Psych

The mental process that enables us to acquire, retain, and retrieve information

Memory involves three process

three stages of memory

registers a great deal of info from the environment and holds it for a very brief period of time 2-3 sec or less. you quickly select which bits of info to pay attention to and discard the rest

what you are consciously aware of. maybe what you are working on. you may pull info from senory memory or even long term memory. some of this short term memory may be passed into long term mem some is discarded.

stores pontentially unlimited amount of info for up to a lifetime

the mental or verbal repetition of info in order to maintain it beyond the ususal 20 second duration of short term memory
if not rehearsed it will be lost
(phone numbers)

rehearsal that involves focusing on meaning of information to help encod and transfer into LTM.

how to perform different skills, operations, and actions. may not be sure exactly when you learned it; may not be able to explain how to do it; almost unconcious or automatic
(motor skills; action)

memory of specific events(events you have experienced)

memory of facts, names, definitions, concepts, ideas ( general facts ; knowledge)

memory with(concious) awareness - also know as declarative memory - you can declare the memory

memory without(unconcios) awareness nondeclarative memory
memory without concious recall

organizations in long term memory

process of accessing information stored in LTM

prompt or hint that helps trigger recall of stored memories

failure to recall info from LTM due to inadequate or missing cues

(common example Tip of the tongue)

infants do not remember until age 3

tendancy to have the (beginning and end)1st and last items in a series of a memory not the middle

whatever condition you were in when you learned or experienced the information it stores it in ( murder,engagement, pregnacy, birth of a child, death, car accident, something tragic,or great experience)

Types of retrieval

the recall of very specific images or details surrounding a vivid rare or significant personal event; details may or may not be accurate

they are more vivid but not any more accurate.

inability to recall information that was previously available.

identified basic patterns of forgetting: rapid loss of info then stable memories of the remaining info

1.encoding failure
2.retrieval cue failure
3.decay theory
4.retroactive interference and procactive
interfence
5.suppression and repression

the inability to recall specific info becasue of insufficent encoding of info for storage in LTM

it never gets stored in the first place, due to absent mindedness (not paying attention) or interference

forgetting to remember something in the future - you didnt forget "what" you forgot "when" the retreival cue wasnt there or it failed

the gradual fading of memories over time. evidence doesnt always support this theory

motivated forgetting that occurs unconsciously; a memory that is blocked and unavailable to conscoius

motivated forgetting that is consciously; a deliberate attempt to not think about and remember specific info

severe memory loss

loss of memory especially for episodic info backward acting amnesia

loss of memory caused by the inability to store new memories; forward acting amnesia

1. minimize preconception & biases while evaluating evidence
2. think ahead - determine the conclusion that can reasonably be down from the evidence
3. considering alternative explanations for research finding or others phenomena