7- Long-Term Memory Flashcards
How much space does LTM have?
Unlimited
How much storage does LTM have?
Infinite
How does James define LTM?
Secondary memory- absent info from consciousness
What 2 mechanisms are involved with LTM?
Potentiation and depotentiation
What does potentiation do?
Maintain memories and strengthen synapses
What does depotentiation do?
Forget memories and weaken synapses
What kind of disorder is amnesia?
Permanent and pervasive
How is amnesia characterised?
A disconnection between STM and LTM
What are the 3 ways Parkin defines amnesia?
Intact STM
Mild retrograde amnesia
Severe anterograde amnesia
What is retrograde amnesia?
Damage to memory for events that occurred before onset of amnesia
What is anterograde amnesia?
Damage to memory for events that occurred after onset of amnesia
What are the 2 primary divisions of LTM?
Non-declarative/implicit memory, and declarative/explicit memory
What are the 2 divisions of non-declarative memory?
Procedural memory and repetition priming
What are the 2 divisions of procedural memory?
Skill learning and habit learning
What are the 2 divisions of declarative memory?
Semantic and episodic memory
What are the 2 divisions of episodic memory?
Prospective and autobiographical memory
What is the oldest type of LTM?
Non-declarative memory
How is non-declarative memory accessed?
Unconsciously
Can non-declarative memory be reported verbally?
No
What is non-declarative memory based on?
Previous unconscious experience
What is non-declarative memory about?
Knowing how
Is non-declarative memory intact in amnesia?
Yes
What is procedural memory?
Knowledge of skills we gain over time
What is procedural memory about?
How to perform skills and actions
Is skill learning conscious or unconscious?
Unconscious
What is skill learning mostly associated with?
Motor performance
How is skill learning acquired to become automatic?
Over time by practice
How is habit learning acquired?
Over time by repeated associations between stimuli and responses
What does habit learning involve?
Learning a set of associations that can’t be memorised
How do you change a habit?
Repetition of new behaviour
What does priming refer to?
An implicit memory effect
What is an implicit memory effect?
Exposure to a stimulus affects a subsequent response
What is the time taken for repetition priming associated with?
Time taken to make information accessible based on information provided
What are the 2 types of priming?
Perceptual and conceptual
What is perceptual priming?
Stimulus form is salient
What is conceptual priming?
Stimulus meaning is salient
What does declarative memory involve?
Conscious recollection
Can declarative memory be reported verbally?
Yes
What is declarative memory based on?
Our previous conscious experience
What is declarative memory about?
Knowing that
Why is declarative memory damaged in amnesia?
Because it is very sensitive
What are the 3 ways of testing declarative memory?
Recognition, cued recall, free recall
What is the recognition test?
Verifying the correctness of information
What is the cued recall test?
Recall information with the help of cues/hints
What is the free recall test?
Recall information without cues/hints
What memory is involved in episodic memory?
Memory for events, experiences, and episodes
What does episodic memory enable us to do?
Consciously re-experience past events
What does episodic memory rely on for recall?
Temporal context
What do we rely on episodic memory for?
Communication
What is the problem with reconstructing past events?
It is not always accurate
What are the 3 key properties of episodic memory according to Tulving?
Associates with our subjective sense of time
Connects to self
Associates with autonoetic consciousness of self-knowing
What is prospective memory about?
Imagining future events
What does prospective memory allow?
Forward planning and carrying out intended actions
What is the ability involved from prospective memory?
Ability to remember to remember
How is prospective memory triggered?
Self-initiated
Is prospective memory interrupted in amnesia?
Yes
What are the 2 different types of prospective memory?
Event-based and time-based
What is the most personal aspect of LTM?
Autobiographical memory
What is autobiographical memory for?
Personally experienced events and episodes, as well as life histories
How is autobiographical memory time-marked?
As belonging to a particular phase in our lives
What is autobiographical memory a combination of?
Episodic and semantic memories
What is personal semantic information?
Facts about ourselves
What is personal episodic information?
Personally experienced effects
What is false memory?
Inaccurate recollections of events that didn’t occur or distortion of events that occurred
How does imagination inflation strengthen false memory?
By repeating it
What is deja vu?
An illusion of autobiographical memory
What are the 3 mechanisms involved in false memory?
Split perception, implicit memory, Gestalt familiarity
What is split perception?
A brief glance before conscious seeing
What is implicit memory?
A forgotten experience but we think it is familiar
What is Gestalt familiarity?
Similar to a previous experience
What does semantic memory store?
General knowledge of facts, concepts and language including symbols, their meaning, and their associations
What doesn’t semantic memory rely on for recall?
Temporal context
What is semantic memory?
Knowing and not remembering
How is semantic memory opposite to episodic memory?
It is not personal
What is permastore?
A stabilisation of knowledge in semantic memory that resists forgetting
What is metamemory?
The supervisor of our memories
What ability does metamemory have?
To monitor and inspect the content of memory
What is metamemory about?
Our knowledge about what we stored in memory
What does metamemory allow us to do?
Know whether we know something
Does metamemory remain intact after amnesia?
Yes
What happened to HM?
Parts of his temporal lobe were removed to reduce epilepsy
What were HM’s 2 symptoms after surgery?
Intact short-term memory
Impaired memory for ongoing events
What 3 aspects of LTM did HM teach us about?
Particular brain regions are responsible for LTM
LTM encompasses different abilities
Memory is separable from language, perceptual and cognitive functions
