7.2 long term memory Flashcards
declarative (or explicit) memory
memories that involve our conscious minds and that we can describe verbally
non- declarative or implicit memory
memory for previously learned skills and associations that guide our thoughts, feelings and actions automatically and unconsciously
episodic memory
memory for specific, autobiographical events in ones life
remembering the last time you went to the movies
types of declarative memory
episodic
semantic
semantic memory
general knowledge the world that does not involve accessing the details of any particular life experience
_knowing the difference b/w elf and leprechaun
non declarative memory includes
all of the unconscious influences of memory and there is a considerable amount of knowledge below the surface of our conscious minds
Edouard claparede
paid visits to amnesiac patients
he visited a lady who couldnt remember any events after a brain injury
shook a ladies hand with a pin in it and she was annoyed
the next day he returned and she forgot she ever met him but refused to shake his hand, but had no idea why she didn’t want to she just had a feeling it was a bad idea
an experience can alter a persons before without any conscious memory for the experience
types of non declarative memory
procedural memory
classically conditioned responses
procedural memory
knowledge about how to perform actions
classically conditioned responses
we talked about these when we talked about learning principles
priming
common method for measuring the influence of non declarative memories
- involves an unconscious influence of an experience on our subsequent thoughts or behaviours
- word stem completion task
word stem completion task
BU\_\_\_\_\_\_ VI\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ HA\_\_\_\_\_\_ TU\_\_\_\_\_\_ PE\_\_\_\_\_\_ what words people see earlier in the session will influence how they complete the word stems, even when they can't remember having seen the words earlier in the experiment
donald hebb
our experiences changes the structure of our brains, how learning works
cells that fire together, wire together
long term potentiation
long term potentiation
when neurons across the brain fire at the same time, the bonds b/w them get stronger
when one ore more of the neurons fire in the future, the others will also be more likely to fire
ex. watermelon stimulates and more details coming to mind
what type of watermelons to buy comes from previous shopping trip memory
consolidation
through longterm potentiation, the capacity to remember an event over the long term relies on a binding together of strong connections between the pattern of neural firing that is associated with that experience
H.M henry molaison
he played a large role in the field of memory
this man is completely unable to appreciate the role he played in the history of psychology, he wouldn’t be able to remember
underwent brain surgery as treatment for epileptic seizures
he was 27
surgery successfully eliminated his seizures, the side effect was anterograde amnesia
anterograde amnesia
an inability to remember any events occurring after some brain altering experience
after his surgery in 1953, h.m lived another 60 years without being able to consciously remember anything that happened during that time
he could learn new skills like tracing a picture the way it appeared on a page through the reflection on a mirror but didnt remember doing it before
the hippocampus
removed from hms brain
was important for creating long term declarative types of memory
hms surgery removed structures in the limbic system the hippocampus and amygdala
hippocampus is most critical for the formation of new memories and consolidation of memories prior to accident
retrograde amnesia
impairment in remembering experiences that occurred for some period of time before the brain trauma or surgery
forgetting vs. remembering
depends on factors present at encoding and retrieval
encoding
info is converted for storage
forgetting
storage
info is retained in memory
retrieval
info is recovered from memory when needed
remembering
rote learning
merely repeating info over and over again with the goal of remembering it for the long term
craik and watkins study
- ppl read a 4 digit # and tried to remember it
2.meanwhile, they repeated a given word until the experimenter told them to stop (b/w 2 and 18 secs) each trial they were given a different word to repeat
3.as soon as the experimenter said stop they tried to recall the number - after several trials of steps 1-3, ppl were asked to recall the words that they had repeated to themselves
the amount of time repeating words had no effect on the likelihood of remembering them
mindless repetition and rote learning is also called maintenance rehearsal
maintenance rehearsal
supports keeping info active in working memory, but is a poor way of achieving long term remembering
elaborative rehearsal
thinking about the info we want to remember later in as many different ways as possible at the level of meaning
levels of processing framework for elaborative rehearsal
shallow processing
intermediate processing
deep processing
shallow processing
thinking about the appearance of the word (font, capital or lowercase letters)
BUTTON in lower or upper case letters?
intermediate processing
thinking about what a word sounds like
ex. does FOREST rhyme with florist?
deep processing
thinking about the meaning of a word
ex. is ANTLER related to deer?
participants are more likely to remember words encoded at the ______ processing level, and were least likely to remember words at the ______ processing level, and the ________ fell in the middle
deep
shallow
intermediate
other effective methods of elaborative rehearsal
self reference effect
survival processing
self reference effect
thinking about info in way that relates to ourselves and our other personal experiences
survival processing
thinking about info in a way that relates to personal survival
modes of memory retrival
recognition
recall
recognition
identifying something, such as an object, event, or person as a thing that we have encountered or experienced before
recall
requires bringing to mind details about a prior experience
recall tends to be much more difficult than recognition
list all of the people from your graduation class
vs.
identify which people you graduated with from a series of photographs
retrieval cues
thinking about matches might cue a memory for almost starting a fire thinking about an easter worksheet for french class might cue a memory for an unfortunate creative deviation from the assignment
cues are
hints
encoding specificity
successful remembering depends on the degree of match between the current situation and the event hat we are trying to remember
in a venn diagram:
operations at encoding and operations at retrieval
overlap determines retrieval success
context dependent memory
remembering a previous day at the zoo will be easier if you are at the zoo, than if you are not
state dependent learning
remembering will be more successful when a persons internal state at the time of encoding matches their internal state at the time of retrieval
being under the influence of alcohol or marijuana will tend to be bad for learning, except when one can expect to also be under the influence at the time of retrieval
drunk and then drunk did better then sober then drunk
mood dependent learning
remembering will be more successful when a persons mood
(eg. happy or sad) at the time of encoding matches their mood at the time of retrieval
role of emotion in remembering
experiences that are emotional can be more memorable because they motivate the elaborative rehearsal
emotional reactions after learning info can enhance successful remembering of that info
neilson and colleagues study
studying a list of words
one group was shown imaging depicting an oral surgery
one group was shown images depicting how to brush teeth
result:oral surgery group remembered more of the words they studied than the how to brush your teeth group, it seems the emotional reactions from watching surgery images provided a jolt to the consolidation to the memory for an unrelated list of words
weapon focus
can impair their memory of who was holding the weapon
flashbulb memories?
are there events that we experience as so emotional and shocking that we will never forget any detail, no matter how much time passes?
Just as though we have taken a permanent mental photograph and stored it in memory
ex. 9/11 people never forget what they were doing when they heard about the event
over time, ppl increasingly misremember details related to extreme events, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks , in the same way that their memory becomes less accurate over time for more typical events
however, ppl are far more confident in the accuracy of their memory for extreme events even though they arent
long term memory types
declarative memory
non declarative memory
episodic memory
