encoding

retention

·      the second stage of any memory task; refers to holding or storing information in memory

retrieval

·      the third stage of any memory task; refers to finding or accessing information in memory

recall

·      a memory retrieval task in which subjects must reproduce a memory item (or set of items) given the context in which the item occurred (e.g., “write down all the words from list #2”)

recognition

·      a memory retrieval task in which subjects are given a memory item and must decide whether that item occurred in a particular context (e.g,. “did the word ACCORDION occur in list #1?”)

priming

·      an enhancement of stimulus processing due to prior exposure to another stimulus.

savings in relearning

·      material learned once and then forgotten is learned more quickly a second time

serial position curve

·      experiments on free recall demonstrate better recall of the first and last few items on a list, and poorer recall of all the items in between.

primacy effect

·      increased memory for the first few list items in a free recall task.

recency effect

decay

·      the theory that forgetting occurs through the mere passage of time

displacement

·      the theory that forgetting from short-term memory occurs because new items crowd out old items in a limited-capacity storage space.

phonological loop

·      a component of working memory in Baddeley’s model, used for storing and operating on verbal representations.

·      confusions between similar-sounding items in verbal short term memory tasks.

·      reduced memory span for lists of words containing more syllables.

articulatory suppression

·      disruptive effect of repeating a word aloud while engaged in verbal short term memory tasks.

visuospatial sketchpad

·      a component of working memory in Baddeley’s model; used for storing and operating on visual representations.

serial search

·      retrieving one item from memory at a time.

parallel search

·      retrieving multiple items from memory at the same time.

change blindness

·      failure to notice changes in a visual scene due to limitations of visual short-term memory.

semantic memory

·      memory for facts and general knowledge.

episodic memory

·      memory for one’s own experiences.

procedural memory

·      skill or “how to” memory

declarative memory

·      explicit knowledge that can be consciously described (similar to explicit memory).

implicit memory

·      memory or knowledge that cannot be consciously recalled or described.

explicit memory

·      memories which can be consciously recalled or recognized (similar to declarative memory).

interference (theory of forgetting)

·      the theory that forgetting is caused by other memories impairing the retention or retrieval of the target memory.

paired associate learning (PAL)

·      a memory task in which subjects learn lists of items presented in pairs (e.g., DOG-26, CLOCK-59, etc.) and are later asked to remember the second (“response”) item in each pair when cued with the first (“stimulus”) item.

retroactive interference (RI)

·      the effect of later material in reducing memory for material learned earlier.

proactive interference (PI)’

·      the effect of earlier material in reducing memory for material learned later.

fan effect

·      the finding that memory retrieval is more difficult the greater the number of items associated with the cue item(s).

release from PI

·      a return to perfect performance in the distractor task that results when the category of stimulus materials is changed.

consolidation

·      the physiological process by which a temporary memory trace becomes transformed into a permanent long-term memory.

dual coding theory

·      Pavio’s theory that there are separate verbal and visual representations for knowledge.

propositional theory

·      argues that all knowledge is mentally represented as a type of verbal logic code.

·      a technique to increase memory performance.

·      a mere side effect, without causal effect; in the context of the imagery debate, the argument that the experience of mental imagery is a mere side effect of basically nonimaginal processes (e.g., propositional thought)

·      the idea that theories should contain as few assumptions as possible, all else being equal, a simpler theory is a better theory.

mental rotation

·      a task in which subjects are asked to continuously transform the orientation of a mental image, e.g., to see whether two objects in different orientations are acutally the same.

image scanning

·      a task in which subjects are asked to shift their focus from one part of an imagined stimulus to another part; the time required depends on the distance traversed.

defining features

·      the necessary features that are essential to a category.

family resemblance

·      the idea that categories are defined in terms of the relative similarity of members to each other, and their relative dissimilarity to members of other categories.

typicality effects

·      exemplars that are more average or normal for a given category are likely to be listed first when people are asked to name exemplars of that category, and are more rapidly verified as category members.

·      an idealized exemplar or model of a category abstracted from individual stimuli and stored in memory as a representation of that category.

·      a representation of a category that uses a slot-filler structure to store information about what type of object it is, what parts it has, and so on.

slot

·      elements of a schema that represent general features or components as variables that can be instantiated differently by different exemplars (e.g.,  make, model, and year in our “car” schema).

·      elements of a schema representation corresponding to specific values of abstract slots or attributes.

·      an expected value of a particular attribute (slot) within the schema for a given category, e.g., the expected color of elephants is gray.

·      the process of creating a prototype or other summary representation of a category from exposure to specific exemplars of the category.

property inheritance

·      inferring a property is true of a given category because it is true of its superordinate category.

Superordinate level

·      a more general or abstract level of classification, e.g., animal, plant, furniture

Basic level

·      an intermediate (and generally preferred) level of classification, e.g., dog, tree, chair.

Subordinate level

·      A more specific level of classification, e.g., beagle, maple, office chair.