What are some examples of everyday experiences that rely on the ability to remember?

Examples include experiences involving attitudes, personal goals, and perceptions of the type of person you are. Improvements in psychological well-being that result when people think about these experiences in a new way would not occur if they were unable to remember their attitudes, goals, and past experiences.

What is memory, and what do the cases of AJ and HM teach us about the varieties of remembering?

Memory is the capacity to retain knowledge. AJ and HM had exceptionally good (AJ) and poor (HM) abilities to retain some types of knowledge, but relatively ordinary abilities to retain other types of knowledge. This variability shows that there is more than one type of remembering.

What is sensory memory and what are two types of sensory memory?

Sensory memory is an ability to retain information that is based on the functioning of sensory systems. Two types of sensory memory are iconic memory, which is sensory memory of visual images, and echoic memory, which is sensory memory for sound.

What are short-term memory and encoding? What is the capacity of short-term memory?

Short-term memory is a system that enables people to keep a limited amount of information actively in mind for brief periods of time. Encoding is the process through which information is transferred from sensory memory to short-term memory. Contemporary evidence suggests that the capacity of short-term memory is four pieces of information.

Why do we forget information soon after it reaches short-term memory? What strategies can we use to reduce forgetting?

Two factors that cause people to forget information after it reaches short-term memory are decay, which is the fading of information from memory, and interference, which is a failure to retain information in short-term memory that occurs when material learned earlier or later prevents its retention. Both rehearsal and deep processing are strategies for reducing forgetting.

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How does working memory differ from short-term memory? What are its three components?

Working memory expands the original concept of short-term memory by recognizing that there are three components, each of which keeps information in mind for brief periods of time: the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and central executive.

What is long-term memory? How long does it last? How much can it hold? What are different types of long-term memory?

Long-term memory is a mental system that stores knowledge for extended periods of time and whose capacity is essentially unlimited. The different types of long-term memory are semantic memory, which is memory for factual information; procedural memory, which is memory of how to do things; and episodic memory, which is memory for events.

One type of episodic memory is autobiographical memory. As described in Cultural Opportunities, American children, who are from an individualist culture, had more specific autobiographical memories than did Chinese children, who are from a collectivist culture.

Once information enters long term-memory, does it automatically become unforgettable?

No, in fact, it can take hours or days for information in long-term memory to consolidate, that is, to change from a fragile state in which information can be lost, to a more fixed state in which the memory is available relatively permanently.

What two factors enable us to retrieve information from long-term memory?

They are retrieval cues, which are bits of information related to memories you are trying to recall, and context, that is, contextual cues from the situation or environment you were in when you originally encountered the information you are trying to remember.

What is a network?

A network is any collection of interconnected elements, such as interconnected bits of information in memory.

In a semantic network model of memory, what determines how closely any two concepts in the mind are related?

In a semantic network model, the meaning of concepts determines how closely they are related. Concepts with similar meaning are related more closely.

Are people generally aware of when ideas in their minds have been primed?

No, people are not always aware of when ideas have been primed, which means that information can influence our thoughts and feelings without our even knowing it.

What are the basic elements in a parallel distributed processing model of mind?

The basic elements are simple units of knowledge that do nothing other than turn on or off. Concepts are represented in a PDP system by patterns of activation in large numbers of these units.

How does an embodied cognition approach to memory differ from semantic network and PDP models?

In semantic network and PDP models, perceptual systems play no role in remembering; they are active only when people first experience an event. In the embodied cognition model, perceptual and motor systems are what enable people to think about and remember events. Embodied cognition can help us understand physical metaphors, whereas semantic network and PDP models cannot.

How do errors of memory show that human memory processes differ substantially from memory storage in an electronic device, such as a computer’s memory system?

Electronic devices record information passively, whereas human memory processes involve active thinking; unlike electronic devices, people combine different pieces of information creatively. When they do so, they sometimes exhibit errors of memory.

What is chunking and how does it increase the amount of information a person can store in short-term memory?

Chunking is a strategy for increasing the amount of information you can retain in short-term memory by combining different pieces of information into one “chunk.” If each chunk contains a few pieces of information, then the overall amount of information in short-term memory increases.

What are mnemonics and how do they improve memory?

Mnemonics are strategies for organizing information in long-term memory. The organization makes it easier to find information in memory when it’s needed, thereby improving memory.

What part of the brain is active when we concentrate on and manipulate information?

Contemporary evidence indicates that the frontal lobes are key to this working memory activity.

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What brain systems are critical for the formation of more permanent memories? How can they be enhanced?

The hippocampus, a neural system within the temporal lobes, is critical for memory consolidation—that is, for the formation of permanent memories. Consolidation occurs during long-term potentiation, when cell-to-cell communications become more efficient due to changes in the biochemical processes through which brain cells influence one another’s firing. The amygdala also takes part in this process, especially for the consolidation of information acquired during shallow processing. Research indicates that aerobic exercise can enhance memory by increasing the size of the hippocampus.

What brain system is critical for our ability to make cognitive maps?

The hippocampus is particularly critical for this ability, which is one of many spatial memory skills.

Does the way information is stored in the brain resemble the way a book is stored in a library?

No. A book is stored in a library in a single spot. By contrast, our memories for experiences are stored across multiple parts of the brain.