What are the 3 memory system?
Sensory memory
Short term memory
Long term memory
What is sensory memory; encoding?
-a brief imprint of what you have just experienced
-Registers an exact copy of what’s seen or heard
HUGE capacity, but not all that useful form remembering because it is BRIEF
What is short term memory?
a limited capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed material for up to 20 seconds
What is the “magical number” of how many separate entities you can remember?
7 (+/- 2)
What is chunking?
when you group information together to increase your functional capacity of remembering
What is maintenance rehearsal?
repetition to keep memory alive
What are the 3 levels of encoding?
Structural encoding
Phonemic encoding
Semantic encoding
What is structural encoding?
Encoding by what it LOOKS like
doesn’t stick around long
What is phonemic encoding?
Encoding by the way it SOUNDS
(takes a little longer to process so typically you remember it a bit longer)
What is semantic encoding?
Encoding by the meaning; takes more processing thus you remember it easiest
What is elaboration?
Making a connection with what you already know in order to encode
What is visual imagery?
When you create a mental image or visualize what you are trying to encode
What is long term memory?
Long term memory is an unlimited capacity stare that can hold information over lengthy periods of time
If long term memory is permanent than why do we sometimes have trouble remembering it?
We have the memory but can’r retrieve it
What are 2 types of retrieval cues?
Descriptive cues
Context cues
What are distinctive cues?
distinctive cures are flashbulb memories (an event that you can remember like a picture)
What are flashbulb memories?
an event that you can remember like a picture; example the black out, or september 11.
What are context cues?
cues within context (it is easier to remember something if you are in the same context that you encoded it in)
Context cues can either be ______ ______ or ________ ____
external location
internal state
How accurate is long term memory?
memory is a reconstructive process so sometimes we fill in the gaps with the wrong information
Define schemas.
Knowledge of things, places, or events based on experience
Help us in unfamiliar situations, but can distort or change our memories
We remember seeing what we expect to see
What is the misinformation effect by Elizabeth Loftus?
The misinformation effect happens when our recall of episodic memories (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual knowledge) becomes less accurate because of post-event information
What is source monitoring?
A source monitoring error is a type of memory error where a specific recollected experience is incorrectly determined to be the source of a memory
What are the 5 reasons for forgetting?
- encoding prolems
- decay theory
- interference
- retrieval failure
- emotion
What occurs when there is an encoding problem?
could be an issue of attention, could be that you encoded the info but you didn’t rehearse it so it disappears; could be that you encoded it superficially
What is decay theory?
Memories fade with time (happens naturally)
NOT FOR LONG TERM MEMORY
What occurs when there is interference?
other material in long term memory interferes with remembering
What are the 2 types of interference?
retroactive interference
proactive interference
Define retroactive interference.
the interference is acting on the old memories; the interference is the new memory
(for example you may have difficulty skiing inf you just learned how to snow board)
Define proactive interference.
The interference is acting on the new information
the memory of where I usually park is interfering with them memory of where I parked today
What is retrieval failure?
When you an’t retrieve information; the tip of the tongue phenomena
What is the “tip of the tongue” phenomena?
temporary inability to remember something that you know accompanied by a feeling that it is just out of reach
In what ways can emotion, like anxiety, effect your memory?
emotion can cause you to forget; motivated forgetting is a controversial freudian theory with week evidence
What are some ways of improving memory?
- use elaborative rehearsal (make it meaningful)
- organize information (easier to retrieve
- over learn the material (practice)
- distribute practice over time
- minimize interference
- use mnemonics