414 Exam 4 flashcards
Long term memory
extensive storage capacity
lasts an extremely long time
LTM visual memories example
remembering what your childhood pet looks like
STM visual memories
remembering the image of an arrow you just saw
LTM auditory memories example
remembering that annoying song that was popular a few years ago
STM auditory memories example
remembering the sentence someone just said
LTM semantic memories example
remembering the plot of harry potter
STM semantic memories example
categorizing a set of words you just heard
Henry Molaison
temporal lobe removed (hippocampus)
no longer able to form long term memories (only able to remember 30 seconds)
STM and pre surgery mems stayed intact
Clive Wearing
medial temporal lobe removed
could not form new memories but piano playing intact
KF
digit span reduced to 2
LTM unaffected; could
remember old mems and still form new ones
Hippocampus
fMRI evidence shows it is also involved STM
Explicit/ declarative
things you can actually remember, say, describe
Explicit memory examples
trip to the zoo
math facts
the difference btwn cat and mouse
Implicit/ No declarative memories
skills or unconscious
processes affecting behavior
Implicit memory examples
Priming
Knowing how to ride a bike
salivating when someone mentions food
Episodic memory
“episode’
specific events that occurred at a particular time and place
based on personal experience
single exposure
semantic memory
‘knowing’ something
memory for facts
abstract, formal, organized
repeated exposure
Kent Chochrane
damaged hippocampus
no episodic memory (cannot relive anything from past)
semantic memory intact (facts are fine but cannot remember doing something)
Italian woman
encephalitis
impaired semantic memory (could not recognize familiar people)
episodic memory intact (could picture past life events)
Episodic can…
fade into only semantic
Memories start as…
episodic but end up as semantic
Consolidation
transform new memories from a temporary state to something more permanent
Synaptic consolidation
happens at the synapse level
called long term potentiation
quick process
Systems consolidation
involved strengthening connections between various areas of the brain
slower process
requires actual reorganization of neural circuits (takes place over months or years)
draws heavily on the hippocampus
Hebb (1948)
learning and memory occur because of physical changes (synapses store memory)
Long term potentiation
enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation
neurons actually change structure to increase their responsiveness
Standard model of consolidation
hippocampus repeatedly replays neural activity to ‘store’ memory by connecting different areas
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new long term memories (HM and Clive)
old events preserved in memory
new memories cannot be formed
Retrograde amnesia
(head injuries) events close to time of accident are often forgotten, more distant events are preserved
Power law of learning
acquisition of memory generally follows a particular pattern
initially rapid, negatively accelerating
Levels of processing theory
memory depends on how info is encoded
Shallow processing
little attention to meaning
focus on physical features
poor memory
Deep processing
close attention to meaning
better memory
The more processing…
the better people’s memory is