Chapter 6 Flashcards
Memory
the persistence of learning (knowledge and experiences) through the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved
○ Memory is stored in some kind of chemical code, the nature of which scientists don’t really understand yet
Memory Models
○ Because memory isn’t yet understood, psychologists use “memory models” to help think about how our brain forms and retrieves memories
-Information-Processing Model
-Multi-Store Model
-Working Memory Model
-Levels of Processing Model
Information-Processing Model
Encoding 1
Storage 2
Retrieval 3
Multi-Store Model
○ To explain our memory-forming process, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed a three-stage model in 1968
- Sensory Memory
- Short-Term memory
- long term memory
Encoding
(1st step in information processing model)
i. Modifying information so that it can be placed in memory
Storage
(2nd step in information processing model)
i. Placement and maintenance of information over time
Retrieval
(3rd step in information processing)
i. Locating stored information and returning it to consciousness
ii. To retrieve some information from our memories may rely on proper cues
iii. Metacognition - self-awareness of the ways in which our thinking works (thinking about thinking)
Long-term potential
(LTP) - the biological process for memory by which the synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation (repeated firing)
○ Sensory Memory
-part of multi store model
i. Stage of memory first encountered by a stimulus
a. Holds impressions briefly (about a second), but long enough so that they appear to be connected or fluid (like making a circle with a sparkler)
ii. Sensory Register - registers that can briefly hold info that is entered by means of our senses
a. Psychologists believe there is a sensory register for each of our senses - tactile (touch), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), echoic (auditory), iconic (vision)
○ Short-Term memory
part of multi store model
i. If you focus on a stimulus in the sensory register you will tend to retain it in STM
a. You will hold the in formation for 15-25 seconds after the trace of the stimulus decays
ii. STM acts as a temporary storehouse for small amounts of information
○ Long-Term memory
part of multi store model
i. What we refer to as “photographic memory” (the ability to retain exact mental representations over long periods of time) is actually called eidetic memory/imagery
Working Memory Model
○ Working memory is being favored by current psychologists because it indicated its active role in manipulating and rehearsing the info being held in STM (as opposed to the view that it’s simply a brief storage space for recent thoughts/experiences)
i. WM makes sense of new input and links it with long-term memories - how info is perceived depends on the context and our experiences
ii. Working memory is made up of several components:
a. Central executive: a supervisory system which controls the flow of info and directs attention
b. Phonological loop: stores and rehearses verbal content/auditory info
c. Visuospatial sketchpad: holds and manipulates visual and spatial info
Memory Capacities
George Miller proposed that we can store about 7 (+-2) pieces of information in short term memory
Levels of Processing Model
○ Memory researchers have discovered that we encode verbal information at different levels, and that affects our long-term retention
○ Shallow processing encode words based on their structure, appearance, and sound (all superficial); tends to be maintenance - Ex. Noticing font color, typing there instead of their
○ Deep processing encodes words based on their meaning (semantically); tends to be elaborative
○ The more meaningful the material is to us, and the more we can relate it to information we already know, the better the chance of retention…
Declarative memories
memories of facts and experiences that one can ‘declare/describe’; aka explicit memories
Effortful processing
how we encode explicit memories; (requires our attention)
○ Declarative memories are either semantic or episodic
i. The network that processes and stores new explicit memories for these events and facts includes your frontal lobes and hippocampus
Episodic Memories
i. Memories of events that occur to a person or take place in the person’s presence; aka autobiographical memory
ii. Tends to be ‘I remember’ things
Effortful processing
Semantic Memories
i. Generalized knowledge/ the stuff you learn
ii. Tend to be ‘I know/heard about…’ things
effortful processing
memory consolidation
○ Memories are not stored permanently in the hippocampus - it acts more as a ‘loading dock’ where the brain holds the incoming elements (smell, feel, sound, location, etc.)
-The process of storing memories in various brain regions long-term is called **
ii. Sleep supports the process of memory consolidation, especially deep sleep
Procedural memories
i. Skill memories and incidental info, aka implicit memories
ii. Automatic processing - the unconscious encoding of incidental info (space, time, frequency, and well-learned info such as word meanings)
iii. Even if you do not use the skill, it is unlikely you will forget it over time
iv. Frontal lobe is active, the more you do it aids in muscle memory - shifts to cerebellum
Prospective memory
i. Type of memory related to intended future actions; ‘remember to remember’
ii. This category of memory allows us to accomplish tasks in the future that we aren’t immediately able to take care of
When we forget to do things, we are often left with a feeling of disappointment or guilt
Mnemonic device
any/tool technique to help remember and retrieve info; items are related to vivid imagery or information (such as acronyms, phrases, or jingles)
Method of loci
mentally placing items along a familiar route or associating items with specific locations; aka journey method
Chunking
breaking items into familiar or manageable units
i. Most people tend to be able to recall seven chunks of information +-1
Spacing effect
Information is learned over periodic, spaced intervals – butter for long-term retention; aka distributed practice
i. Note: cramming (massed practice) is shown to be somewhat effective for large amounts of info only needed for a short time
Serial Position Effect
We tend to remember the first and last items of a list
Primacy effect
the tendency to recall the first items in a list
Recency effect
the tendency to recall the last items in a list
Memory Storage
○ Storage processes may be negatively affected by things such as developmental limitations or physical impairment (brain injury)
○ We tent to preserve experiences in great detail that occur under unusual, emotionally arousing circumstances
○ Stress provokes the amygdala (part of the limbic system) to boost activity in the brain’s memory-forming areas
Infantile amnesia
not able to recall events of early childhood (before 4 years of age)
i. The hippocampus does not mature until we are about two or three years old (the hippocampus is necessary for encoding and transferring new information into LTM)
ii. Storage may be prolonged by rehearsing information over time
Maintenance rehearsal
sheer repetition
Elaborative rehearsal
connecting new learning to previously known material
Flashbulb memories
powerful, sustained memories of emotionally significant moments or events’ may be somewhat inaccurate
i. These events are so significant that you seem to member every detail as if you are watching it on a video
Priming
the activation of particular associations in memory
i. Spell ‘rabbit’ - now spell hair/hare
Recognition
identification of objects or events encountered before
Recall
retrieval of learned material
Relearning
measure of time saved when learning material again
Testing effect
Learning and memory are aided by the inclusion of practice tests in one’s learning regimen
Nonsense syllables
meaningless sets of two consonants with a vowel in between
i. Used as a way to measure the three basic memory tasks of recognition, recall, and relearning
ii. First introduced by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (now regarded as the first scientific study of forgetting)
Encoding specificity principle
Context-dependent memory
Mood-congruent principle
State-dependent memory
Context-dependent memory
information that is better retrieved in the context/environment in which it was encoded/stores
Mood-congruent principle
Tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s current mood
State-dependent memory
information is better retrieved in the physical/psychological state in which it was encoded/stored (tired, drunk, etc.)
Forgetting
- Forgetting is the flip-side of memory and it can occur at any memory stage
- A good memory is helpful, but so is the ability to forget
Highly-Superior Autobiographical Memory
(HSAM) - a condition affecting memory related to life events - can’t forget small details that would normally not be stored
Anterograde amnesia
the inability to form new long-term memories
Retrograde amnesia
the inability to retrieve memories from the past
Forgetting curve
- the course of forgetting is initially rapid but levels off with time
- Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that we exponentially lose info that we have learned. He employed studies using nonsense syllables to research forgetting
Retroactive interference
new learning interferes with the retrieval of old learning
Proactive interference
older learning interferes with the capacity to retrieve more recently learned material
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
- Feeling that information is stored in memory although it cannot be readily retrieved; aka inadequate retrieval
Repression
- In psychoanalytic/dynamic theory, the ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from conscious awareness as a defense mechanism
- Psychodynamic theorists believe that memories can be forgotten to defend ego
Reconsolidation
- previously stored memories are potentially altered before being stored again; aka reconstructive memory
- We have a tendency to piece together memory fragments with general knowledge and expectations rather than a precise picture of the past
- Memories are distorted by biases and needs - when we play back old memories, we reconstruct and shape them according to ways in which we view the world
Misinformation effect
- misleading information can become incorporated and distort one’s memory of an event
- Cues such as language can distort the memory
Source Amnesia
faulty information for how, when, or where information was learned; the facts/events are intact, but the origin is fuzzy
○ Memory researchers feel this also helps explain the experience of déjà vu, we are familiar with a stimulus but not sure where we encountered it before
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowledge, remembering, and communication
Executive functions
the cognitive processes (focus, planning, working memory, etc.) that help people regulate thoughts and actions to achieve goals
Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
○ We often form concepts around prototypes (ideal example of a given concept)
Creativity
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
Convergent thinking
narrowing the available solutions to determine the single best solution
Divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible solutions; thinking in a novel way
Algorithm
Methodical, logical process that guarantees solving a particular problem
Heuristic
Simple thinking strategy of looking for short cuts; speedier than algorithm but more error-prone
○ As insightful as we are, sometimes our cognitive tendencies lead us astray
○ If we found success with one approach to a problem, we tend to stick with it
Mental set
Tendency to approach each problem the same way; a fixed frame of mind
Functional fixedness
in cognition, the inability to use an object in a new or innovative way
○ Creative thinking is hindered by this ^
Intuition
an effortless, automatic feeling or thought, which contrasts reasoning
Representative heuristic
we judge according to prior expectations or “stereotypes”
Availability heuristic
we judge according to how readily things come to mind (which often leads us to fear the wrong things) - “the vivid image”
Confirmation bias
the tendency to seek information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence
Gambler’s fallacy
the erroneous belief that something is more or less likely to happen after a series of the opposite event has occurred
Sunk-cost fallacy
the irrational belief that we should stick with a bad choice because of the resources (time, effort, money) we have already invested
Belief perseverance
Clinging to one’s initial belief, even after it has been discredited
Framing
The way an issue is presented (such as using specific wording)
Language
Spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to communicate
Phonemes
the smallest unit of sounds in a language (not letters)
Morphemes
the smallest language units that carry meaning
i. Readers has 3 morphemes (read - an action) (er - signaling one who reads) (s - more than one person)
Grammar
a language’s set of rules (includes semantics - meanings, and syntax - usage)
Noam Chomsky
Linguist - language is a brain function, not just a social phenomenon
i. Says that all human languages share basic building blocks, and we are born with a predisposition to learn language (although nurture also plays a big role in learning a language)
progression of speech
○ Studies have shown that infants as young as 3 months recognize language and begin to babble (imitating/making sounds found in languages); “cooo”
i. By about 10 months, their babbling contains only the sounds found in the household language; “ma” from mamma
ii. Around 12 months of age, children begin to speak in single words “kitty”
i. This holographic speech involves using single words to stand for whole sentence meaning (dependent on inflection); “where is kitty?” “oh look, there’s our cat”
ii. The one word stage evolves into an essential-word (telegraphic) stage “where kitty” before the second birthday, after which they begin to speak in full sentences
Aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemi damage
i. Stroke and tumors are the usual culprits, but regional head trauma is also a cause
ii. Ex: speak but not read, write but not read, sing but not speak, etc.
Broca’s area
helps in production of speech; area of left frontal lobe (thinking)
i. A person would struggle to speak words, yet could comprehend speech, and might even be able to sing -> they know what they want to say but can’t get it out
Wernicke’s area
helps in comprehension of written and spoken language; area of left temporal lobe (hearing)
i. People can connect words fluently, but the phrases lack meaning
Overgeneralization
i. Runned instead of ran, sweeped instead of swept
ii. Is evidence that the learner is applying rules and using reason
