9 – Memory 4 Flashcards
What is a dissociation, in memory testing?
When a variable affects performance on one memory task but has no effect, or a different effect, on another task.
What dissociation is shown in the effects of amnesia on implicit and explicit memory?
Amnesia: affects explicit but not implicit memory performance. Amnesiacs perform more poorly than normals on tests of recall and recognition, but show equal priming for implicit tests (word fragment identification and word stem completion).
What’s the difference in instruction between implicit and explicit memory tasks?
In implicit tasks there’s no instruction that they should memorise anything.
Word fragment completion tasks and word stem completion tasks are usually tests of which kind of memory?
Implicit
What evidence did Roediger (1990) offer to suggest a transfer-appropriate processing effect for implicit, but not explicit, memory?
When people are shown a mixture of pictures and words, they have better recall (explicit memory) for the names of the pictures than for the words. When asked to complete a word fragment, they perform better for the words than for the pictures.
In memory experiments, what is a perceptual identification task?
A task when participants are asked whether a presented item (e.g. a word) is one they have seen before in the test.
What is a double dissociation?
When two experimental manipulations each have different effects on two dependent variables. One manipulation affects the first variable and not the second, the other manipulation affects the second variable and not the first. If one can demonstrate that a lesion in brain structure A impairs function X but not Y, and further demonstrate that a lesion to brain structure B impairs function Y but spares function X, one can make more specific inferences about brain function and function localization.
Another example: If your TV set suddenly loses the color you can conclude that picture transmission and color information must be separate processes (single dissociation: they cannot be independent because you cannot lose the picture and still have the color). If on the other hand you have two TV sets, one without sound and one without a picture you can conclude that these must be two independent functions (double dissociation).
How do implicit and explicit memory appear to vary across depth of processing? Use evidence from Jacoby’s 1983 double dissociation study.
Explicit memory improves with depth of processing; implicit memory worsens with depth of processing.
In Jacoby’s study, words were given in three study conditions (shallow, intermediate, deep), A recognition task showed better memory performance the deeper the processing.
A perceptual ID task showed the opposite –people’s implicit memory performance (ability to identify old vs new word) was highest for shallow processing and lowest for deep.
Jacoby study posited as evidence that implicit and explicit memory systems are distinct –as the same manipulation had completely different effects.
What criticisms are there of the validity of explicit and implicit memory tasks? What other explanation is there for the results of dissociation studies?
They are not pure measures. Sometimes in a recognition task you can use explicit memory (I remember word ‘bicycyle’ because I just bought one); sometimes you’re just guessing implicitly. Given this, many results of dissociation studies can be explained in terms of transfer-appropriate processing.
What 3 pieces of evidence from dissociation studies suggest that explicit and implicit memory rely on different systems?
Single dissociations
1. Amnesia affects explicit but not implicit memory performance
2. Match between modality of encoding and retrieval affects implicit but not explicit tasks
3. Double dissociations
Explicit memory is better following deeper encoding; implicit is better after shallow processing
A double dissociation is consistent with _________ ________ implicit and explicit memory systems
A double dissociation is consistent with anatomically separate implicit and explicit memory systems
How does Roediger (1990) explain the results of dissociation studies using the principle of transfer-appropriate processing?
Memory depends on match between encoding and retrieval. Implicit and explicit memory tasks involve different retrieval processes and therefore benefit from different encoding processes. Explicit memory tasks requires conceptually driven retrieval
and therefore benefit from deep, conceptually driven
encoding. Implicit memory tasks depends on perceptual familiarity of the stimulus, and so benefit from shallow, data-driven retrieval.
Shallow processing tasks are ______-_____ (e.g. read out the word ‘cold’)
Deeper processing tasks are ________-_____ (e.g. hot / c_ _ _)
Shallow processing tasks are Data-driven (e.g. read out the word ‘cold’)
Deeper processing tasks are conceptually-driven (e.g. hot / c_ _ _)
What’s the difference in encoding and retrieval processes between implicit and explicit memory tasks?
In implicit memory tasks a word is activated and retrieved on account of its familiarity. This is automatic, involuntary retrieval. If word has been activated, it will be more likely to be retrieved if the word was initially processed in a data-driven way.
Explicit memory tasks – e.g. free recall –involve elaboration during encoding, then deliberate recollection. Retrieval will be most effective when there are conceptual elaborative links established at the time of encoding.
What does memory performance depend on, according to the principle of transfer-appropriate processing?
Memory depends upon the match between the processes carried out in encoding and retrieval. For instance, implicit and explicit memory tasks involve different encoding processes, and therefore benefit from different retrieval tasks.
