chapter 2, 3, 4 Flashcards
cascading processes
for every complex memory process there are probably both parallel and serial components intermixed
chaining models
a measure of the duration of a particular process can be found by obtaining two measurements of time that include the process and subtracting one from the other
- recall cannot continue if you cant rmb one item
- difficult to cope with repeating items (if there is more than one of the same item in the sequence)
chunking
individual pieces of an information set are bound together into a meaningful whole, taking smaller units of info and group them into larger units
- prior knowledge guides chunking, identify patterns
echo
sound
echoic memory
memory relating to sounds and what you hear
fixation
when the eye gaze stays at a particular area for around 300ms
haptic sensory memory
memory based on the sense of touch
icon
symbol, thing
iconic memory
visual sensory memory
inhibition model
the idea is that as we go through a list, the retrieval process selects the most active or accessible item, which is usually the first in the series. As each is retrieved and reported, it is inhibited and activation is sent to the next item in the order, which is now the most active. Inhibition keeps prior items from being recalled again
interference
(proactive) interference is when there is a reduction in memeory performance for recentkh learned information resulting from the prior learning of related materials
interference: information in STM interferes with or in some way blocks, displaces, or otherwise hinders the retrieval of other information
object files
individual objects or entities serve as the basis for how we assemble our understanding of the visual world -> provide a link from visual information to higher-order cognition
ordinal models
order is represented by the relative positions along a dimension, the order is dependent on the others unlike in positional where the slots and blocks are independent of each other
parallel search
all the items in short-term memory are available more or less at once and accessed in parallel
perturbation model
information is organized as a hierarchy of chunks, every item is regulated by a control unit that manages the chunk. These control units themselves may be grouped together by higher-order control units -> like a hierarchical branching model
positional models
serial order is conveyed by associating each item with its position in a sequence
- slot-based models assume that short-term memory is a series of ordered slots and that information is dropped into each one as it is encountered
primacy effect
can rmb the items in the earlier portion of the set and this is due to rehearsal leading to these items being stored in the LTM
protrusion
an item from a previous series is misremembered in the current one
recency effect
can rmb things toward the end of the set due to items being held in STM
repetition blindness
we “do not see” the repeated item in the sequence because we have seen it before
saccade
rapid eye movements, the eye only stays at one are for 30ms, no visual inof is gathered
sensory registers
visual: eyes
echo: ears
touch: skin
serial exhaustive search
go through the entire list, even once you found the probe, you still keep going
serial position curve
u shape, can rmb more of the front and end of the list which shows the primacy and recency effect
serial self-terminating search
go through the items one at a time until you find the probe
short-term memory
responsible for processing and retaining info beyond the sensory registers
7 +-2 and arnd 30s
slot-based models
positional models
suffix effect
anything after the list you are supp to memorise will act as a distracter
size of the suffix effect is related to the nature of the suffix: when the suffix was human speech, the recency effect was reduced, but not when it was an unrelated sound, like a buzzer
synesthesia
some people rmb words or numbers differently, they attribute certain colours to them thus help them rmb it better (for STM)
likely causes of synesthesia
- decreased ability to sufficiently suppress inappropriate feedback loops in perception
- an incomplete pruning of cortical connections during development
trans-saccadic memory
keeps track of basic characteristics of an object
- works better if the object is in focus rather than in the background
- you cannot do some kinds of thinking while your eyes are moving (eg, visual manipulation, spinning an object in mind while shifting your gaze)
- the execution of an eye movement and active operation of trans-saccadic memory puts other memory processes on hold while the eyes do their thing → maybe bc the same part of memory is needed to do both
acetylcholine (Ach)
when enhanced, memory can improve, may work to enhance the strength of synaptic potentials during long-term potentiation (LTP)
action potential
electrical transmission of information (within the neuron), all-or-nothing, does not exist in the entire body of the neuron at once –> there is a wave of activity flowing down the axon
- when the neuron if not being stimulated, it has a resting potential of -70mV, when stimulated, there is a depolarisation shift in the positive direction, electrical charge may reach -50mV, then shift to +40mV
- after the neuron fires, there is a brief recovery period during which it prepares itself to fire again and rests itself at the resting potential of -70mV
- when neuron fires, sodium ions in the surrounding extracellular fluid flood into the neuron because the depolorisation of the neuron causes dosium gates on the cell membrane to open, sodium ions (Na+) are positively charged and this is why there is an electrical change from -70 to +40mV during an action potential
- after this wave of sodium entering the cell, there is a 2nd wave of potassium ions forced out of the cell, and this is part of the beginning process of the cell recovering its resting potential
amygdala
almond-shaped structure below the hippocampus, involved in processing emotional aspects of memory
axon
protrude out, transmit info out of the neuron to either neurons, muscles or glands
basal ganglia
collection of subcortical structures (caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus) located above the thalamus, important for motor memories (control of voluntary muscle groups) eg. knowing how to ride a bike
- impt for procedural memories (habits and motor skills), non-conscious
- nuclues accumbens detects unexpected events (surprises) and triggers further processing in the hippocampus
cerebellum
located at the back of the brain, looks like a little brain, also wrinkly, associated with complex motor and coordination, procedural skills that involve the complex coordination and control of muscles such as walking (also similar to basal ganglia in bike riding, is the procedural memory) is a primitive form of memory
- for fine-grained motor skills
CT scan
(computer-assisted tomography)
show the structure of a brain and can reveal things such as the location of a tumour, damage from a stroke, or the general condition of a brain
default mode network
collection of brain structures whose activity if highly correlated, more active when a person does not have attention strongly engaged in some activity, active when you are day-dreaming or “stoning”
dendrites
extensions on the neurons, receive signals from either sensory cells or other neurons
diencephalon
- involved in memory for conscious, factual knowledge, important in processing info about temporal sequence of events, indirectly involved in controlling the neurotransmitters that are present in the nervous system (has a roundabout influence on memory)
- serves as a routing station for signals from different parts of the brain
dopamine
important for memory processing
EEG
electroencephalography
used to measure event-related potentials (ERP)
good because of the temporal accuracy
emergent property
not a property of individual neurons but it emerges when they work together
event-related desynchronisation (ERD)
when people engaged in a mental activity, there may be a desynchronization
event-related potentials (ERP)
a regular change in the pattern of electrical energy measured as a function of the particular task or event that the person is thinking about
advantage of ERPs is temporal resolution—that is, knowing when things happen
disadvantage is that spatial resolution is poor
event-related synchronisations (ERS)
at rest, synchronization is stable
frontal lobe
involved in control of action, emotion, and thought, help a person select those memories that are most relevant on a given occasion, coordinate various types of information into a coherent memory trace
- critical for working memory
- involved in remembering what we need to do in the future (prospective memory)
- a failure to remember to tell something to someone that happened earlier that you need to tell now (eg telling your roomie that her mum called earlier) is a problem with memory processes controlled by the frontal lobe
fMRI
uses the detection of oxygen atoms as a measure of mental activity
good because of the quick results (within seconds) and no need to inject radiation unlike in PET
GABA
gamma-amino butyric acid
an inhibitory neurotransmitter critically involved in new memory formation
strongly related to glutamate, works as the opposite of Glu
glutamate (Glu)
critical excitatory neurotransmitter involved in the alteration of synapses and creating new memories
hippocampus
- important for conscious memories of events, strongly related to LTP, able to retain info for up to several weeks
- serve as a waystation for knowledge on the journey to permanent encoding
- specialized for processing and binding conjunctions of stimuli that appear together in the environment
hypothalamus
serves as a routing station for signals from different parts of the brain
intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG)
electrodes embedded in the medial temporal lobe or hippocampus used for single-cell recording
laterality
dominance of one hemisphere over the other
long-term depression (LTD)
weakens connections between neurons, which can also be important for learning
long-term potentiation (LTP)
connections being altered to be encoded into memory, LTP strengthens the connections between neurons by altering the ease with which postsynaptic neurons will fire, strengthening of neural connections in response to experience
(kind of like strengthening the connection between the nodes? but then it only lasts for a few weeks)
MRI
magnetic resonance imaging
MRI works with the resonant frequencies of different molecules in the brain.
1. a person is placed in a strong, controlled magnetic field
2. this magnetic field affects the spin of all of the atoms of a certain type in the body, such as all of the hydrogen atoms, causing the protons in those atoms to line up along a specific axis, with about half oriented in each direction along that axis.
3. a radio frequency pulse is passed through the body, causing unmatched protons to spin in a different direction at a specific frequency
4. concurrently, a set of gradient magnets are cycled on and off, which alter the primary magnetic field, allowing images or slices of the brain to be acquired. When this pulsing stops, the hydrogen atoms go back to their normal state and release the energy absorbed from the pulses. (this is the resonance in MRI)
5. energy is detected by the coils in the machine and sent to a computer for analysis. The computer then interprets the data and creates the MRI image.
good to use bc of the clarity (high quality image)
MEG
magnetoencephalography
uses magnetic fields to measure cortical electrical activity
subtractive method is used here to find out which part of the brain is active during a task by comparing it to when the brain is at rest
good spatial and temporal resolution
myelin sheath
insulating layer wrapped around the axon
neurogenesis
process by which new neurons are formed in the brain, this may aid in the formation of permanent memories
- neurons will die
- if you continue to learn, you grow more neurons and this aids in memory
neuron
specialised cell for transmission and retention of information
the fundamental unit of the brain, it transmits information through electrical pulses and neurotransmitters
neurotranmsitters
chemicals that are used to send signals to other neurons
nodes of ranvier
gaps that facilitate the transmission of info within the neuron, neural signal jumps from one node to another, distance travelled is shorter, transmission is faster
norepinephrine
involved in the consolidation of memories
occipital lobe
involved in visual processing
- more of perception than memory
- detect features in the environment but the sensitivity to these features is based on experiences with the world
parietal lobe
sensory processing from throughout the body as well as spatial processing
- working memory processes for visual memory or the spatial manipulation of information
- includes doing tasks that involves mental imagery such as scanning a mental image
PET
positron emission tomography
1. people are injected with a radioactive isotope of oxygen (15O), this isotope decays (to 16O)
2. once the isotope is in the bloodstream, people are placed in a scanner that measures the levels of the isotope in the brain
good spatial resolution
bad bc takes a long time, bad temporal resolution
reconsolidation
when a consolidated memory is being remembered
- reactivated memory is reconsolidated
- this memory enters a fluid, malleable state where it can be changed
single-cell recording
researcher is able to determine when the cell fires
each time the electrical charge flows down the axon it is recorded (this also picks up activity of other neurons in the proximity of the probe)
the experimenter then has the subject engage in the task of interest, watching to see how the firing pattern of that individual cell changes
soma
cell body of a neuron
special populations
people who have a neurological condition to provide useful data
subtractive method
scans are taken both when people are doing the mental activity of interest as well as a control condition in which they are not thinking about anything in particular. The brain activity of the control condition is subtracted from the activity recorded during the process of interest. The difference in activity tells the researchers which parts of the brain are more or less active for that type of processing.
synapse
the gap in between neurons (specifically the terminal button and dendrite)
synaptic consolidation
the creation of relatively enduring memories that have just been actively thought about, occurs in the hippocampus through LTP
- relatively rapid process that involves information that is currently active in the firing neural assemblies of short-term/working memory
- memories may be retained for a few days or weeks. However, this type of consolidation is transient and is not the final permanent storage of memories
systems consolidation
memory traces become more permanent, retention is up to years
- first we encode, then the “sense” of memories (visual, audio, touch) are reactivated in the diff parts of the brain and connects them together to make one cohesive memory (and this is facilitated by the hippocampus)
temporal lobe
auditory processing and retaining knowledge about the identity of things in the world
- most closely associated with memory
- they surround the hippocampus
- where many long-term memories may be stored, damage to this part may result in memory loss
- involved in remembering events from one’s own life (autobiographical memory), may also be the source of remembering ideas related to concepts you are pondering at the time (priming)
terminal buttons
ends of the axon, where neurotransmitters reside
thalamus
serves as a routing station for signals from different parts of the brain
transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)
tDCS but alternating current
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
an electric current is applied to the scalp, this direct current (DC) is applied for several minutes, often using a 9-volt battery. This mild electric current passes through the head from the anode to the cathode of the device, stimulating the underlying neurons
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
transcranial magnetic stimulation
TMS uses electromagnetic induction to create a magnetic field to alter the electrical charges of the neurons in a targeted part of the brain, thereby exciting those neurons. This either further enhances the processing of those cells or takes out that region as a kind of temporary lesion in otherwise normal brains.
good bc it allows researcher to explore how different parts of the brain are used in different tasks by selectively affecting neurons in various areas
transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS)
similar to tACS
additive factors logic
the critical stage of interest (factor X) is always present
the degree of involvement varies, by looking at the differences between conditions, one can get an estimate of the influence of each increment of complexity
automaticity of encoding
information is remembered with little effort
concreteness effect
concrete materials are rmbed better than abstract ones
converging operations
the use of multiple approaches and techniques to address a problem
correct rejection
a ‘new’ item viewed as ‘no, never seen before’ by participant
cued recall
using targets or probes to trigger memory, retrieval cue controls context
- eg paired association tests
direct memory task
to test for explicit memory
- give a list to rmb and tell participants that they will be tested on it
discrimination
the degree to which old items can be distinguished from new ones in memory
dual code theory
people store information in memory in at least two forms: a verbal/linguistic code of what they are reading or hearing and a mental image code that they create from their imaginations
elaborative rehearsal
you memorise something by expanding on it, eg by giving it meaning or connecting it with info you alr know
enactment effect
the phenomenon that physically performing an action represented by a word or phrase (e.g., clap, clap your hands) results in better memory than does simply reading it
false alarm
saying ‘yes, i rmb this item’ to a ‘new’ item
forced-choice recognition
eg is MCQ
- allows researcher to manipulate the incorrect items in terms of the degree to which they resemble the correct one
- provide insight into what kinds of knowledge people are using at retrieval
free recall
eg essay qn in exams
report as much info as you can
functional stimulus
in stimulus–response experiments, the characteristic of the stimulus that actually produces a particular effect on the organism and governs its behavior
generation effect
a phenomenon where information is better remembered if it is generated from one’s own mind rather than simply read
hindsight bias
tendency to distort memories do they conform to one’s current goals, circumstances, or knowledge
hypermnesia
opposite of amnesia
you rmb it more, the more times you rmb it
increased memory over multiple attempts, rate of memory gains > memory loss, ppl rmb more and more each time they recall smthg
incidental learning
unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities
eg rmb words from a list bc you asked if this word rhymes with paper or etc AND participants were not told that they are to memorise the words, they are not told that they are gg to be tested
indirect memory test
to test incidental learning, most of the time they use primes
intentional learning
purposely memorise bc you are gg to be tested on it
intrusions
errors of commission (information that is reported, but was not, in fact, part of the event), extra info that is not accurate
Jost’s Law
- for memories of a similar strength, the older memories decay slower than the newer memories
- the rate of forgetting captured in the power function grows smaller and smaller
- the rate of forgetting is not constant but slows down as the memories become older (and not yet forgotten)
levels of processing
- the deeper the information is processed, the more likely it will be remembered
- structural: capital letters → least recognised
- phonemic: rhyme
- category: type (eg is the word a type of fish?)
- sentence: would the word fit in the sentence → best level of recogniton
- applies to both intentional and incidental learning
metamemory
thinking about your memory
the introspective knowledge of one’s own memory capabilities (and strategies that can aid memory) and the processes involved in memory self-monitoring
mirror effect
conditions that decreased in hit rates are accompanied by increased false alarm rates, and vice versa
→ you forget more, so you miss more but as you forget, its like u even forgot that u have never seen this thing before and you say u have resulting in a false alarm, so basically ur memory is opposite, what is old, u say no I nvr see before, what is new, u say yes I’ve seen before
nominal stimulus
in stimulus–response experiments, the stimulus as defined and presented by the experimenter
old-new recognition
shown items and ask yes/no if you have seen this item before from the list presented beforehand
susceptible to guessing
hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection
overlearning
continued study after one already knows the material, occurs when ppl continue to study info after it is alr possible to recall it without errors, this could cause the forgetting curve to lesson and possibly disappear, info become chronically available and resistant to forgetting, eg ABCs
Pollyanna principle
the tendency for people to remember positive items more accurately than negative ones
priming
a phenomenon whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention
process dissociation procedure
a model for separating automatic and controlled contributions to responses in a single task
- to distinguish between intentional and incidental learning
production effect
what is said aloud is rmbed better vs what is just read (also works with mouthed or writing or typing)
pupillometry
involves recording the size of people’s pupils and assessing how the size changes in different conditions
- pupils are larger when there is greater mental effort and for things that are better remembered later
quasi-experiment
a type of research design that attempts to establish a cause-and-effect relationship, the main difference with a true experiment is that the groups are not randomly assigned, rather they are grouped by things like age or SES (things that cannot be controlled for
recall order
the order in which people report things on a free recall test
can give insights on how memories are structured
reminiscence
remembering previously forgotten info
retention curve
also known as forgetting curve
the more time has passed, the less likely people will rmb, ppl forget more as time passes
like an L shape
rote rehearsal
remembering by simply repeating
retrieval plan
savings
information has been learned and forgotten, people require less effort to learn it a second time
- if it took you ten repetitions to learn something the first time and only three repetitions the second time, this would be a saving of seven
signal detection theory
to assess the ability to detect the signal (an accurate memory) from the noise (inaccurate memories)
2 humbs curve where the intersection overlap is the d’ (discrimination) and B is bias
B, bias in signal detection theory (the 2 hump graph)
if B is more to the right, more responses are considered ‘new’ when they are not, and less are considered as ‘old’, thus this is a conservative view
if B is more to the left, there are less ‘new’ and more ‘old’ when there is not, so essentially, you are making more false alarms so this is a liberal view
speed-accuracy tradeoff
the tendency for decision speed to covary with decision accuracy
subtractive factors logic
(for RT) a measure of the duration of a particular process can be found by obtaining two measurements of time that include the process and subtracting one from the other
similar for brain imaging -> to find out which parts if the brain are active when involved in one task
mental whiteboard hypothesis
assumes that we track serial position using embodied, spatial processes to keep track of where something is in a sequence
-> basically our brain and memory is like a whiteboard where we store and process info from left to right and top to bottom
encoding
studying a list of words
retention interval
doing another task as a distractor in between encoding and retrival
forced recall
forced to recall a certain amount
weaker memories are revealed
intrusions are more likely and are informative, guesses reveal how memory operates
mental chronometry
the time ut takes ro perform operations, more complex and unfamiliar stimuli take more time
