CHAPTER 6 - Long term memory: structure Flashcards
What is division?
Refers to the distinguishing between different types of memory
which 3 types of memory compose long-term memory?
- episodic memory
- semantic memory
- procedural memory
what does interaction mean?
refers to the fact that different types of memory can interact and share mechanisms
what is the LTM responsible for?
the system responsible for storing information for long periods of time.
What is the span that covers LTM?
30 seconds ago to earliest memories
what is working memory associated with? (3)
- understanding language
- solving problems
- making decisions
A classic experiment by B.B. Murdock, Jr (1962) studied the distinction between STM & LTM by measuring a function called the
serial position curve
What is the serial position curve?
In a memory experiment in which participants are asked to recall a list of words, a plot of the percentage of participants remembering each word against the position of that word in the list.
Results: they remember words at the beginning and end of the list. Primacy effect & recency effect.
What are the two main effects found in the serial position curve?
- primacy effect
- recency effect
what explains the primacy effect?
participants have time to rehearse the words at the beginning of the sequence and transfer them to LTM. The first words received 100% of their attention.
what explains the recency effect?
recently presented words are still in STM and thus easier to remember
what does counting backward do for our short-term memory?
counting prevented rehearsal and allowed time for information to be lost from STM.
what are the 3 types of coding?
- visual coding (ex: remembering your 5th-grade teacher’s face)
- auditory coding (ex: playing a song in your head)
- Semantic coding (coding in terms of meaning)
what is proactive interference?
the decrease in memory that occurs when previously learned information interferes with learning new information
How does “release from proactive interference” occur?
when the proactive interference that is built up from a category (thus has meaning= semantic coding) is absent and performance increases on the subsequent trial. For example, presenting fruits after 3 trials of professions (The Wickens experiment)
What does the Sachs Experiment demonstrate?
That there is semantic coding in long-term memory. Through recognition memory; MC testing after reading a text. The MC included variations of the same sentence in the text and participants were questioned after a long delay.
Results: participants confused the sentences because they remembered the meaning of it but not the exact wording.
which is the predominant coding in STM?
auditory coding
which type of coding often occurs for LTM?
semantic coding
what is the defining property of episodic memory?
mental time travel - reliving the moment, self-knowing, remembering
What is an example of semantic memories in STM?
Placing words in categories based on meaning
Which memories make up explicit memories?
- Semantic memories
- Episodic memories
Which type of memory composes implicit memory?
Procedural memory
what is shallow processing?
processing that involves repetition with little attention to meaning. Shallow processing is usually associated with maintenance rehearsal.
what is deep processing?
processing that involves attention to meaning and relating an item to something else. Deep processing is usually associated with elaborative rehearsal.
what are explicit memories?
memory that involves conscious recollections of events or facts that we have learned in the past.
what are implicit memories?
memory that occurs when an experience affects a person’s behavior, even though the person is not aware that they have had the experience
what is encoding?
the process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory
what is the operation span?
measuring the operation-word span , a measure of working memory
what is the likelihood principle?
Part of Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference that states that we perceive the object that is MOST LIKELY to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received.
how are explicit memories measured?
direct memory tests - recall or recognition tests
how are implicit memories measured?
indirect memory tests - word completion tasks or priming
