Exam 6: Section 3: Memory

The experience of déjà vu is a sign of extrasensory perception or clairvoyance.

There is no evidence for a specific memory function localized to one area of the brain.

Forgetting the true source of a memory, or attributing a memory to the wrong source, is called source confusion.

Implicit memory is also referred to as nondeclarative memory because it consists of memories of which we are not consciously aware.

The encoding specificity principle refers to the recall of very specific images or details surrounding a vivid, rare, or significant personal event, such as the day you graduated from high school.

For the majority of people, déjà vu experiences involve the common memory processes of absentmindedness and retrieval cue failure.

Explaining new material that you are learning out loud to others is an effective way to improve your memory of the material.

Today, researchers agree that decay is the primary cause of forgetting.

In the fMRI study described in the Focus on Neuroscience, "Assembling Memories," the act of perceiving a picture activated the visual cortex. However, the act of remembering the same picture activated the left prefrontal cortex, a completely different brain area.

The tendency to recall the final items in a list is called the recency effect.

Psychologist George Sperling demonstrated that the maximum duration of our visual sensory memory is about 30 seconds.

For most people, déjà vu experiences probably involve the common memory processes of source amnesia and inattentional blindness.

The basic idea of the semantic network model is that activating one concept, such as the word "dog," can trigger the activation of other concepts that are associated with it, such as the words "cat," "hound," or "pound."

In a study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus and co-researcher John C. Palmer, subjects first watched a film of an automobile accident, and then answered questions about the details of what they had seen. Loftus found that most of the participants' memories for the details of the accident were influenced by how the questions were worded.

Jake has always driven a car with a standard transmission. His new car has an automatic transmission but Jake still pushes his left foot down in search of a clutch. In this example, previously learned behavior is interfering with learning a new behavior, a process called proactive interference.

The most likely explanation for Ben's inability to remember any details of the accident in which he received a bad concussion is that he had repressed the memories.

When Aplysia learns a simple, classically conditioned response, structural and functional changes in the three neurons involved create a memory circuit that eventually becomes established as a long-term memory.

As Erica watched the small airplane start its engine, she could see the trailing, fading images of the propeller twirling. This is an example of visual sensory memory.

The average age of earliest autobiographical memories for Taiwanese and Chinese college students tended to be earlier than that for European American college students.

Although research has plainly shown that so-called "flashbulb memories" function in the same way as ordinary memories, people tend to be very confident that their flashbulb memories are highly accurate memories of the details of the particular event.