Basic Psychology- Memory

Question 1

In all cognitive operations involving memory 3 different processes are thought to occur. They are?
ESR

Answer 1

Encoding - It leads to the formation of initial memory traces and receives information from the
outside.
 Storage - Retention of information and maintenance
 Retrieval - Accessing and recovering information from memory stores

Question 2

What are the 3 forms of memory?

Answer 2

Sensory
Short Term/working
Long Term

Question 3

Sensory Memory

name 2 types.
What experiment did sperling create?

Answer 3

Highly detailed.
Very limited duration (1s)

e.g.
Iconic-visual
echoic- auditory

sperling: letter flash. able to recall one of the rows of letters if asked immediately but >1s then couldn’t recall.

This is modality specific, has a large capacity but gets disrupted by the inflow of
new information in the same modality. Each sense has its own sensory memory e.g. iconic (visual)
lasting 0.5 seconds, echoic (auditory) lasting 2 seconds etc. No processing is involved in sensory
memory. If attention is paid to the sensory memories during perception, sensory memory gets
consolidated or ‘moves’ into the short-term memory system.

Question 4

Short Term Memory

What is Brown Paterson task?
What 2 types of coding does STM mainly use?
What is displacement and decay?

Answer 4

Limited capacity

Short term memory: The capacity of STM according to Miller is 7+/- 2 items. This is evident while
testing digit span (but see below for chunking). Unaided, STM lasts 15 to 30 seconds. By
maintenance rehearsal, this duration can be increased further up to indefinite periods. If
maintenance rehearsals are prevented, then by 15 seconds the original material is completely
forgotten. Brown Paterson task involves introducing distraction (such as counting a three digit
number backwards) immediately after the digit span test in order to prevent rehearsal. STM uses
acoustic coding (mostly) or visual coding. Recall of information is effortless and usually error-free.
Information is held in STM by the process of rehearsal. Loss of information from STM occurs mainly
through displacement (newly acquired items entering STM displaces existing material) and decay
(older materials have a weaker trace strength than the recently acquired items). In order for memory
to move from temporary to long-term storage, elaborative encoding (Daniel Schacter) must take
place.
NOTE: The term working memory is increasingly used to describe a large part of what was called as
STM in the past. Working memory allows cognitive processes to be performed on data that is briefly
stored in short-term memory.

Question 5

Working Memory.

What are the components of CE?

Answer 5

Aspect of working memory

Central executive-

1. visuospatial sketchpad (eg mental image),
2. phonological loop (eg syllables relies on rehearsal),
3. episodic buffer (integrates VSP and PL into chronology. helps with chunking)

Working memory is important for various processes including executive functions, decision-making,
error detection and correction, new learning (anterograde memory formation) and judgement.

Question 6

Long Term Memory
What is the main form of coding?
What are the 2 types of LTM that Tulving proposed?
How does rehearsal relate to LTM?

Answer 6

Unlimited capacity
Semantic coding (though visual and acoustic can occur)

Explicit memory- things we can talk about/declare/.

1. Semantic knowledge ie factual.
2. Episodic memory- narratives/events. ‘gist’

Implicit memory-
main one is procedural (how to do things)
This cannot be consciously inspected. This is not affected by an organic amnesia of
hippocampal origin. It is made of procedural memory for skills and habits, priming, classical conditioning and nonassociative learning.

Rehearsal is
supposed to be the transient
control process that can aid
maintenance of STM and
transfer to LTM. Other control processes include encoding, retrieval strategies and decision to remember. Rehearsal may be maintenance/rote rehearsal or elaborative rehearsal where encoding is
semantically elaborated or changed. It is proposed that rehearsal can take place at 3 levels of
processing. Shallow processing where surface features are only rehearsed, phonemic processing
where sound features are rehearsed or semantic processing where deeper encoding and meaning
related associations are made. Higher level of processing depends on time available and nature of the
material processed.

Question 7

What are primacy and recency and do they relate to LTM and STM?

Answer 7

Serial position effect: While memorising and recollecting a list of words both primacy and recency
effects are seen. Regardless of the length of a list, the initial words (primacy) and last few words (recency) are remembered better than those at the middle of the list. Primacy is supposed to be due to
LTM as consolidation has occurred in the sufficient time between learning the first word and testing
recall. Recency effect is due to STM wherein last heard words are freshly retained.

Question 8

What are the modes of memory retrieval? (moving from LTM to STM)
RRR

Answer 8

Recognition (solving MCQs)

Recall (actively searching and reproducing),

Reintegration/reconstruction (recollection of past
experiences based on certain cues). An eyewitness testimony
is a reconstructive memory, which is a mode of retrieval
from long-term memory. However, reconstructive memory
of events as in eyewitness testimony is affected by the type
of questioning asked to elicit the memory.

Question 9

What does the forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus) show?

Answer 9

Forgetting is maximum in the first few hours, and the
rate of forgetting gets less with time.
Sharp drop after first 9 hours then slows.

Question 10

Recalling material during a test period increases…..

Which out of continuous and discrete motor skills show no forgetting?

Answer 10

Recalling the material during the test period increases the probability of remembering items
or events.

Continuous motor skills, such as cycling and swimming, show no forgetting at all. But
discrete motors skills such as typing are lost more quickly.

Question 11

What is decay theory?

Answer 11

Decay theory states that neural engrams breakdown with time. This means that disuse with time is
the cause of forgetting, but no evidence exists that neurological decay occurs. Also what happens
before and after learning is more important than the mere passage of time in forgetting

Question 12

Displacement theory

Answer 12

Displacement theory states that due to capacity limitation new info replaces old information

Question 13

Describe retrieval failure theory.

Answer 13

Retrieval failure theory states that due to lack of proper cues to recall we forget things. According
to encoding specificity principle, anything we encode during learning can be a cue/tag for later
retrieval. Recall improves if same cues are available when recalling, but this holds true only for
recall, not recognition. Hence, some times recall is better than recognition! Such cues can be the
context (place, external state) specific or emotion/ inner state specific.

Question 14

Encoding specificity principle and chunking.

Answer 14

Chunking is a method of increasing the capacity of short-term
memory by combining units or information (usually numbers)
into chunks. By doing so, impressive feats of memory can result.
For example the numbers 1,5,2,3,5.2,5,8,5,3,7,8 would normally
overload our short-term memory but if they are arranged into
chunks 152, 352, 585, 378, they become a lot more manageable.
The more similar the retrieval situation is to the encoding
situation, the better retrieval. This is called encoding specificity
principle.

Question 15

Define anterograde amnesia.

Answer 15

Loss of ability to form or retain new episodic memories after an injury/lesion/event.

Lack memory for events taking place in immediate future after an event
Classic cases often involve hippocampal damage
The subject cannot learn anything new.
Nothing can be moved from STM to LTM.

Question 16

Define retrograde amnesia.

Answer 16

Loss of episodic memories that were stored before brain damage occurred.

 Lack memory for immediately preceding events.
 Follows head injury
 The subject never consolidates the information that is already in STM (retrieval failure i.e.
fails to move from LTM to STM).

Question 17

Transient global amnesia.

Sudden onset of severe ? with ? for ?days or weeks

Answer 17

Transient global amnesia is caused by transient cerebral ischemia causing a temporary lack of blood
supply to the regions of the brain concerned with memory functions. The main features include sudden
onset of severe anterograde amnesia with a retrograde amnesia for the preceding days or weeks.

Question 18

What are 2 types of psychogenic amnesia?

Answer 18

Sometimes amnesic episodes may occur in patients who have had no brain injury but suffered a traumatic
or emotionally disturbing life event (hysterical or psychogenic amnesia). There are two types-Global and
situation specific.

Question 19

Fugue state/global

Answer 19

Fugue state is a type of psychogenic global amnesia in which there is a sudden loss of all autobiographical
memories, knowledge of self and personal identity. Usually, there is a period of wandering, and there is
an amnesic gap upon recovery. It usually last a matter of hours or days. Memory recovery is complete
after few hours or days. In most cases, the fugue states will clear over a few days and the amnesia is
mainly transient. If not, the patient usually adopts a new name and identity and begins a new life. As in
organic amnesia, fugue patients will normally retain their procedural and semantic memories. The patient
may have episodic memory loss that is usually only retrograde memory loss and no anterograde
impairment.

Question 20

Situation specific amnesia

Answer 20

Situation specific amnesia: Offenders, as well as victims of crimes commonly, claim amnesia regarding
the offence. In 25-45% of homicides, 8% of other violent crimes and a small percentage of non-violent
crimes, offenders claim amnesia (Kopelman 2002a). Amnesia for an offence is associated with alcohol or
substance misuse and acute psychosis, but purely psychological amnesia is often limited to crimes of
passion.

Question 21

Amnesia syndromes.

What can cause them?

5 features?

Answer 21

Amnesic syndromes: Various disorders can give rise to amnesic syndromes (e.g. hypoxia, herpes
encephalitis) and the features would include
1. Immediate memory is unimpaired.
2. Anterograde amnesia- inability to acquire new information (impaired delayed recall)
3. Retrograde amnesia of variable extent and severity-The degree depends on the extent of brain
damage
4. Preserved global intellectual abilities
5. Preserved implicit memory

Question 22

Korsakoff’s syndrome.

How is retrograde memory loss affected?
How working memory and procedural memory affected?
What is 3 words learning task?

Answer 22

Korsakoff’s syndrome: It is a form of an amnesic syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency. The patient
may have severe anterograde amnesia and extensive retrograde memory loss. This retrograde memory
loss includes autobiographical memory loss with relative sparing of the most distant memories. Working
memory and procedural memory are unimpaired. Bedside tests: Three words learning task (e.g. apple, table,
penny) is a test of anterograde memory and learning, useful to investigate Korsakoff’s syndrome.

Question 23

What is PTA and how can you use it to predict prognosis?

Answer 23

Post-traumatic amnesia: The time between the injury and recovery of normal continuous memory, seen in
head injury patients. The longer the PTA, the more severe the brain damage and poorer the prognosis for
the recovery.

PTA Retrograde amnesia is also possible after head injury – tested with recent
autobiographical questions (what did you eat for dinner yesterday?). In most cases, the amnesic gap is
short and (< 1 min). It is not a good indicator of prognosis

Question 24

How does ECT impact memory?

Answer 24

Memory loss following ECT: The impairment is usually temporary. There may be both anterograde and
retrograde amnesia, both of which reduce rapidly in most patients. A third of patients report persistent
memory loss following ECT (Rose et al. 2003). Memory impairment is less pronounced with unilateral
ECT

Question 25

Tests of memory.

Digit span

3 words learning task

Name and address recall task

Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test

Wechsler memory tests

Answer 25

Digit span is the commonest test of auditory, verbal working memory. Both forward and backward digit span are
tested in routine clinical practice. The average range of digit forwards is 6+/-1 and for reverse digit span is 5+/-1

Three words learning task (e.g. apple, table, penny) is a test of anterograde memory and learning.

Name and address recall task (7 items) is the commonest test of recent (verbal) memory. Here the subject is asked to
recall as many items, without prompts, in five or ten minutes

Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test is one of non-verbal memory test. Here the subject is first asked to copy a complex
geometric figure and then to draw from memory after an interval of 30 minutes. The recall is impaired in patients
with dementia and amnesic syndrome.

Wechsler memory tests: Here the subject is asked to read a short story from the Wechsler memory scale containing 25
elements and both immediate and delayed recall after an interval of 30 minutes is tested.

Question 26

What is the average age of earliest retrieved memory?

Answer 26

Infantile amnesia: The average age of the earliest retrieved memory is 3.5 years. There is a total lack of
memories for events occurring during the first few years of life, and there is a variable degree of amnesia
for events that occurred in the first 2 to 5 years. This is termed infantile amnesia.

Question 27

Mood congruent effect

Answer 27

The mood-congruent effect refers to the
ability to more easily recall information if it is congruent with the current mood e.g. in a depressed mood,
negative thoughts and circumstances are more readily retrieved.

Question 28

Mood state dependent retrieval

Answer 28

Mood-state dependent retrieval refers to
the phenomenon wherein retrieval of information is easier if the emotional state at the time is the same as
the emotional state at the time of encoding.

Question 29

Elaboration

Answer 29

Elaboration: Material that is fully elaborated produces stronger memory trace as it is believed that
consolidation is linked to the depth with which the data is processed.

Question 30

Schemas

Answer 30

Schemas are mechanisms for elaborating and for reconstructing memory at test. They are organized sets
of facts. During recall, distortion can occur in order to ensure the information fit the schemas or to fit
cultural stereotypes. This then impacts the recall of the information.

Question 31

Inference

Answer 31

Inference is a method where known, easily accessible information is used to piece together the retrieved
information, resulting in a biased recall

Question 32

What area of the brain mediates performance in STM

Answer 32

Mainly pre frontal lobes

Question 33

What area of the brain mediates the phonological system?

STM

Answer 33

Left hemisphere (but not always) regions of broca’s area and the pre frontal cortex

Question 34

What area of the brain mediates visuospatial system?

STM

Answer 34

Parietal and prefrontal area of right hemisphere.

Question 35

What area of brain are responsible for LTM?

Answer 35

the regions of the limbic system especially the

hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex of the medial temporal lobe