psych quiz chaps 7

• memory - retention of information over time
• paradox of memory - our memory can serve us well in some situations, but can be problematic in others
• our memories can fail us. during recall, memories are actively reconstructed, and remembering is like patchwork. they can be shaped by fuzzy recollections and also by culture
• you should be skeptical of the preciseness of vivid memories or dreams
• there are three systems of memory: sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory
• sensory memory - brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short-term memory
• there are two types of sensory memory, iconic/visual sensory memory and echoic/auditory sensory memory
• iconic/visual sensory memory - the ability to store visual information for a short period of time, due to short timing we can't access all of the info before it is gone
• eidetic memory/photographic memory - part of iconic memory, extended persistence of iconic images
• echoic/auditory sensory memory - the ability to remember audio stimuli for a brief bit of time, can last 5-10 seconds
• short term memory - memory system that retains information for limited durations
• working memory - under short term memory umbrella, information we are currently thinking about, attending to, or processing actively
• decay - fading of information from memory over time
• interference - loss of information from memory because of competition from additional incoming information
• hyperthymestic syndrome - memory of life events that is "too good"
• retroactive interference - interference with the retention of old information due to the acquisition of new information
• proactive interference - interference with the acquisition of new information due to previous learning of information
• chunking - organizing information into meaningful groups, allowing us to extend the span of our short-term memory
• rehearsal - repeating information, mentally or out loud, to increase duration of retention in short-term memory
• maintenance rehearsal - repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in short-term memory
• elaborative rehearsal - linking stimuli to each other in a meaningful way to improve retention of short-term memory
• levels of processing - the more deeply we process information, the better we tend to remember it
• long term memory - relatively enduring (from minutes to years) retention of information stored regarding our facts, experiences, and skills. can hold drastically greater amounts of info than short term memory
• permastore - a type of long-term memory that appears to be permanent
• primacy effect - tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well
• recency effect - tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well
• there are two types of long-term memory, which are explicit memory and implicit memory
• explicit memory - memories we recall intentionally and of which we have conscious awareness
• implicit memory - memories we do not deliberately remember or reflect on consistently
• there are two types of explicit memory, which are semantic memory and episodic memory
• semantic memory - our knowledge of facts about the world
• episodic memory - recollection of events in our lives
• there are two types of implicit memory, procedural memory and priming
• procedural memory - memory for how to do things, including motor skills and habits
• priming - our ability to identify a stimulus more easily or quickly after we have identified similar stimuli
• biology of memory - no evidence for a single physical place each memory is stored. certain areas of the brain are associated w/ specific memory types
• memory is likely the result of long term potentiation, which is the gradual strengthening of the connections among neurons from repeated stimulation
• examples of long-term potentiation:

  • more neurotransmitters are released from the axon
  • there are more receptor sites on the dendrite
• hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory, but it just holds short term memory before it goes to long term (doesn't store memory).
• amnesia - inability to form or retrieve memories of events due to an injury or trauma