8-Memory Flashcards
What is Memory?
Preservation/record of experience, including sensations, emotions, thoughts & beliefs; actionable preservation (not just storing, but retrieving it so we can act on it)
Two different kinds of information serve different memory functions. Knowledge requires what?;
Experiences require what?
Semantic memory;
Episodic memory
Describe the characteristics of Semantic memory
Not contextual; abstract; non-autobiographical; knowledge based (e.g. “what is a hippopotamus?”); read or identify (a word for instance)
Describe the characteristics of Episodic memory
Context sensitive; personal; autobiographical; event based (e.g. “did you see a hippopotamus at zoo last week?”; recall (e.g. “did this word appear in the list of words earlier?”)
Most of our cognitive activities, decisions and action plans use what kind of information?
Both episodic and semantic information
Compared to a computer, which does things rapidly, accurately & one at a time, the human brain is a slow, powerful, parallel processor. What is needed in a workable human memory system?
Access past experiences and knowledge to deal with a current situation; a filing system that allows us to access the relevant information; forget similar memories that no longer apply; do this job efficiently during ongoing actions
In computers, memory is organized by topic, date, time & place. In humans, memory is organised by what?;
In computers, memory is accessed from pre-defined cues. In humans?
By experiences & significance of information;
Memory access-cue is less well specified
Computers have the capacity for a rapid serial search of memory. What do humans have?;
In a computer, information is completely & accurately represented in memory. In humans?
Slower memory access, in parallel with other operations;
Only part of an experience is stored according to personal relevance
Information in a computer is not altered during storage or retrieval. In humans?;
In a computer, memories remain separate within the memory system. What occurs with humans?
Information is re-interpreted or distorted over time & during retrieval;
Generalisation, composite memories & interference
Details of context of occurrence and source of memories are retained in a computer. How does this compare to humans?
Source information may be lost (can’t aways recall where information came from)
On repeated eye-witness questioning, witnesses may remember something that was in fact suggested during prior questioning, without realising the source of this info. What is this known as?
Misinformation effect
WM reflects ideas about the cognitive workspace. It’s the memory used for current actions & has a duration of several seconds or minutes. How does long-term (secondary) memory differ from this?
Information is more permanently stored & must be retrieved for use
What evidence was found by Murdoch (1962) to support the distinction between WM & LTM?;
How was the study carried out?;
Memory accuracy depended on position in which a word occurred in the study list. What was found?
The serial position curve (first finding dates back to Ebbinghaus with his forgetting curve);
Participants had to remember a list of 10-30 words, presented singly for 1 or 2 secs; then they freely recalled the words in any order;
Best recalled were items at beginning & end; worst were items in middle (Primacy & Recency)
What does the Primacy effect reflect?;
What is the Recency effect found for?
Transfer of items to LTM (fresh mind, nothing to interfere, more rehearsal at the beginning);
Later list-items that are still “fresh” in WM (test usually done immediately after)
When participants in Murdoch’s study were asked to count backwards by 3s from 100 at the end of the study list, what occurred?;
What has subsequent evidence indicated about the recency effect?
The recency effect was eliminated, but not the primacy effect (supporting interpretation of serial position effect);
It may have other causes related to LTM
WM has low capacity & evidence has shown forgetting due to decay and interference from later and prior items. Although Miller (1956) proposed “the magical number 7” for WM capacity, what does recent evidence suggest?
That original estimates were optimistic & inflated by contributions from long-term memory (i.e. rehearsal); Cowen suggests 4 is a better estimate; WM is also highly sensitive to order of item presentation
Describe Atkinson & Shiffrin’s (1968) Modal Model of memory
Info from environment enters sensory memory (iconic & echoic); most quickly fades, if attention’s given to process & identify, it’s transferred to STM; some is forgotten; if rehearsed it’s stored in LTM; in retrieval, there’s an interplay between accessing from LTM & STM
According to the Modal Model, what keeps material in STM?;
When material is stored long enough in STM, what happens?
Rehearsal
It gradually gets transferred to LTM (so effectively, rehearsal helps get info into LTM)
According to the Modal Model, what do Sensory stores handle?;
What is its capacity?;
What phenomenon is it relevant to?
Initial sensory analysis (modality specific - one for vision, touch, sound);
High capacity, but material decays quickly unless moved to short-term store;
Attentional Blink
What does Short-term memory store?;
What about the Long-term store?
Holds in memory what’s needed for current actions; control processes involved in rehearsal, coding (chunking), decision & retrieval strategies;
Has a vast capacity & long-term retention; supports short-term store (identifying words, objects)
What are some problems with the Modal Model?;
Despite this, what did these ideas of distinctions & separate memory stores influence?
Rehearsal isn’t what gets material into LTM; there’s a more complex interplay between STM and LTM, not a simple sequential transfer of information;
The development of Baddeley & Hitch’s (1974) STM model
In typical episodic memory paradigms, where participants employ intentional (explicit) retrieval to recall words on a list, what are the gold standard tasks used;
How would a typical experiment be conducted?
Recall & recognition; Study phase (see words one at a time, do a task on each (e.g rate pleasantness); retention interval (mins, hrs or days); recall test (say or write words from study list) or recognition test (are words from study list, yes or no?)
What sort of materials are usually used in typical episodic memory tests?;
What’s the dependent variable in these tests?
Nonsense words, faces, pictures, abstract shapes, with & without verbal labels;
Accuracy - % of number correctly recalled
What’s a Free recall test?;
What’s Serial recall?;
Long-term serial recall?;
Cued recall?
Participants produce the words in any order that they wish, until they can’t recall any more;
They produce the words in the order in which they were studied;
Feasible only with short lists (like passwords);
A cue is provided for each word on the study list (makes recall easier)
How is a Single item recognition test conducted?;
What’s recorded?;
What do participants decide in a Choice test?;
What about an Associative recognition test?
Each memory item (picture, word, feature from face, etc) is presented one at a time for decision between old vs. new (unstudied) items;
Accuracy (sometimes latency also);
Which word is old? (e.g. house/cottage);
Were the items studied as a pair or not?
Is recall or recognition a more sensitive & flexible test?;
Why is this?
Recognition;
Can test all kinds of items that can’t easily be produced (complex shapes, pictures, symbols); more likely to detect memories that are weaker or incomplete