8-Memory Flashcards

1
Q

What is Memory?

A

Preservation/record of experience, including sensations, emotions, thoughts & beliefs; actionable preservation (not just storing, but retrieving it so we can act on it)

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2
Q

Two different kinds of information serve different memory functions. Knowledge requires what?;
Experiences require what?

A

Semantic memory;

Episodic memory

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3
Q

Describe the characteristics of Semantic memory

A

Not contextual; abstract; non-autobiographical; knowledge based (e.g. “what is a hippopotamus?”); read or identify (a word for instance)

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4
Q

Describe the characteristics of Episodic memory

A

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?”)

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5
Q

Most of our cognitive activities, decisions and action plans use what kind of information?

A

Both episodic and semantic information

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6
Q

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?

A

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

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7
Q

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?

A

By experiences & significance of information;

Memory access-cue is less well specified

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8
Q

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?

A

Slower memory access, in parallel with other operations;

Only part of an experience is stored according to personal relevance

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9
Q

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?

A

Information is re-interpreted or distorted over time & during retrieval;
Generalisation, composite memories & interference

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10
Q

Details of context of occurrence and source of memories are retained in a computer. How does this compare to humans?

A

Source information may be lost (can’t aways recall where information came from)

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11
Q

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?

A

Misinformation effect

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12
Q

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?

A

Information is more permanently stored & must be retrieved for use

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13
Q

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?

A

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)

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14
Q

What does the Primacy effect reflect?;

What is the Recency effect found for?

A

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)

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15
Q

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?

A

The recency effect was eliminated, but not the primacy effect (supporting interpretation of serial position effect);
It may have other causes related to LTM

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16
Q

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?

A

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

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17
Q

Describe Atkinson & Shiffrin’s (1968) Modal Model of memory

A

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

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18
Q

According to the Modal Model, what keeps material in STM?;

When material is stored long enough in STM, what happens?

A

Rehearsal

It gradually gets transferred to LTM (so effectively, rehearsal helps get info into LTM)

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19
Q

According to the Modal Model, what do Sensory stores handle?;
What is its capacity?;
What phenomenon is it relevant to?

A

Initial sensory analysis (modality specific - one for vision, touch, sound);
High capacity, but material decays quickly unless moved to short-term store;
Attentional Blink

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20
Q

What does Short-term memory store?;

What about the Long-term store?

A

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)

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21
Q

What are some problems with the Modal Model?;

Despite this, what did these ideas of distinctions & separate memory stores influence?

A

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

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22
Q

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?

A
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?)
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23
Q

What sort of materials are usually used in typical episodic memory tests?;
What’s the dependent variable in these tests?

A

Nonsense words, faces, pictures, abstract shapes, with & without verbal labels;
Accuracy - % of number correctly recalled

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24
Q

What’s a Free recall test?;
What’s Serial recall?;
Long-term serial recall?;
Cued recall?

A

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)

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25
Q

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?

A

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?

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26
Q

Is recall or recognition a more sensitive & flexible test?;
Why is this?

A

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

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27
Q

Why is recording accuracy scores on recognition tests more complicated?;
So what do we need to take into account?

A

If the participant has 90% correct on old items, we can’t say whether memory is good or whether they just say “old” most of the time (response bias);
False alarms - old responses to new items

28
Q

If, for example, “plateau” is on the list & “train” is not, what if a participant chooses plateau as old?;
If they choose plateau as new?;
What if they choose train as old?;
If they choose train as new?

A

It’s a hit;
It’s a miss;
False alarm;
Correct rejection

29
Q

Suppose participants study a set of face stimuli, then get a recognition test of old and new faces. If they’re offered 50 cents for every face they correctly recognise at test, what can happen?

A

Bias. They’ll be affected by motivational factors & information provided favouring old over new

30
Q

If participants are presented with faces in distinctive contexts (e.g., different coloured backgrounds), then test faces in their old context or in a new context not seen at study, what may happen?

A

They may be more likely to say old to a face tested in an old context

31
Q

If the false alarm rate is low, hits are usually what?;

What kind of task is a recognition test?

A

Interpretable; groups in different experimental conditions can be compared on Hits if their FA rates are low and similar;
Discrimination task

32
Q

For tests of items studied under 2 different conditions
(e.g. imagery task or pleasantness judgment for study task), what must the items be?;
Why is this?

A

As similar as possible;

A difference between item sets may make one set easier to remember (whatever the study task) & they’ll confound

33
Q

For old (studied) vs. new (non-studied) items in recognition tests, a difference between item sets may give participants what?

A

A clue to what is new and old

34
Q

In a between groups experiment, use the same item sets; In a within groups experiment, either match item sets or what?

A

Counterbalance assignment of items to conditions

35
Q

Explain how traditional episodic memory tests are Explicit (direct);
In cases of reduced memory function (brain injury), how do participants perform on these tests?

A

Participants intentionally & deliberately try to retrieve just the items that occurred in the study phase/memory episode;
Very poorly

36
Q

Participants with reduced memory function may perform well on implicit (indirect) tests. How are these conducted?

A

Participants are asked at test to identify items or “give the first thing that comes to mind”

37
Q

In an implicit priming test, participants perform a study task on a list of words (e.g. animal, kitchen, drivel). Then what happens?

A

There’s no mention of a memory test. But an implicit/semantic memory test is performed with no mention of the study episode (e.g. Lexical Decision Task)

38
Q

What’s involved in a Lexical Decision Task (LDT)?;

What are 3 other ways of testing implicit memory after priming?

A

A stream of words will appear & subjects make a speeded word vs. nonword decision for each letter string (e.g. flurb, kitchen, sping);
Name a briefly presented word (kitchen); complete the stem ki ….. with the first word that comes to mind; or free association: What is the first word that you think of when I say “cook”?

39
Q

In implicit tests, an effect of memory for the study phase is priming (these tests are counterbalanced). What has been found for studied words compared to non-studied words?;
Participants who can’t retrieve kitchen on an explicit test may show what?

A

Performance at test is faster or more accurate; lexical decision, stem completion & free association test to kitchen is faster for those who studied kitchen than for those who didn’t;
Priming for it on an implicit test, showing that the word was encoded during the study phase

40
Q

When a recently encountered word is more available or better identified in an implicit test, what has occurred?;
But what can participants who are able to deliberately do?

A

Priming (a representation of a word has been made more accessible in memory);
Retrieve from the study list during implicit tests (cheat)

41
Q

What can people who are ageing or with brain injury have difficulty with?

A

The use of contextual information at encoding and/or retrieval (can’t use context to retrieve a particular episode)

42
Q

What do patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome (amnesia)

have difficulty remembering?

A

Information acquired after the onset of their illness & acquiring new information

43
Q

Schacter, Tulving & Wang (1981) had Korsakoff’s patients answer multi-choice trivia questions (used questions were put back in the question pile). Which questions were better answered?;
What does this suggest?

A

Repeated questions, but patients were unable to say that they’d seen the questions before;
That explicit memory is lost, but there are implicit (semantic) memory effects; patients appear to be unable to use contextual and source information

44
Q

Episodic memory tasks date from Ebbinghaus (around 1885) where he used himself as his own subject. What did he do?

A

Studied a series of nonsense syllables until he could recite the series perfectly twice; tested recall of the series at different time delays up to one year; used both free and ordered recall

45
Q

The result of Ebbinghaus’ research was a curve that steadily dropped off, and could be described with a simple exponential equation based on delay between study and test. What is this known as?

A

The Forgetting Curve (forgetting is systematic & lawful)

46
Q

The forgetting curve is one of the first really robust findings of scientific psychology. What does it reveal?

A

That we lose information over time in a systematic, nonlinear fashion

47
Q

What is Decay?;

What’s a conceptual problem with the concept of decay as forgetting?

A

When memories fade, or connections between them fade if they are not used;
Decay = “loss due to passage of time”; forgetting = loss of knowledge over time (saying same things in different words; using time as a stand-in for unknown cause tightly correlated with time)

48
Q

What’s an empirical problem with the concept of decay?

A

It’s not feasible to get direct evidence of decay at the neural level

49
Q

Passage of time may affect mechanisms other than decay, such as what?

A

Effectiveness of retrieval cues (e.g., context); sometimes forgotten things can be remembered later (retrieval failure, not decay); interfering effects of learning occurring after the memory was laid down

50
Q

Decay theorists tried to show that memories fade over time even when interfering material and changes in cues were controlled. How did Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924) do this?

A

Compared Obliviscence (forgetting) during sleep & waking. Participants learnt information & compared recall after sleep for several hours vs. wakefulness

51
Q

By controlling for cues, what were Jenkins & Dallenbach aiming to show?
What were the results?;
What did they conclude?

A

The sleep group can only forget due to decay; awake group forgets due to both (potentially) decay + interference;
Much more forgetting in awake than sleep condition;
Interference is the largest source of forgetting

52
Q

What were some limitations in Jenkins & Dallenbach’s study?;
Though decay may play a role in forgetting, what do researchers agree are more important?

A

Time scale: what if decay matters more at longer time periods (months not hours)?; role of sleep in consolidating information: could reverses effects of decay (need more precise theories of decay to get clear tests);
Interference and other effects located at retrieval

53
Q

Describe the two broad classes of interference effects in retrieval

A

Proactive - old information blocks new information (e.g., recall of short word lists gets worse as the number of prior lists increases); Retroactive: new information blocks old (e.g., recall of words from earlier lists poorer than recall of words from current list)

54
Q

Baddeley & Hitch (1977) studied 2 teams of rugby players’ recall of game details over time; they looked at memory for details of various games as a function of when they were played & how many games were played before & after them. What was measured?;
What was found?;
What effect does this suggest?

A

Decay - loss of detail correlated with time elapsed after the game; & Interference - loss of detail correlated with number of games;
r = .04 for game-memory with time r = .55 for game-memory with number of games played since the game;
Retroactive interference - forgetting has more to do with interference than decay

55
Q

What are some conceptual & practical problems concerning repression/inhibition of traumatic memories (e.g. childhood sexual abuse)?

A

Events that are very traumatic are often well-remembered due to effects of arousal on memory encoding; it’s difficult to establish facts from many years ago; events early in childhood may not be well understood at the time (memories may be poorly retrieved because they are fragmented & difficult to interpret)

56
Q

It’s not established whether memory repression does occur. Some techniques designed to “recover” repressed memories can create what?;
What must therapists avoid in their questioning with clients?

A

False memories;

Suggestions about repressed memories for possible childhood trauma/abuse

57
Q

How can false memories about events be created?

A

Due to human difficulty with source memory (where, when, who & how of things remembered)

58
Q

Explain Misinformation Effects, as reported by Elizabeth Loftus

A

Studies showed reduced memory accuracy in witnesses when incorrect information given during questioning (e.g. did the blue car turn right? - but it was actually a green car)

59
Q

In Braun et al.’s (2002) study, participants were asked to rate advertisements on various characteristics, including a false ad with Bugs Bunny at Disneyland. What was found?

A

On later questioning 16% of participants claimed to have met Bugs Bunny at Disneyland (this is impossible as Bugs Bunny is Warner Bros, not a Disney character)

60
Q

In Deese, Roeidger, McDermott paradigm (DRM), participants study a list of related words - bed, dream, wake, tired, blanket, yawn. What has been found?

A

About 50% of the time, participants falsely recall and recognise sleep as being on the list & also claim to have a clear memory of seeing it in the list

61
Q

False memory & misinformation effects show that memory retrieval is what?;
What do memory researchers now recommend?

A

A re-constructive process, & reinforce the difficulty of recovering accurate source information;
That independent objective evidence be found before courts rely on reports of recovery of repressed memories

62
Q

In a Retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm by Anderson & colleagues, participants studied category-target pairs, with 2 targets per category - fruit-banana, fruit-orange. They practised retrieving one of the targets, e.g., fruit-or? In the test phase, what happened?;
What did they conclude from this?;
If not inhibition, what else could the effect be from?

A

Cued recall was poor for unpractised targets from practised categories, e.g. FRUIT-banana (cued by fruit- or fruit-b) & poorer than for categories not practised at all (novel pairs);
That banana was inhibited during practice of orange (denotes an inhibitory link);
The competition between banana & orange

63
Q

Whilst Anderson et al. argued that inhibition is of the target & not changes in the strength of the category-example links, what did later studies show?;
What did inhibition during practice remove?

A

Poorer cued recall for a related target paired with a different (unpractised) category; practising RED-blood inhibited not only tomato (category RED), but also other red things, like strawberry (category FOOD); cost for both strawberry & tomato
Competition between blood and other words that could belong with the category RED

64
Q

The inhibition idea remains controversial. What do traditional interference theories propose?;
In this light, what finding has studies failed to replicate?

A

Competition at test - e.g, between the fruit-orange and fruit-banana associations (just playing with competition between cue & item strength) with no effect on individual word memories;
That inhibition is observed for related words paired with different category cues

65
Q

Raaijmakers et al. 2013 have an alternative account with the RED-blood effect. What is it?;
So at test, with the unpractised category FOOD, there is less overlap in stored features between what?

A

That in retrieval practice of RED-blood, the red-related features of the FOOD target strawberry are activated and stored;
FOOD and the target strawberry, (it’s encoded in terms of red) & recall is poorer