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Long-term memory (LTM)

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a memory store thought to have a large, possibly infinite capacity that holds onto oncoming information for long periods of time, perhaps permanently: also called secondary memory

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Serial position effect

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the phenomenon that items at the beginning or the end of a list of items are more easily recalled then are items from the middle of the list

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Primary effect

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the improvement in retention of information learned at the beginning of a task

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Recency effect

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the improvement in retention of information learned at the end of the task

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Rehearsal

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a mnemonic strategy of repeating information (either aloud or silently) to facilitate retention and later retrieval

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Icon

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a sensory memory for visual stimuli

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Echo

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a sensory memory for auditory stimuli

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Capacity

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the sum total of cognitive resources available at any given time

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Chunking

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the formation of individual units of information into larger units: this is often used as a means of overcoming short-term memory limitation

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Coding

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the form in which information is mentally or internally represented

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Retention duration

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the amount of time a memory trace remains available for retrieval

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Memory trace

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the mental representation of stored information

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Decay

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a hypothesized process of forgetting in which material is thought to erode, break apart, or otherwise disintegrate or fade

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Interference

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a hypothesized process of forgetting in which material is thought to be buried or otherwise displaced by other information but still exists somewhere in a memory store

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Proactive interference

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a phenomenon in which earlier learned material disrupts the learning of subsequent material

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Parallel search

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a search for information in which several stores or slots of information are simultaneously examined to match to the target

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Serial search

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a search for information in which several stores or slots of information are sequentially examined to match a target

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Self-terminating search

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a search for information that stops when a target is found

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Exhaustive search

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a search for information in which each item in a set is examined, even after the target is found

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Working memory (WM)

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a memory structure proposed by Baddeley, described as consisting of a limited-capacity work space that can be allocated, somewhat flexibly, into storage space and control processing: it is thought to consists of three components- a central executive, a phonological loop, and a visuospatial sketchpad

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Central executive

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the proposed component of working memory responsible for directing the flow of information and selecting what information to work with

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Phonological loop

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the proposed component of working memory responsible for subvocally rehearsing auditory information

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Visuospatial sketchpad

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the proposed component of working memory that maintains visual or spatial information

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Anterograde amnesia

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lack of memory for events that occur after a brain injury

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Retrograde amnesia

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amnesia concerning old events

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Long-term potentiation

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a process hypothesized to be a mechanism for long-term learning, in which neural circuits in the hippocampus are subjected to repeated and intense electrical stimulation, resulting in hippocampal cells that are more sensitive to stimuli than they were previously