Memory
all of the information in a person's mind and the mind's capacity to store and retrieve all of that information
consciousness
the experiencing of one's own mental events in a manner that one can report them back to others.
synonyms
consciousness and awareness are ________/
modal model of the mind
sensory memory---> working (short-term) memory---> long-term memory. useful beginning point for thinking about the mind, but it is far from complete. its greatest deficiency is its failure to account for unconscious effects of sensory input.
memory stores
sensory memory, working/short term memory, and long term memory
control processes
attention, rehearsal, encoding, and retrieval
sensory memory
some trace of sensory information stays in your information processing system for a brief period-less than 1 second for sights and only a few seconds for sounds- even when you're not paying attention to the input
working/short term memory
major workplace of the mind. seat of conscious thought- the place where all conscious perceiving, feeling, reasoning, and computing take place. information in this store is short and fleeting, lost within seconds if not attended to
long term memory
long term memory corresponds most closely to each person's average idea of memory- it is the stored representation of all that a person knows.
attention
the process that controls the flow of information from the sensory store to the working memory
encoding
the process that controls movement from working memory into the long term memory store
retrieval
the process that controls the flow of information from the long term memory into into the working memory- often called remembering or recalling
preattentive processing
all information that is picked up by the senses enters briefly into sensory memory and is analyzed to determine it's relevance to the current task and the overall importance for the individual's well being. sometimes obligatory.
cocktail party phenomenon
the ability to listen and to understand one person's voice while disregarding other equally loud or louder voices and noises nearby
echoic memory, echo
auditory sensory memory. brief memory trace for a certain sound is called the _______.
iconic memory, icon
visual sensory memory. brief memory trace for a certain image is called an ______.
priming
the activation, by sensory input, of information that is already stored in the long term memory
obligatory memory
impossible to suppress
stroop interference effect
the test where you have to say the colors and then the word, and then the color of the ink- proves obligatory memory
selective listening and viewing
we can effectively focus attention, screening out out irrelevant stimuli
phonological loop
responsible for holding verbal information
visuospatial loop
responsible for holding visual and spatial information
central executive
responsible for coordinating the mind's activities and for bringing new information into the working memory from the sensory and long term stores
span of short term memory
the number of items such as words, images, or digits that a person can keep in mind and report back immediately after a brief delay
pre frontal cortex
serves as the neural hub for the central executive
maintenance rehearsal
the process by which a person holds information in working memory for a period of time
encoding rehearsal
the process by which a person encodes information into the long term store
elaboration
to think deeply about an item is to do more than simply repeat it- it is to tie that item to a structure of information that already exists in long term memory
chunking
technique for remembering things- group items into categories, making them easier to remember than all alone. example- separating a grocery list into food dishes
hierarchical
related items are clustered together to form categories, related categories are clustered to form larger (higher order) categories, and so on
HM Henry Molaison
the most fully studied person in the history of psychology and neurology. underwent epilepsy surgery that left him unable to encode long term memory
amnesia
memory loss after some kind of brain damage
anterograde amnesia
the inability to process events that happen after the damage
retrograde amnesia
the inability to remember events that happened before the damage
consolidation
the process by which the labile memory form is converted into the stable form
labile form, stable
long term memories first exist in a _______, and then become gradually more ________ after consolidation.
associations
long term memories are not stored in isolation, but in networks in which item is linked to many others through connections known as ______.
retrieval clue
a stimulus or thought that primes a particular memory
association by contiguity
some concepts are associated because they have occurred together (contiguously) in the person's mind
association by similarity
items that share one or more properties in common are linked in memory whether or not they were ever experienced together.
schema
one's generalized mental representation or concept of any given class of objects, scenes, or events. example would be a livinf room.
scripts
schemas that involve the organization of events in time rather than of objects in space. example would be a birthday party
true
true or false: memories can be constructed and reconstructed.
explicit memory
the type of memory that can be brought into a person's consciousness. provides the content of conscious thought and is highly flexible
implicit memory
the type of memory that does not enter into the contents of consciousness
episodic memory
explicit memory from one's own past experiences- always have a personal quality
semantic memory
explicit memory that is not tied mentally to a particular past experience. includes knowledge of word meanings, plus all of the facts, ideas and schemas that constitute one's general understanding of the world
procedural memory
implicit memory that consists of motor skills, habits, and unconsciously learned rules
episodic and semantic
explicit memory includes two subclasses.
learning from classical conditioning, procedural memories, and priming
implicit memory includes two subclasses