Questions & Answers 2024/2025
Information-processing model - ANSWERSuses a computer metaphor to explain how people process
stimuli
Sensory memory - ANSWERSbrief & almost identical representation of the stimuli that exists in the
observable environment
Speed of processing - ANSWERShow quickly & efficiently the early steps in information processing are
completed
Processing resources - ANSWERSrefers to the amount of attention one has to apply to a particular
situation
Inhibitory loss - ANSWERSolder adults have reduced processing resources because they have difficulty
inhibiting processing irrelevant information
Divided attention - ANSWERSconcerns how well people preform multiple talks simultaneously (OA's have
difficulty with the actual tasks not spreading their attention)
Automatic processing - ANSWERSplaces minimal demands on attentional capacity & gets info to system
largely without being aware of it
Effortful processing - ANSWERSrequires all of the available attentional capacity
Encoding - ANSWERSprocess of getting information into the memory system
storage - ANSWERSmanner in which info is represented & kept in memory
, Retrieval - ANSWERSgetting info back out of memory
Working memory - ANSWERSactive processes & structures involved in holding info in mind &
simultaneously using it (processes right at the moment)
Rehearsal - ANSWERSprocess that information is held in working memory (repetition or meaningful
connections)
Implicit memory - ANSWERSinvolves retrieval of info without conscious or intentional recollection
Explicit memory - ANSWERSintentional & conscious remembering of info learned
Long-term memory - ANSWERSability to remember extensive amounts of info from a few seconds to a
few decades
semantic memory - ANSWERSlearning & remembering the meaning of words & concepts not tied to a
specific point in time
Episodic memory - ANSWERSgeneral class of memory having to do with the conscious recollection of info
from a specific point in time
Prospective memory - ANSWERSremembering to remember something in the future (time-based tasking
remembering tends to decline with age)
Autobiographical memory - ANSWERSinvolves remembering information & events from our own life (can
change & become fuzzy over time)
Flashbulb memories - ANSWERSresearchers label for memories of personally traumatic or unexpected
events
source memory - ANSWERSability to remember the source of a familiar event; also ability to determine if
event was real or imagined (OA's are less accurate)