PSYC 3330 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Executive Functions, Interference Theory, Synapse

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3330
• Professor: Mark Fenske

Document Summary

Incidental forgetting: memory failures occurring without the intention to forget. Motivated forgetting: a broad term encompassing intentional forgetting as well as forgetting triggered by motivations, but lacking conscious intention. Ebbinghaus study using himself as the participant with the nonsense syllables: found a clear relationship between time and retention. Forgetting curve/ retention function: the logarithmic decline in memory retention as a function of time elapsed, first described by ebbinghaus: forgetting was rapid at first, but then levels off. However, the ability to recall a name in response to a person"s picture led to more forgetting. Accessibility/ availability distinction: accessibility refers to the ease with which a stored memory can be retrieved at a given point in time. Availability refers to the binary distinction indicating whether a trace is or is not stored in memory. Synaptic consolidation: requires structural changes in the synaptic connections between neurons. Factors that encourage incidental forgetting: passage of time as a cause of forgetting .