Phase II - Part IV - Tyler Orner

Implicit memory vs. explicit memory: Implicit memory is when a person has the ability to learn how to do something, whereas explicit memory is when a person cannot know and declare that they know. Therefore, implicit memory is usually referred to as procedural learning and explicit memory is considered declarative memory. People with amnesia have a good implicit memory but not a good explicit memory. For example, these victims will not be able to realize that they have done something repeatedly even if they are doing something over and over, but they will improve at whatever they are doing (implicit).

Hippocampus: The hippocampus is a part of the brain that is responsible for processing explicit memories. A limbic system structure, the hippocampus captures new explicit memories of names, images, and events. Damage to this system can disrupt some types of memory. Damage to the left hippocampus have trouble remembering verbal information but have no problem recalling visual designs and locations. For people who have damage to the right hippocampus, this situation is reversed.

Recall: Most people associate memory as recall, or the ability to retrieve information not in conscious awareness. Recall can be defined most simply as the measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information that they learned previously and indentify it without any help. A fill-in-the-blank test examines how much a student can recall.

Serial positioning effect: Serial positioning effect refers to the idea or concept that we usually remember the first and last terms in a list the best. This most likely occurs because the last terms are still in our short term memory and the first terms are the ones that have been practiced the most, while the terms in the middle are usually the ones that are most likely forgotten.

Recognition: Recognition is a measure of memory where the person only needs to indentify items previously learned. This is different than recall because in recognition, people only need to “recognize” information rather than needing to have to “retrieve” the information. A multiple choice test is a common example of testing recognition.

Relearning: Relearning is a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for the second time. If someone has learned a skill but then never uses it for an extended period of time, they may forget it. So when they need to use it again, they must relearn the skill. The amount of time they save learning this skill the second time is relearning. An example of this would be a person who learns chemistry in high school but then becomes an elementary teacher. They will not use the skill, but maybe the school will decide to teach chemistry in the grade that this teacher teaches, in which case he or she must relearn chemistry. Theoretically, the skill will be easier to learn and will take less time to learn the second time.

Priming: In order to retrieve a memory you must identify the “strand” that triggers the memory. This action is not always a conscious act but is necessary for the memory to be recalled. Therefore, priming can be defined as the activation of particular associations in memory.

Mere-exposure (not in 9): The mere-exposure effect is the phenomenon that frequency creates or breeds fondness. Repeated exposure to a certain novel stimulus will usually produce an increased liking of that stimulus.

4. Maslow states that the lowest level, or base level, of needs must be satisfied first before we can begin to think about the second level/tier of needs. In the first level is our food, water, air. Then we begin to move on up from there. This can be applied to learning and memory. If someone’s needs for a more basic level have not been satisfied then the learning and memory will not be fulfilled until that need is filled. To take it to the extreme, if someone is starving; they will first satisfy their need for food before they try to learn. Another example comes when someone suffers the loss of someone close to them. They will feel a need for lovingness and until this is satisfied they will be unable to learn. This happens in school. If a student loses a family member, often their grades decrease because they are trying to satisfy a more important need. Finally, in the wake of a tragedy like 9/11 people are unable to learn or remember. When it happened people who experienced the event had trouble recalling some details because they needed to satisfy their need for safety first. Even in third grade, our teachers stopped teaching and they made us read alone while they discussed what happen amongst the other teachers. They were fulfilling this other need first.