WGU Psychology 101Study Guide Memory Concepts and
Mechanisms Explained
1. (INFERRED) Question: What is sensory memory?
Answer: Very brief storage of incoming sensory information
(iconic-eye /echoic- ear ).
Explanation: Sensory memory holds impressions for fractions of a second so the
brain can select what enters short-term memory.
2. (INFERRED) Question: What is the capacity of short-term memory?
Answer: About 7 ± 2 items (chunking can expand usable capacity).
Explanation: Miller’s classic finding; chunking groups elements into meaningful
units, increasing effective capacity.
3. (INFERRED) Question: What distinguishes short-term memory (STM) and working
memory (WM)?
Answer: STM stores info briefly; WM stores and manipulates info for cognitive
tasks.
Explanation: WM has components (phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad,
central executive, episodic buffer).
Working Memory :
Compon What It Does Think of it as…
ent
Phonolo Stores and rehearses verbal and The “inner voice” in your head that
gical auditory information. repeats words or numbers to
Loop remember them.
Visuospa Holds visual and spatial information The “inner eye” that lets you picture
tial (shapes, scenes, location). objects and navigate spaces.
Sketchp
ad
Central Controls attention, makes The “boss” that decides what to
Executiv decisions, coordinates the other focus on and what to ignore.
e memory systems.
Episodic Integrates visual + verbal + long- The “story maker” that combines
Buffer term memory into a single information into one scene or event.
meaningful episode.
, 4. (INFERRED) Question: Define episodic memory.
Answer: Memory for personally experienced events (what, where, when).
Explanation: Episodic memories are autobiographical and tied to context and
time.
5. (INFERRED) Question: Define semantic memory.
Answer: General factual knowledge about the world (concepts, meanings).
Explanation: Semantic memory is context-free knowledge (e.g., capital cities,
word meanings).
6. Question (from screenshots): Which evidence disproves Aristotle’s assertion that
“thought is impossible without an image”?
Answer: People who cannot visualize images are still capable of thinking.
Explanation: Cases of aphantasia and other evidence show cognition can occur
without conscious imagery. (Aphantasia is the inability to visualize things mentally.
People with it know what an object looks like, but they can’t picture it in their
mind’s eye.)
7. (INFERRED) Question: What is the generation effect?
Answer: Generating information yourself (vs. reading it) improves memory.
Explanation: Active generation leads to deeper processing and stronger encoding.
You remember things better when you generate the answer yourself — because
active thinking creates stronger memory traces than passive reading.
8. (INFERRED) Question: What is the self-reference effect?
Answer: Information related to the self is remembered better.
Explanation: Self-related encoding increases elaboration and retrieval cues.
9. (INFERRED) Question: What is the Proust (odor) effect?
Answer: Odors can cue vivid autobiographical memories.
Explanation: Smell is strongly linked to emotion and hippocampal/limbic retrieval
pathways.
10. (INFERRED) Question: What is Bartlett’s repeated reproduction?
Answer: Recalling a story multiple times leads to systematic changes aligned with
cultural expectations.
EXAMPLE: Imagine you tell your friend about a dream:
Mechanisms Explained
1. (INFERRED) Question: What is sensory memory?
Answer: Very brief storage of incoming sensory information
(iconic-eye /echoic- ear ).
Explanation: Sensory memory holds impressions for fractions of a second so the
brain can select what enters short-term memory.
2. (INFERRED) Question: What is the capacity of short-term memory?
Answer: About 7 ± 2 items (chunking can expand usable capacity).
Explanation: Miller’s classic finding; chunking groups elements into meaningful
units, increasing effective capacity.
3. (INFERRED) Question: What distinguishes short-term memory (STM) and working
memory (WM)?
Answer: STM stores info briefly; WM stores and manipulates info for cognitive
tasks.
Explanation: WM has components (phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad,
central executive, episodic buffer).
Working Memory :
Compon What It Does Think of it as…
ent
Phonolo Stores and rehearses verbal and The “inner voice” in your head that
gical auditory information. repeats words or numbers to
Loop remember them.
Visuospa Holds visual and spatial information The “inner eye” that lets you picture
tial (shapes, scenes, location). objects and navigate spaces.
Sketchp
ad
Central Controls attention, makes The “boss” that decides what to
Executiv decisions, coordinates the other focus on and what to ignore.
e memory systems.
Episodic Integrates visual + verbal + long- The “story maker” that combines
Buffer term memory into a single information into one scene or event.
meaningful episode.
, 4. (INFERRED) Question: Define episodic memory.
Answer: Memory for personally experienced events (what, where, when).
Explanation: Episodic memories are autobiographical and tied to context and
time.
5. (INFERRED) Question: Define semantic memory.
Answer: General factual knowledge about the world (concepts, meanings).
Explanation: Semantic memory is context-free knowledge (e.g., capital cities,
word meanings).
6. Question (from screenshots): Which evidence disproves Aristotle’s assertion that
“thought is impossible without an image”?
Answer: People who cannot visualize images are still capable of thinking.
Explanation: Cases of aphantasia and other evidence show cognition can occur
without conscious imagery. (Aphantasia is the inability to visualize things mentally.
People with it know what an object looks like, but they can’t picture it in their
mind’s eye.)
7. (INFERRED) Question: What is the generation effect?
Answer: Generating information yourself (vs. reading it) improves memory.
Explanation: Active generation leads to deeper processing and stronger encoding.
You remember things better when you generate the answer yourself — because
active thinking creates stronger memory traces than passive reading.
8. (INFERRED) Question: What is the self-reference effect?
Answer: Information related to the self is remembered better.
Explanation: Self-related encoding increases elaboration and retrieval cues.
9. (INFERRED) Question: What is the Proust (odor) effect?
Answer: Odors can cue vivid autobiographical memories.
Explanation: Smell is strongly linked to emotion and hippocampal/limbic retrieval
pathways.
10. (INFERRED) Question: What is Bartlett’s repeated reproduction?
Answer: Recalling a story multiple times leads to systematic changes aligned with
cultural expectations.
EXAMPLE: Imagine you tell your friend about a dream:
