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2) Psychology > 7) Memory > Flashcards

7) Memory Flashcards

1
Q

What is memory?

A

Our capacity to process, retain, and retrieve

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2
Q

Name some forms of memory.

A
  • Visual
  • Auditory
  • Smell
  • Motor
  • Touch
  • Taste
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3
Q

What are the three types of memory?

A
  • Sensory Memory
  • Short-Term Memory
  • Long-Term Memory
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4
Q

In sensory memory, how long does information last?

A

From a fraction of a second to several seconds

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5
Q

In short-term memory, how long does the information last?

A

Up to 30 seconds unless actively rehearsed

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6
Q

“Use it or lose it” refers to which type of memory?

A

Short-term memory

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7
Q

In long-term memory, how long does the information last?

A

May last indefinitely

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8
Q

What is visual memory called? How long does it last?

A
  • Iconic memory

- 1/4 second

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9
Q

What is auditory memory called? How long does it last?

A
  • Echoic memory

- 2-4 seconds

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10
Q

Who proved the existence of sensory memory?

A

George Sperling

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11
Q

In short-term memory, most people can retain __ pieces of information

A

7

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12
Q

What did George Miller say in terms of short-term memory?

A

Magical number is 7, plus or minus 2

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13
Q

If the information is difficult, how many pieces of information can we retain? What about if it is easy?

A
  • Difficult: 5

- Easy: 9

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14
Q

What is a problem for short-term memory?

A

Interference

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15
Q

What can extend the 30-second limit of short-term memory?

A

Rehearsal

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16
Q

Long-term memory is like a _______

A

vault, or kitchen drawer

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17
Q

What is the key to long-term memory?

A

Retrieval

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18
Q

What is flashbulb memory? Give an example.

A
  • When we feel stressed, we tend to remember specific memories
  • Due to more oxygen and brain chemicals
  • Ex: remembering where you were during 9/11
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19
Q

Define consolidation.

A

Process of converting short-term memory to long-term memory

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20
Q

In consolidation, what amount of time is important?

A

24 hours

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21
Q

Consolidation relies heavily on what?

A

Semantic coding

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22
Q

What is semantic coding?

A

Encoding in terms of a MEANING

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23
Q

What is elaborate rehearsal?

A

Adding something to words, which will help you remember the list

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24
Q

What are the two types of long-term memory?

A

1) Declarative memory (explicit)

2) Non-Declarative memory (implicit)

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25
Q

Episodic memory is included in the ________ type of long-term memory

A

declarative

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26
Q

What is declarative memory?

A
  • General knowledge, facts

- Semantic networks

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27
Q

What is non-declarative memory?

A

Habits, skills, procedural memory, motor skills

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28
Q

What is the ripple effect? What is it related to?

A
  • Semantic networks

- One bit of information leads to the recall of another “related” aspect

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29
Q

Short-term memory receives items from _______ and ______

A

sensory memory

LTM

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30
Q

Long-term memory receives items from ________ and stores them

A

short-term memory

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31
Q

Can our long-term memory be compared to a videotape?

A
  • NO since we are constantly reconstructing the past; we are prone to errors: distorsions, omissions, and fabrications
  • LTM is constructive, not a videotape
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32
Q

How do some individuals exhibit exceptional memories?

A

They need a system

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33
Q

What are schemas?

A

Our existing frameworks of knowledge and assumptions we have about people, objects and events

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34
Q

What do schemas affect? (2)

A
  • How we store

- How we recall

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35
Q

When we take in new information, we attach it to an existing ________

36
Q

What is interpolated time?

A
  • Time between when you saw the actual event, and when you had to describe it
  • The longer time, the poorer the recollection
37
Q

What did Elizabeth Loftus do?

A
  • Showed people video of a car crash
  • Asked how fast cars were going when the hit/bumped/crash/contacted each other
  • Realized that how the question was asked changed the memory of the person (speed of the car)
38
Q

What is an Engram?

A
  • Well-established routes/pathways that leave a memory trace
  • ex: faster to remember your mom’s name than a classmate’s from grade 6
39
Q

Who studied long-term potentiation?

A

Hebb at McGill

40
Q

What is long-term potentiation?

A
  • Route in the brain which helps you answer things that are logical/happened recently
  • The longer the route, the more difficult it is to remember
41
Q

What is the function of the hippocampus in terms of memory?

A
  • Stores facts (semantic memory)
  • Stores life experiences (episodic memory)
  • Is NOT involved in procedural memory (riding a bike, stirring coffee)
42
Q

What is the case of Mr. H. M.?

A
  • Had severe epilepsy –> surgical removal of the hippocampus
  • Could NOT form new memories
  • Could only remember things from before the surgery
43
Q

Which side of the hippocampus is involved in the recollection of a phone number?

44
Q

Which side of the hippocampus is involved in the recollection of a scene?

A

Right-side

45
Q

What explains why we cannot form new memories before 2-3 years old?

A

The hippocampus is not fully developed until 2-3 years old

46
Q

What is the role of the amygdala in memory?

A
  • Remembers danger (survival)

- Responsible for the basis of phobias

47
Q

What is the role of the pre-frontal cortex in memory?

A
  • Mentally represents the past, present, and future

- Can travel back in time (autobiographical memory)

48
Q

Which structure uses the gyres to frame a memory around a big event?

A

Pre-frontal cortex

49
Q

What is the effect of damage to the frontal cortex?

A
  • Basic memories are affected (names of children)

- Can have a delayed reaction

50
Q

What is the role of the cerebellum in memory?

A

Affects memory associated with movement and motor skills

51
Q

Why are memories distributed to different areas in the brain?

A

For survival, so that you don’t lose all memories if you damage one part

52
Q

The strongest, most lasting memories are fueled by what?

53
Q

Why do emotional memories have a stronger affect?

A

Emotional arousal activates the adrenal glands, which secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine (solidifes memory)

54
Q

Emotional memories activate which structure of the brain?

55
Q

Excess levels of which hormones may interfere with memory?

A

Stress hormones (cortisol)

56
Q

What maintains synapses in our hippocampus?

A

Estrogen buildup

57
Q

Do memory drugs work?

58
Q

What is the key issue in forgetting?

59
Q

No processing into long-term memory leads to ________

A

no stored memory

60
Q

Give an example of the decay theory?

A
  • Lock combination used in grade 9 is forgotten after a while
  • But if you used a number for 50 years, then you’ll remember it
61
Q

What did Herman Ebbinghaus do?

A
  • Mapped out a forgetting curve

- We lose most of the information right away (first hour/day)

62
Q

How did Herman Ebbinghaus control his data?

A

By using non-sense syllables, which don’t mean anything to anyone

63
Q

What are the two basic forms of interference?

A
  • Retroactive interference

- Proactive interference

64
Q

What is retroactive interference?

A

Occurs when “NEW” information affects old, previously learned information

65
Q

What is proactive interference?

A

Occurs when “OLD” information (old habits) affects new

66
Q 
What concept does the following example illustrate:
You take a new Spanish class and it interferes with last term's Italian material
A

Retroactive interference

67
Q

Where does proactive interference take place?

A

Cerebellum

68
Q

What concept does the following example illustrate:

You have a new area code, but you keep dialling the old one

A

Proactive interference

69
Q

What is the recency effect?

A

Remembering the most recent information

70
Q

What is the primary effect?

A

Remembering the items at the beginning

71
Q

What does the retrieval theory state?

A

Failure to access stored material is likely caused by encoding failure

72
Q

What are the two types of encoding failure?

A
  • Incorrect processing (information in the wrong place)

- Lack of retrieval cues (can’t find it)

73
Q

What does the tip of the tongue memory indicate?

A

We have processed information, but we need a hint for its retrieval

74
Q

What is amnesia? What are its two basic forms?

A
  • Loss of memory
  • Retrograde amnesia
  • Anterograde amnesia
75
Q

What is retrograde amnesia?

A

Loss of past events

76
Q

What is anterograde amnesia?

A
  • Hippocampus damage

- Cannot form new memories

77
Q

What explains childhood amnesia? (3)

A
  • Pre-verbal
  • No strategies
  • Different brain structures
78
Q

What are the causes of amnesia? (3)

A
  • Drugs and alcohol
  • Disease: STDs
  • Head trauma: CTE (sports-related)
79
Q

What are repressed memories?

A
  • Unconscious (Freud = defense mechanisms)

- Early trauma –> repressed –> affects the present

80
Q

What are suppressed memories?

A
  • Conscious
  • Efforts to avoid an unhappy experience
  • Known to the individual
81
Q

What is the hypothesized cause of Alzheimer’s disease?

A

Protein build up on the axon: blocks chemical transmission of impulses

82
Q

How is Alzheimer’s disease treated?

A
  • Lack of acetylcholine

- Drugs that increase acetylcholine

83
Q

What are 5 ways to improve memory?

A

1) Acronyms
2) Acrostic
3) Visual association
4) Meaning
5) Context effect

84
Q

What does acrostic mean?

A

Using a verse or saying to remember information

85
Q

What does the U hypothesis state?

A
  • Stress enhances memory

- But, too much stress decreases memory

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