memory | The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information.
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sensory memory | The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant.
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short-term memory | Memory that holds information for 15 to 25 seconds.
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long-term memory | Memory that stores information on a relatively permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.
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chunk | A meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in short-term memory.
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rehearsal | The repetition of information that has entered short-term memory.
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working memory | A set of active, temporary memory stores that actively manipulate and rehearse information.
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declarative memory | Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, and the like.
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procedural memory | Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball; sometimes referred to as nondeclarative memory.
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semantic memory | Memory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are used to deduce other facts.
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episodic memory | Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or context.
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semantic networks | Mental representations of clusters of interconnected information.
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tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon | The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows - a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from long-term memory.
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recall | Memory task in which specific information must be retrieved.
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recognition | Memory task in which individuals are presented with a stimulus and asked whether they have been exposed to it in the past or to identify it from a list of alternatives.
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levels-of-processing theory | The theory of memory that emphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally analyzed.
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explicit memory | Intentional or conscious recollection of information.
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implicit memory | Memories of which people are not consciously aware but that can affect subsequent performance and behavior.
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priming | A phenomenon in which exposure to a word or concept (called a prime) later makes it easier to recall related information, even when there is no conscious memory of the word or concept.
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flashbulb memories | Memories centered on a specific, important, or surprising event that are so vivid it is as if they represented a snapshot of the event.
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constructive processes | Processes in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events.
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schemas | Organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled.
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autobiographical memories | Our recollections of circumstances and episodes from our own lives.
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decay | The loss of information in memory through its nonuse.
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interference | The phenomenon by which information in memory disrupts the recall of other information.
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cue-dependent forgetting | Forgetting that occurs when there are insufficient retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory.
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proactive interference | Interference in which information learned earlier disrupts the recall of newer material.
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retroactive interference | Interference in which there is difficulty in the recall of information learned earlier because of later exposure to different material.
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Alzheimer's disease | A progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities..
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amnesia | Memory loss that occurs without other mental difficulties.
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retrograde amnesia | Amnesia in which memory is lost for occurrences prior to a certain event.
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anterograde amnesia | Amnesia in which memory is lost for events that follow an injury.
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Korsakoff's syndrome | A disease that afflicts long-term alcoholics, leaving some abilities intact but including hallucinations and a tendency to repeat the same story.
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