Memory Outline

Memory

* Memory - persistence of learning over time

* Flashbulb memory - clear memory of emotionally significant event

* Long-term memory - permanent and limitless memory storage

* Short-term memory - activated memory that briefly retains a few items

* Encoding - processing of info into memory

1. How we encode

* Automatic processing - unconscious encoding of subsidiary and well-learned info

* Effortful processing - encoding requiring focus and effort

* Rehearsal - repetition of info to keep in consciousness or encode for storage

* Spacing effect - spaced study over time yields better long-term retention than cramming

* Serial position effect - tendency to recall items at the beginning and end of a list.

2. What we encode

* Encoding meaning

* Semantic encoding - encoding of meaning

* Acoustic encoding - encoding of sound

* Visual encoding - encoding of images

* Understanding something assists in its retention

* Self-reference effect - info relevant to oneself is more likely to be retained

* Encoding imagery

* Mnemonic devices - memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

* Organizing information for encoding

* Chunking - organizing items into familiar units, often automatic

* Hierarchies

* Forgetting as encoding failure

* Without effortful process, much of what we sense is not encoded and