Chapter 5: Memory Flashcards
1
Q
Memory
A
- An active process that encodes, stores and retrieves information acquired through learning when required
- Described as the neurological representation of learning
2
Q
Encoding, storage and retrieval
A
- Encoding – conversion of info into a usable form so that it can be neurologically represented and stored in memory
- Storage – retention of encoded information over time
- Retrieval – recovery of stored information and bringing it into conscious awareness for use
NOTE: Encoding occurs in both short-term and long-term memory.
3
Q
Atkinson–Shiffrin multi-store model
A
- Represents and explains memory as consisting of three components: sensory, short-term and long-term
- Each component differs in function, capacity and duration, however, they interact and operate simultaneously
4
Q
Attention, rehearsal, encoding and retrieval
A
- Attention: sensory → STM
- Rehearsal: STM → STM
- Encoding: STM → LTM
- Retrieval: LTM → STM
5
Q
Sensory memory
2 types: iconic and echoic
A
- Briefly stores new incoming sensory info in its orginal state
- Enables us to perceive the world around us as continuous
- Capacity: vast, potentially unlimited
- Duration: 0.2-4 seconds (cannot be extended)
6
Q
Iconic and echoic memory
A
-
Iconic – stores visual sensory information
- Capacity: unlimited
- Duration: about 1/3 of a second
-
Echoic – stores auditory sensory information
- Capacity: unlimited
- Duration: about 3-4 seconds
7
Q
Short term memory (STM)
‘Working memory’
A
- Temporarily stores a limited amount of info that is being consciously attented to & actively manipulated
- Contains information from both sensory and LTM
- Capacity: 7 ± 2 items
- Duration: up to about 30 seconds (longer if renewed)
8
Q
Chunking
A
- Grouping separate pieces of info into larger ‘chunks’
- Increases the capacity of STM
9
Q
Decay and displacement
STM
A
- Decay – when information is not renewed (e.g. via maintenance rehearsal) and is forgotten over time
- Displacement – pushing old items of info out when new info is introduced, given that STM is at maximum capacity
10
Q
Maintenance and elaborative rehearsal
A
- Maintenance – repeatedly saying or thinking about info to prevent decay; keeps info in STM
- Elaborative – encodes new info (makes it more meaningful) by linking it to info already held in LTM
NOTE: Elaborative rehearsal is more effective at transferring info to LTM.
11
Q
Long term memory (LTM)
2 types: explicit and implicit memory
A
- Stores info for re-access and use at a later time
- Some information can be lost or inaccessible over time
- Capacity: potentially unlimited
- Duration: very long time (possibly permanently)
12
Q
Explicit memory
‘Memory with awareness’ or ‘declerative memory’
A
- LTM that can be consciously retrieved and stated
- Divided into episodic and semantic memory
- E.g. your birthday party, identifying a dog breed
13
Q
Episodic memory
A
- Long-term explicit memory of personal experiences associated with a particular time and place
- E.g. remembering what you had for breakfast this morning
14
Q
Autobiographical memory
A
- Consists of episodes recollected from one’s life; based on a combination of episodic and semantic memories
- E.g. memory of the first day at school can include meeting the teacher (episodic) and the knowledge that the teacher’s name was Ms Smith (semantic)
NOTE: It is a type of explicit memory.
15
Q
Semantic memory
A
- Long-term explicit memory of facts and knowledge
- Does not include details of time and place
- E.g. meaning of words, rules, concepts, areas of expertise
16
Q
Implicit memory
‘Memory without awareness’ or ‘non-declarative memory’
A
- LTM that does not require conscious retrieval
- Divided into procedural and CC memory
- E.g. driving a car, brushing your teeth, fears, taste aversions
17
Q
Procedural memory
A
- Long-term implicit memory of skills that have been learned previously (often difficult to put into words)
- Often include motor or muscle memories
- E.g. using chopsticks, riding a bike, knowing how to read
18
Q
Classically conditioned memory
A
- Long-term implicit memory of conditioned responses particularly those involving fear or anxiety
- E.g. Little Albert’s fear of white rats, feeling nauseous at the sight of oysters (taste aversions)
19
Q
Hippocampus
A
- Deep in the medial temporal lobe + part of limbic system
- Forms, encodes and consolidates new explicit memories
- Transfers consolidated memories to neocortex for LT storage
- Does not store memory itself in the long term
- Also important for spatial memory (physical location of objects in space) which enables us to learn and remember locations
- Essential for consolidation of episodic / autobiographical mem
NOTE: We have one in each cerebral hemisphere.
20
Q
Damage to the hippocampus
A
- No new explicit memories can be formed
- No information can be passed from STM to LTM
- Leading contributor to Alzheimer’s disease
21
Q
Consolidation
A
- The neurobiological process of making a newly formed memory stable and enduring after a learning experience
- Once consolidated, memories are not necessarily fixed (open to reconsolidation)
22
Q
Amygdala
A
- Next to the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe
- Processes and regulates emotions (particularly fear and anger) and forms and consolidates emotional memories
- Involved in the formation of classically conditoned fear responses involving implicit memory (e.g. Little Albert)
- Does not permanently store emotional memories
NOTE: We have one in each cerebral hemisphere.
23
Q
Damage to the amygdala
A
- No acquisition of CC fear responses
- No memory of emotional elements of explicit memories
24
Q
How does the amygdala enhance memory?
A
- Adds emotional context to explicit memories and works w the HC to ↑ consolidation of emotional events
- Emotionally arousing events are more memorable
- Increased adrenaline and noradrenaline in the amygdala during emotional arousal is believed to signal the HC
25
Q
Flashbulb memory
A
- Vivid and long lasting memory of an emotionally arousing event (often including specific details)
- E.g. someone remembering details about where they were and what they were doing when told about the death of a loved one
26
Q
Neocortex
A
- Wrinkly outer surface of the brain which is the largest & most recently evolved part of the brain
- Stores explicit mems after encoding + transfer by HC
- Memory is distributed throughout it
- Stores motor and CC responses
- Retrieves episodic, autobiographical and semantic info
NOTE: The terms cortex, neocortex and cerebral cortex are used interchangeably.
27
Q
Damage to the neocortex
A
- Damage to a particular part of the cortex is likely to affect the specific function performed by that region
- E.g. damage to the the right frontal lobe would cause difficulty retrieving episodic memories
28
Q
Basal Ganglia
A
- Group of structures (nuclei) deep within the brain
- Encodes and stores implicit mems involving motor skills associated with voluntary movements
- Also plays a role in habituation
29
Q
Habituation (basal ganglia)
A
- Growing accustomed to a situation/stimulus (involves reduced responsiveness following repeated exposure)
- Typically occurs without conscious awareness, thus, memories based on habitutation are considered implicit
- E.g. people living on main roads become habituated to the noise of passing traffic
30
Q
Damage to the basal ganglia
A
- Can be damaged by Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease
- Impairs voluntary movements (e.g. tremors, difficulty walking and coordinating muscle movement)
- Medication that restores basal ganglia dopamine can improve acquisition and retention of simple motor tasks
31
Q
Cerebellum
A
- Located at the base of the brain
- Encodes and coordinates implicit, procedural memories of fine muscle movements (involving posture, balance, timing, speed, ease and fluency)
- Stores simple CC responses e.g. blinking in response to a CS
32
Q
Damage to the cerebellum
A
- Impaired timing and coordination of muscle control
- No acquisition of CC reflexes e.g. eye blink response
33
Q
Alzheimer’s disease
A
- Neurodegenerative disorder involving widespread degeneration of brain neurons which causes ↓ memory and cognitive / social skills + personality changes
- Initially affects STM more than LTM
- Accounts for around 70% of dementia cases
- Can only be confirmed via an autopsy (post-mortem)
- ↓ ability to retrieve long-term memories of autobiographical events and undergo episodic future thinking (constructing imagined futures)
NOTE: Alzeimer’s is both a type and cause of dementia.
34
Q
Causes or characteristics of Alzheimer’s
A
-
Amyloid plaques
- Protein (beta-amyloid) build up between neural synapses
-
Neurofibrillary tangles
- Protein build up within neurons; associated with cell death
-
Imbalance in acetylcholine (NT)
- Neurons that produce acetylcholine are destroyed
-
Cortical shrinkage / brain atrophy
- Progressive neuron damage causes brain tissue to shrink
35
Q
Aphantasia
A
-
Inability to visualise due to function loss in visual cortex
- Either congenital (present from birth) or acquired
- Those with aphantasia may…
- Struggle to recall episodic memories
- Struggle to imagine future or hypothetical events
- Dream less and have trouble recognising faces
- Have a reduced capacity to access other senses
36
Q
Mental imagery (FAQs)
A
- Perception-like experience in our conscious thought in the absence of external sensory stimuli
37
Q
Imagined futures
‘Episodic future thinking’
A
- Mentally experiencing an event that may occur in your personal future by projecting yourself forward in time
- Involves semantic and episodic autobiographical knowledge to create the ‘world’ in which the future thinking occurs
38
Q
How do autobiographical events and imagined futures influence each other? (FAQs)
A
39
Q
Mnemonic
A
- Any technique used to consciously assist memory
- Enhance encoding, storage and retrieval of info
- E.g. acronyms, acrostics, method of loci and songlines
40
Q
Mnemonics in written cultures
A
- Acronym – a pronounceable word formed from the first letters of a group of words (e.g. ANZAC, DRSABCD)
- Acrostic – phrase formed w words including the first letter of each item (e.g. never eat soggy weetbix = north east south west)
- Method of loci – converting items into mental images associated with specific locations
41
Q
How does the MOL improve encoding, storange and retrieval?
A
- Encoding – info is associated with familiar locations, making it more meaningful
- Storage – new info is linked to locations that are already kept in long-term memory
- Retrieval – visualising locations acts as a memory aid (allows the person to recall the associated w/ the spaces)
42
Q
Songlines
Used by oral cultures
A
- Multimodal performances (e.g. songs, dances, narratives) that form a journey, link sites and store knowledge that is passed down through generations
- Incorporates knowledge patterned on Country
43
Q
How do songlines enhance encoding?
A
- Link ideas together
- Facilitative elaborative rehearsal
- Link new ideas to known ideas
44
Q
Differences between songlines and method of loci
A
-
Songlines
- Information is sacred
- Typically sung (rhymical and melodic)
- Encoded through kinship networks
-
Method of loci
- Information is not tied to cultural learning
- Typically not sung
- Encoded individually for individual larning
45
Q
Differences between songlines and acrostics
A
-
Songlines
- Typically sung
- Often increase in content over time
- May contain content from a wide range of topics
-
Acrostics
- Typically not sung
- Do not increase in content over time
- Typically contain content relating to one topic
-
Both
- Act as retrieval cues
- Rely on meaningful connections between words
46
Q
Similarities and differences between people with Alzheimer’s and aphantasia in being able to undergo episodic future thinking
A
- Similarity – both have difficulty with imagined futures
-
Difference – cause of difficulty is different
- Alz – increasing difficulty due to gradual degenaration of neurons (hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum)
- Aph – constant difficulty due to function loss in visual cortex
47
Q
Why are acrostics and acronyms more challenging to use when shared verbally rather than a written list?
A
- They require an understanding of the written spelling of a word
- W/o a visual cue of the first letter, the capacity of one’s STM is more likely to be exceeded
- It can make it harder to encode or retrieve the info
