McGraw-Hill OnlineMcGraw-Hill Higher EducationLearning Center
Student Center | Instructor Center | Information Center | Home
Career Opportunities
Glossary
Internet Guide
Study Skills Primer
Statistics Primer
Grade Summit
PowerWeb
Learning Objectives
Chapter Outline
Multiple Choice Quiz
Glossary
Flashcards
Internet Exercises
Interactive Activities
Crossword Puzzle
Web Links
FAQs
Around The Globe
For More Information
Feedback
Help Center


Psychology 5/e Book Cover
Psychology, 5/e
Lester M. Sdorow, Arcadia University
Cheryl A. Rickabaugh, University of Redlands
Memory


acronym  A mnemonic device that involves forming a term from the first letters of a series of words that are to be recalled.
constructive recall  The distortion of memories by adding, dropping, or changing details to fit a schema.
context-dependent memory  The tendency for recall to be best when the environmental context present during the encoding of a memory is also present during attempts at retrieving it.
decay theory  The theory that forgetting occurs because memories naturally fade over time.
declarative memory  The long-term memory system that contains memories of facts.
distributed practice  Spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of a motor skill over several sessions.
echoic memory  Auditory sensory memory, which lasts up to 4 or more seconds.
elaborative rehearsal  Actively organizing new information to make it more meaningful, and integrating it with information already stored in long-term memory.
encoding  The conversion of information into a form that can be stored in memory.
encoding specificity  The principle that recall will be best when cues that were associated with the encoding of a memory are also present during attempts at retrieving it.
engram  A memory trace in the brain.
episodic memory  The subsystem of declarative memory that contains memories of personal experiences tied to particular times and places.
explicit memory  Conscious recollection of general information or personal experiences.
eyewitness testimony  Witnesses' recollections about events, most notably about criminal activity.
flashbulb memory  A vivid, long-lasting memory of a surprising, important, emotionally arousing event.
forgetting  The failure to retrieve information from memory.
forgetting curve  A graph showing that forgetting is initially rapid and then slows.
iconic memory  Visual sensory memory, which lasts up to about a second.
implicit memory  Recollection of previous experiences demonstrated through behavior, rather than through conscious, intentional remembering.
information-processing model  The view that the processing of memories involves encoding, storage, and retrieval.
interference theory  The theory that forgetting results from some memories interfering with the ability to remember other memories.
levels of processing theory  The theory that the "depth" at which we process information determines how well it is encoded, stored, and retrieved.
link method  A mnemonic device that involves connecting, in sequence, images of items to be memorized, to make them easier to recall.
long-term memory  The stage of memory that can store a virtually unlimited amount of information relatively permanently.
long-term potentiation  A phenomenon related to the facilitation of neural impulses, in which synaptic transmission of impulses is made more efficient by brief electrical stimulation of specific neural pathways.
maintenance rehearsal  Repeating information to oneself to keep it in short-term memory.
massed practice  Cramming the memorization of information or the learning of a motor skill into one session.
memory  The process by which information is acquired, stored in the brain, later retrieved, and eventually possibly forgotten.
method of loci  A mnemonic device in which items to be recalled are associated with landmarks in a familiar place and then recalled during a mental walk from one landmark to another.
method of savings  The assessment of memory by comparing the time or number of trials needed to memorize a given amount of information and the time or number of trials needed to memorize it again at a later time.
mnemonic devices  Techniques for organizing information to be memorized to make it easier to remember.
overlearning  Studying material beyond the point of initial mastery.
pegword method  A mnemonic device that involves associating items to be recalled with objects that rhyme with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and so on, to make the items easier to recall.
proactive interference  The process by which old memories interfere with the ability to remember new memories.
procedural memory  The long-term memory system that contains memories of how to perform particular actions.
repression  In psychoanalytic theory, the defense mechanism that involves banishing threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind.
retrieval  The recovery of information from memory.
retroactive interference  The process by which new memories interfere with the ability to remember old memories.
schema theory  The theory that long-term memories are stored as parts of schemas, which are cognitive structures that organize knowledge about events or objects.
semantic memory  The subsystem of declarative memory that contains general information about the world.
semantic network theory  The theory that memories are stored as nodes interconnected by links that represent their relationships.
sensory memory  The stage of memory that briefly, for at most a few seconds, stores exact replicas of sensations.
serial-position effect  The superiority of immediate recall for items at the beginning and end of a list.
short-term memory  The stage of memory that can store a few items of unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds.
SQ3R method  A study technique in which the student surveys, questions, reads, recites, and reviews course material.
state-dependent memory  The tendency for recall to be best when one's emotional or physiological state is the same during the recall of a memory as it was during the encoding of that memory.
storage  The retention of information in memory.
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon  The inability to recall information that one knows has been stored in long-term memory.








Copyright2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.