2 PSYCHOLOGY OF MEMORY - TEXTBOOK Flashcards
What is memory?
The ability to store and retrieve information over time
What are the three stages of (‘modal’ model of ) memory?
Sensory, short-term (working), long-term
What is sensory memory?
Where sensory information kept for a few seconds or less
What is short-term memory?
Where nonsensory information kept for up to a minute
What is long-term memory?
Where information can be kept for hours, days, weeks, years
What are the two types of sensory memory?
Iconic and echoic
What is iconic memory?
A fast-decaying store of visual information
How quickly do iconic memories decay?
1 second or less
What is echoic memory?
A fast-decaying store of auditory information
How quickly do echoic memories decay?
Within 5 seconds
How quickly do short-term memories decay without rehearsal?
After 15-20 seconds
What is rehearsal?
Process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it
How does rehearsal work?
Each repetition causes information to re-enter stem adding another 15-20 seconds
How many items can short-term memory hold?
7 +/- 2 meaningful items
How can we trick the short-term memory into holding more?
Chunking
What is chunking?
Combining small pieces of information into larger chunks that are more easily held by the STM
What is working memory?
Active maintenance and manipulation in short-term storage
What does the working memory include?
2 subsystems managed by the central executive and the temporary episodic buffer
What part of working memory briefly stores visual and spatial information?
Visuospatial sketchpad
What part of working memory briefly encodes mental representations of sounds?
Phonological loop
What is the phonological loop made up of?
Short term store and an articulatory rehearsal system
What part of working memory coordinates and controls plans of action and output?
Central executive attentional system
What part of working memory connects short and long term memory?
Episodic buffer
What is interference in terms of working memory subsystems?
When two separate tasks tap into the same subsystem
What is the result of interference?
Drop in accuracy and response time
In what two ways is long term memory distinct from short term?
Duration and capacity
What is the capacity limit of long term memory?
None - that we know of
What is consolidation?
The process whereby information must pass from STM into LTM in order for it to be remembered
What is anterograde amnesia?
No memory forward (inability to transfer new information from STM to LTM)
What is retrograde amnesia?
No memories backward (inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a certain date)
What was the effect on HM’s memory when the hippocampus was removed?
Anterograde amnesia
What are the three essential processes in remembering?
Encoding, storage, retrieval
What is encoding?
Process by which we transform perceptions, thoughts and feelings into enduring memory
What is storage?
Process of maintaining information in memory over time
What is retrieval?
Process of bringing to mind previously encoded and stored information
What is the most common misconception of memory?
Memory is a recording device like a camera - it is NOT; memories are constructed
What are schemas?
Mental models of the world
How do schemas aid encoding?
Contain knowledge that helps to encode new information into a meaningful context
What is the issue with schemas and encoding?
Schemas can cause distortion of actual memory to fit with a sensical one
What is elaborative encoding?
Process of actively relating new information to knowledge already held in memory
What is the effect of elaborative encoding?
Enhanced subsequent retention
What two parts of the brain are associated with elaborative encoding?
Inner left temporal lobe, lower left frontal lobe
What is visual imagery encoding?
Process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures
What is the method of loci?
Memory aid that associates information with mental locations
Why is visual imagery encoding effective?
Results in both verbal and visual placeholders
What is organizational encoding?
The act of categorizing information by noticing relationships between a series of items
What is a mnemonic?
A device for reorganizing information into more meaningful patterns to remember
What is long term potentiation (LTP)?
Enhanced neural processing that results from the strengthening of synaptic connections
What three properties of LTP indicate its role in LTM storage?
Occurs in several hippocampal pathways, induced rapidly, long-lasting
What is the result of blocking LTP in rats?
Rodent amnesia
Where is NMDA receptor located?
Hippocampus
What neurotransmitter activates NMDA?
Glutamate
What is the result of postsynaptic neuron being excited by NMDA?
Initiation of LTP
What is spatial memory?
Representation that encodes where something is
Where is spatial memory located?
In the hippocampi
What are the two ways in which retrieval occurs?
Recall and recognition
What is recall?
The capacity to spontaneously retrieve information from memory
What is recognition?
The capacity to correctly match information presented with contents of memory
What is a retrieval cue?
External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind
What is the encoding specificity principle?
A retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the conditions in which the information was first encoded
What is state-dependent retrieval?
The tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval
What is transfer-appropriate processing?
Memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when we process information in a way that is appropriate to the retrieval cues available later
What is the difference between implicit and explicit memory?
Implicit memories are not ‘recalled’ like explicit memories
When does explicit memory occur?
When people consciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences
When does implicit memory occur?
When past experiences influence later behaviour/performance despite individual being unaware that they are remembering them
What is procedural memory?
Gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or ‘knowing how to do things’
What is priming?
Enhanced ability to think of a stimulus as a result of recent exposure to that stimulus
How does priming work?
saves processing time’
What are procedural memory and priming a part of?
Implicit memory
Is implicit memory located in the hippocampus?
No
What is semantic memory?
A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world
What is episodic memory?
The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place
What is autobiographical memory?
Personal record of significant events of one’s life
What is the strongest type of autobiographical memory?
Flashbulb memory
What are flashbulb memories?
Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events
What type of memory allows us to ‘time travel’?
Episodic memory
What is transience?
Forgetting that occurs over the passage of time
Describe Ebbinghaus’s curve of forgetting.
Forgetting is rapid soon after learning event with increasingly less forgetting as more time passes
What is the serial position effect?
Enhanced memory for events presented at beginning and end of a series
What two processes make up the serial position effect?
Primacy and recency
What two forms of interference affect forgetting?
Retroactive and proactive interference
What is retroactive interference?
Situations where later learning impairs memory for information acquired earlier
What is proactive interference?
Situations where earlier learning impairs memory for information acquired later
What is a tip-of-the-tongue experience?
The temporary inability to retrieve information that is stored in memory, accompanied by the feeling that you are on the verge of recovering the information
What is blocking?
A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it
What is absentmindedness?
A lapse in attention that results in memory failure
What is divided attention?
Situations where individuals have to simultaneously monitor more than one source of information
What is notable about brain activity during automatic behaviours?
Low levels of prefrontal activity
What is retrospective memory?
Information learned in past
What is prospective memory?
Remembering to do things in the future
What are the two types of prospective memory?
Event-based, time-based
Which type of prospective memory is harder to remember?
Time-based (requires monitoring passage of time)
What is concussion?
Loss of consciousness ranging from moments to weeks
What type of amnesia is concussion associated with?
Retrograde amnesia for events just prior to concussion, concussion prevents encoding
What is fugue state?
Amnesia of one’s previous life and identity
What are fugue states usually a response to?
Coping mechanism for distressing life crises
What is childhood amnesia?
Inability to remember events from early years of life
What correlates with memory as we age?
General processing speeds and inhibition of irrelevant information
What is metamemory?
The subjective awareness of one’s own memory
What is feeling of knowing (FOK)?
The subjective awareness of information that cannot be retrieved from memory
What is source monitoring?
Recall of when, where and how information was acquired
What is memory misattribution?
Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
What is the primary cause of eyewitness misidentifications?
Memory misattribution
What are the three types of source monitoring?
Internal, external and reality source monitoring
What is déja vu experience?
Where you suddenly feel that you have been in a situation before even though you can’t recall any details
What may contribute to déja vu?
Memory misattribution, failure of inhibition of familiar long-term memories
What is déja vécu?
A confabulated memory where the individual is certain that the new experience is old
What are false memories?
Recollection of events that never happened, usually source monitoring error
What is false recognition?
A feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before
What can reduce false recognition?
Distinctive information, for example pictures
What is bias?
The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs and feelings on recollection of previous experiences
What are the three types of bias?
Consistency, change and egocentric bias
How does consistency bias influence memory?
Alters past to fit the present
How does change bias influence memory?
Exaggerates differences (in how we feel) between past and present
How does egocentric bias influence memory?
Distorts past to make us look better (self-enhancing)
What is suggestibility?
The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections
What is persistence?
The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget
Which part of the brain responds strongly to emotional events?
The amygdala
How does the amygdala influence memory storage?
Influences release of hormones that respond to emotionally arousing events
What are the 7 sins of memory?
Transience, blocking, absentmindedness, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, persistence
Which of the 7 sins are forgetting errors?
Transience, blocking, absentmindedness and persistence
Which of the 7 sins are distortions?
Misattribution, suggestibility and bias
