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Memory is best defined at

the persistence of learning through the storage and retrieval of information

The process of getting information in to memory is called


The process of retrieval refers to

getting information our of memory storage



Encoding that occurs with no effort or a minimal level of conscious attention is know as

automatic processing

While reading a novel at a rate of nearly 500 words per minute, Megan effortlessly understands almost every word. This ability highlights the importance of

automatic processing

Effortful processing can occur only with

conscious attention


the spacing effect

On the telephone, Dominic rattles off a list of 10 grocery items from Kyoto to bring home form the store. Immediately after hearing the list, Kyoto attempts to write down the items. She is most likely to forget the items

in the middle of the list

The process by which information is encoded by its meaning is called

semantic encoding

Ebbinghaus found that memorizing familiar words required much less effort than memorizing nonsense syllables. This best illustrates the advantage of

encoding meaning

One reason adults typically recall little of their first three years of life is that during infancy they were unable to verbally label their experiences. This best illustrates that the formation of long-term memories often requires

semantic encoding

The organization of information into meaningful units is called


The use of acronyms to improve one's memory of unfamiliar material best illustrates the value of


Tim, a third grader, learns the sentence "George eats old gray rats and paints houses yellow" to help him remember the spelling of geography. Tim is using

a mnemonic device

By presenting research participants with three rows of three letters each for only a fraction of a second, Sperling demonstrated that people have __________ memory


Iconic memory refers to


Sounds and words that are not immediately attended to can still be recalled a couple of seconds later because our ________ memory.


Peterson and Peterson asked people to count aloud backward after they were presented with three consonants. This study finds that _____ memories will quickly disappear without active processing and rehearsal.


The human capacity for storing long-term memories is

essentially unlimited

Exceptionally clear memories of emotionally significant events are called

mood-congruent memories

Unlike implicit memories, explicit memories are processed by the



the names of the 50 states in the United States


retrieval cues

Rehearsal is to encoding as retrieval cues are to


Information learned while a person is _______ is best recalled when that person is _________

drunk; drunk

Austin can't remember Jack Smith's name because he wasn't paying attention when jack was formally introduced. Austin's poor memory is best explained in terms of

coding failure

using nonsense syllables to study memory, Ebbing hays found that


Harry Bahrick observed that three years after people completed a spanish course, they had forgotten much of the vocabulary they had learned. This finding indicates that information is lost while it is

in storage

Two people learned nonsense syllables and then tried to recall them after up to eight hours has elapsed. Jenkins and Dallenbach observed that forgetting occurred least rapidly when the individuals spent their time


Learning a new ATM password may black the recall of a familiar old password. This illustrates

retroactive interference

Philippe has just completed medical school. In reflecting on his years of formal education, he is able to recall the names of all his instructors except the fifth grade teach who flunked him. According to Freud, his forgetting illustrates


The misinformation effect refers to the

incorporation of misleading information into one's memory of an event

When asked misleading questions after observing an accident, eyewitnesses often reconstruct their initial memories of the event. This best illustrates

the misinformation effect

Researchers asked university students to imagine certain childhood evens, including a false event such as breaking a window with their hand. They discovered that

people can easily distinguish between their own true and false memories

Those who are eager to use hypnosis to facilitate eyewitness recollections of the details of a crime should first be warned of the dangers of

the misinformation effect

Adults who have trouble remembering incidences of childhood sexual abuse have often been led by therapists to believe that their memory difficulties are due to




Participants in one experiment were given false accounts of their being lost in a shipping mall during their childhood. Many of these participants later falsely recalled vivid details of such an experience. This experiment best illustrated

the misinformation effect

Mentally recreating the mood that accompanied your original learning of course material is an effective way to activate

retrieval cues


facilitating the development of implicit memory

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