Psychology Cheats Note

Encoding: involves forming a memory code. -Ex: when you form a memory code for a word, you might emphasize how it looks, how it sounds, or what it means. - Encoding usually requires attention Storage: involves maintaining encoded information in memory over time. Retrieval: involves recovering information from memory stores. -Research issues concerned with retrieval include the study of how people search memory and why some retrieval strategies are more effective than others. Attention: involves focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events. - If you weren’t able to filter out most of the potential stimulation around you, you wouldn’t be able to read a book, converse with a friend, or even carry on a coherent train of thought Divided Attention: can have a negative impact on the performance of quite a variety of tasks, especially when the tasks are complex or unfamiliar - research suggests that the human brain can effectively handle only one attention consuming task at a time According to some theorists, these qualitative differences in how people attend to information are the main factors influencing how much they remember. Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart (1972) argue that different rates of forgetting occur because some methods of encoding create more durable memory codes than others do. Structural Encoding: is relatively shallow processing that emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus. -EX: if words are flashed on a screen, structural encoding registers such things as how the words are printed (capital, lowercase, and so on) or their length (how many letters). Phonemic Encoding: emphasizes what a word sounds like - involves naming or saying (perhaps silently) the words. Semantic Encoding: emphasizes the meaning of verbal input - it involves thinking about the objects and actions the words represent. Levels-of-Processing Theory: proposes that deeper levels of processing result in longer-lasting memory codes. -it has shown that memory involves more than just storage Elaboration (semantic): the linking of a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding -Ex: let’s say you read that phobias are often caused by classical conditioning, and you apply this idea to your own fear of spiders by analyzing how you were conditioned. Imagery: the creation of visual images to represent the words to be remembered -Allan Paivio (1986) points out that it is easier to form images of concrete objects than of abstract concepts. Dual-Coding Theory: holds that memory is enhanced by forming both semantic and visual codes since either can lead to recall. Motivation to Remember (MTR): When MTR is high at the time of encoding people are more likely to exert extra effort to attend to and organize information in ways that facilitate future recall. According to the most influential model; incoming information passes through two temporary storage buffers—the sensory store and short-term store—before it is transferred into a long-term store Sensory Memory: preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time, usually only a fraction of a second -allows the sensation of a visual pattern, sound, or touch to linger for a brief moment after the sensory stimulation is over -EX: afterimage Short-Term Memory (STM): is a limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds Rehearsal: the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information -EX: if you get a phone number from directory assistance, you might recite it over and over until you can dial the number. Theorists originally believed that the loss of information from short-term memory was attributable purely to time-related decay of memory traces, but follow-up research showed that interference from competing material also contributes Capacity of Storage: Miller noticed that people could recall only about seven items in tasks that required the use of short-term memory. When short-term memory is filled to capacity, the insertion of new information “bumps out” some of the information currently in short-term memory Chunk: is a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit Working Memory: a modular system for temporary storage and manipulation of information. Phonological Loop: which represented all of short-term memory in earlier models - This component is at work when you use recitation to temporarily hold onto a phone number. Baddeley (2003) believes that the phonological loop evolved to foster the acquisition of language Visuospatial Sketchpad: that permits people to temporarily hold and manipulate visual images. -This component is at work when you try to mentally rearrange the furniture in your bedroom Central Executive System: It controls the deployment of attention, switching the focus of attention and dividing attention, as needed. Episodic Buffer: a temporary, limited capacity store that allows the various components of working memory to integrate information and that serves as an interface between working memory and long-term memory