CH4-6 Flashcards
Characteristics of STM
Limited Capacity
Limited duration
Distinct from LTM
Span task
to test STM capacity.
Letters coming up in ordera nd you have to repeat as many as you can
Miller’s magic number
7 +/- 2
STM chunk allowance
So the more you know, the better able you are to use these chunks effectively
Brown-Peterson-Peterson task
shown three letters followed by a large number to count back from by 3s.
Shows that in the absence of rehearsal, STM duration is less than 30 seconds.
Serial position effect
The U shaped curve of how we remember things in lists.
Primacy and recency effects account for high recall.
Support the idea that LTM and STM are distinct (primacy due to LTM and recency due to STM)
Primacy effect
things at the beginning of a list are remembered better because (1) they don’t compete with any other items and (2) they are rehearsed more frequently
Recency effect
Things presented recently are remembered well
Still fresh in STM
semantics
meaning of words or sentences
Proactive interference
people have troublel earning new material when previously learned material keep interfering with new learning.
eg. if last trial was diff category than first trials, there will be better recall - release from proactive interference
Modal Model
Atkinson Schiffrin Model
STM is fragile and those memories lost in 30 seconds if not rehearsed
Control processes can be used to improve memory.
Criticisms of Modal Model
STM depicted as a single entity - if this were true, two tasks that need STM would interfere.
Baddeley’s WM Model
WM isn’t just a passive store house. It is where we manipulate information
- Multi-component system
- Central exec with 3 slave systemsL phonological loop, episodic buffer, visuo-spatial sketchpad.
Evidence of Baddeley’s WM model
People can do verbal (counting) tasks while also doing spatial reasoning tasks. Therefore, WM must have multiple components that operate somewhat independently of one another.
Phonological loop
brain regions?
Can process a limited number of sounds for a short period of time.
Activate frontal lobe and part of temporal lobe in left hemisphere of brain
Phonological store
limited duration phonological code.
- The mind’s ear
- holds info in the form of speech sounds
- visual info must be recoded before it can be stored here
- similar sounds interfere here and are harder to remember (B and C)
The articulatory loop
brain regions?
the mind’s voice - subvocal rehearsal
- lights up Broca’s area - speech production
- Recodes visual info into phonological info
- articulatory suppression - you can interfere with the artic loop by repeating other speech sounds in your head.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
brain regions?
Represents visual and spatial information
- recodes verbal information
- visual interference (eyes open) prevents visualizing
- Rehearse info here using covert attention shifting from place to place in visual image - activity in frontal and parietal loves (areas of attention)
- activity in the visual cortex, contralateral to the side of the FoV where the object is in the mind
- spatial tasks activate right hemisphere
- WM takss with visual components activate occipital region
Episodic buffer
combine info from phonological loop and VS sketchpad and LTM
- ALso carries temporal information (time_
- Manipulated info to interpret earlier experiences, solve new problems and plan future activities
- binds chunks to optimize memory
Central Exec
brain regions?
- manipulate and coordinate info from phonological loop, VSA sketchpad, Episodic memory and LTM
- Suppress irrelevant info
- activate dorsal prefrontal cortex
- involved in daydreaming
How do we know that LTM and WM interact?
Semantic effects on WM
- Words easier to remember than nonwords bc they mean something to us/we have seen them before
proactive interference
- LTM impaired by repeated storage of similar concepts
WM and academic performance
- high WM correlated w overall intelligence
- high phonological test scores = good reading skills
- ADHD correlated w difficulties w central exec tasks (response inhibition, planning)
Major Depression and WM
Depressed patients had less phonological loop ability
- reduced VS sketchpad
- normal scores for Brown-Peterson-Peterson
- Reflect trouble concentrating in depression
Total time hypothesis
time spent studying ha something to do with amount learned
BUT THIS IS WRONG
Deep processing in study is much more important.
Deep levels of processing facilitate learning because of two processes
elaboration and distinctiveness
Elaboration
relate to prior knowledge
Distinctiveness
one memory trace should be different from all other memory traces
Shallow vs deep processing
deep refers to contacting stored knowledge.
the more you know the more you can remember.
self-referencing
The best form of deep processing.
Even better than semantic processing (putting into context/the meaning)
- cognition handles positive instances better than negative. We will remember things that apply to ourselves more than those that done.
generation effect
memory improved when you generate information yourself.
It is effortful and requires elaboration on the meaning.
Eg. Taking your own lecture notes.
Production effect
Relies on relative distinctiveness
Making something distinctive in some way.
Sing the word you need to remember.
Encoding specificity principle
concept
an example
Recall is better when the context at encoding is the same as the context at test.
- when you lose your keys you retrace your steps hoping that the context will help you remember the content.
- can override levels of processing
Transfer appropriate processing
Processing at study = processing at test
You alter study strategies according to the type of exam.
Retrieval practice effect
repeated retrieval of information is more important than repeated study.
Try retrieving at increasing intervals.
distributed practice effect
you will remember more material if you spread learning over time.
massed-learning (cramming) is ineffective.
- Release from proactive interference
- More attention because the information is novel
- Different context in study means different retrieval cues
- distributed practice produces desireable difficulties. It is a little too hard, but you can overcome it and it helps you learn
- delay of at least 1 day bt studying is most effective
testing effect
testing helps learning more than repeated study even when feedback is not given
- distinguished from retrieval practice because you are specifically tested.
- people who study and restudy will do better initially, but over time the people doing tests will do better.
overconfidence
- people think they have great memory of their life experiences
- foresight bias - when people have been studying, they think they are overconfident about how well they will do on a future exam.
- students at the bottom half of grade distrib are especially bad for this.
- due to the fact that studens make these judgements of learning too close to their study episodes.
keyword method
identify an english word that sounds like the word you need to know and then create an image of those things interacting
method of loci
a space you know realy well with items attached to locations.
Remember by walking through the space.
chunking - organization
combine small units into one larger unit.
eg making meaningful strins out of meaningless letters
hierarchy
a system in which itens are arranged into a series of classes, from general to most specific
- allows you to see relationships bt things
- why textbook headings are useful
first-letter technique
acronyms - RICE
Acrostics - King Philip Cried Out….
common but not necessarily the most effective.
retrospective memory
remembering info from the past
prospective memory
remembering that you will have to do somehting in the future.
most common memory lapses here.
usually focuses on action, not information like retrospective memory
- research here focuses on ecological validity
absentmindedness and prospective memory failure
- divided attention - we plan tasks while we are doing something else
- failures in prospective memory much more common when we are in a highly familiar situation
external memory aids
super useful for recalling prospective memory tasks
any device that helps memory (list, clock etc)
types of LTM
procedural
semantic
episodic
autobiographical
procedural memory
how to do something
semantic memory
all of the words you know, their meanings and relationships. Encyclopaedic
Episodic memory
events from our lives. The content of the memory as well as the context of its formation.
autobiographical memory
about you as a person.
autobiographical semantic - you first elementary school
Autobiographical episodic - family day in grade 4
Incidental learning
Netflix.
You remember a show because you paid attention and processed it deeply.
Intentionality in encoding
effortful learning
levels of processing LTM
structural < phonemic < semantic
we remember semantic processed words the best. Focus on the meaning. When we make contact with stored knowledge for meaning we integrate info in a meaningful way.
Why is self referencing helpful? (4)
Cuing - highly discriminable retrieval cues
Elaboration - consider the fine details of whether it refers to you
Rehearsal - we rehearse things related to self more frequently
Organizaton - concepts of the self are highly orgnaized
brain activity in deep processing and self referencing
left prefrontal cortex active in deep processing and even more active in self-referencing.
Caveats of the encoding specificity principle
- OUTSHINING - physical context is relatively weak. Easily outshone by other retrieval cues
- CONTEXT - psychological context > phsycial context
Encoding specificity principle is most likely to occur in memory tasks that
- assess recall
- use real-life incidents
- examine events that happened long ago
Pollyanna principle
the things we feel more positive about are easier to retrieve. Especially after long periods of time.
mood
sustained disposition
emotion
psychological reaction to physiological arousal / stimulus
Mood dependent memory
Your mood creates a context for encoding and retrieval
- eg having a fight and bringing up everything else
Mood congruent memory
You recall material more accurately if it is congruent with your mood
- depressed people tend to remember sad words better and less words overall
unpleasant memories fade more readily than pleasant memories
direct tests
make explicit reference to a previous learning episode
indirect tests
implicit memory tasks
make no reference to prior learning. Don’t let them know that they are remembering
lexical decision
word scrambles and fill in the blanks.
you will fill in words or answer better when the words are in your memory recently.
implicit memory
perceptual / repetition priming
tests:
because you have seen that stimulus before, you will be faster at responding to that stimulus when you see it again
tests:
- stem completion: sem____
- speeded word reading. You are faster at saying a word when you remember it
dissociation
occurs when a variable has a large effect on Test A, but little or no effects in test B.
- implicit memory just as good for semantic and perceptual encoding. Unlike explicit memory.
Anxiety disorders and explicit memory tasks
highly anxious recall negative words more
recognition words the same
Anterograde amnesia brain
medial temporal lobe damage
HM
had part of temporal lobe and hippocampus removed to reduce epilepsy.
Still had procedural knowledge and implicit memory of past tasks
Clive Wearing symptoms
Lost ability to form LTM
STM was fine.
Can play music that he hasn’t seen before - indirect memory access.
Anterograde amnesia symptoms
loss of memory for future events;
Do poorly with explicit memory, but fine with implicit memory tasks;
Experts
Have extensive knowledge in an area due to intensive, long-term, deliberate practice;
Do not demonstrate exceptional general memory or intelligence;
own ethnicity bias
also applies for age groups. young people discriminate bt young people better.
People typically have more interactions with people from their own ethnic group.
Autobiographical memory
- research here tends to be high in ecological validity
- Schemas shape our memories.
- consistency bias as a result of our self-schemas
Schemas
your general knowledge or expectation, derived from past experiences
Consistency bias (autobiographical memory)
We fail to recognize that we have a schema of who we ware. We imagine that we are more consistent over time than we actually are.
Source Monitoring
You forget who came up with an idea and attribute it to yourself or someone else.
reality monitoring
whether or not something actully happened.
You could have thought about doing that thing or dreamed about it.
flashbulb memories
memory for the circumstance in which you first learned about a very surprising or emotionally arousing event.
Not actually special. Number of consistencies in recall decreases over time
False memories
Cognition is ACTIVE
Memories are constructive
Confidence is not a good predictor of memory accuracy.
HUge consequences on testimony.
eyewitness testimony
challenges from what we have learned
- over-confidence in memory; especially autobiographic memory
- Schemas alter recall
- Faulty source monitoring - may believe that they witnessed something that was suggested to them
- Post-event misinformation fan distort recall
post-event misinformation effect
people first view the event, then are given misleading information about the event.
Later on, they mistakenly recall the misleading info, rather than what they actually saw.
- possibly due to retroactive interference. Trouble recalling older memories when new information is interfering
Constructivist approach
to false memory
- our memory is constructued by binding information from a variety of sources.
more mistakes made in testimony when (5)
- the crime was witnessed in a stressful circumstance
- there is a long delay between witnessing and testimony
- misinformation is plausible
- Social pressure
- Witneses are given positive feedback.
testimony is more accurate when (3)
- they are encouraged to tell in their won words
- they are able to take their time
- they are allowed to say ‘I don’t know;
Recovered-memory perspective
some individuals who have experienced sexual abuse during childhood forget that memory for many years.
- betrayal trauma
false-memory perspective
most recovered memories are actually incorrect memories. This is possible in a lab setting, though, uncommon
betrayal trauma
the child depends on a trusted adult and must actively inhibit memories of abuse in order to maintain an attachment to the person.
daydreaming
central executive - dorsal prefrontal cortex
