Chapter 7 Flashcards
Memory
Collection of several systems that store information in different forms for differing amounts of time
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model
3 memory stores: Sensory Memory, Short term memory, long term memory
Stores: Retain information in memory without using it for any specific purpose
Control process: Shift information from one store to another
Sensory Memory
Memory store that accurately holds perceptual information for brief amount of time
Iconic (visual)-0.5-1s
Echoic (auditory) -5-10s
Spotlight of attention:
Small amount of information from sensory is sent to STM for further processing
Information out of spotlight not transferred, unlikely to be remembered (change blindness)
Short Term Memory
Memory store with limited capacity and duration
Approx 30s
Magical number: 7(+-2)units of info
Chunking
Organizing smaller units of info into larger meaningful units
Long Term Memory
(Encoding from STM to LTM)
Holds information for extended-permanent periods of time
Organization:
1.Semantic (meaningful categories)
2. How the word ‘sounds’ and ‘looks’
-tip of the tongue phenomenon
Retrieval: accessing memory LTM and returning to STM
Serial Position Effect
People are generally able to recall first few items from a list and last few items, but not middle items
Proactive Inferference
First information learned occupies memory
Leaves less resources for newer information to be remembered
(LTM)
Retroactive Interference
Recently learned information blocks older memories not yet encoded into LTM
(STM)
During Recall(Primary)
Hippocampal Activation
(Formation of LTM)
During Recall(Recency)
Brain regions associated with sensory (hearing, vision) more active
Working Memory
A model of short term remembering that includes a combination of memory components that can temporarily store small amounts of info for short period of time
Stimuli are encoded in a number of different ways
3 storage components
1. Phonological loop
2. Visuospatial Sketchpad
3. Episodic Buffer
Phonological loop
Storage component relying on rehearsal
-store info as sounds or auditory code
Visuospatial Sketchpad
Store component that maintains visual images and spatial layouts in Visuospatial code
Episodic Buffer
Storage component that combines phonological loop and Visuospatial Sketchpad into story like episodes
Allows you to organize and make sense of incoming stimuli
Central Executive
Control center of working memory
Coordinates attention and exchange of info among 3 storage components
Focuses attention on component most relevant to a person’s goals, interests and prior knowledge
Controlled by frontal lobe regions
LTM systems: Declarative (Explicit) Memories
Memories we are consciously aware of and can speak about
1. Semantic Memory
-Facts about the world
2. Episodic Memory
-organized as episodes
-first person
LTM memory systems: Non-declarative (implicit) memories
Unconscious behaviours
1. Procedural Memory
-learned patterns of muscle movement
2.Classical Conditioning
-potentially unconscious learning associations between two paired events/stimuli
Long Term Potentiation(LTP)
Increase in connectivity and communication between nerve cells that fire together
These strengthening synapses may be underlying mechanism allowing memories to form
Consolidation
Converting short term memories to long term memories in the brain
Cellular consolidation- connections between neurons becoming more permanent (via LTP)
Cellular Consolidation
Evidence suggests hippocampus plays a role in memory consolidation
Amnesia
Significant loss of at least one form of memory
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories for events occurring after brain injury
-patient HM
Medial temporal lobes surgically removed (includes hippocampus, amygdala)
Couldn’t transfer new declarative memories from STM-LTM
Retrograde Amnesia
Memory for events preceding trauma or injury are lost
Memory Storage
Time and manner in which info is retained between encoding and retrieval
Active Process> stored memories can be updated regularly
Reconsolidation: Hippocampus functions to update, strengthen or modify existing LTMs
Cross cortical storage
LT declarative memories distributed through the cortex rather than localized to one brain region
New memories not established these networks more likely to be lost
>following trauma or brain injury
Rehearsal
Repeating information
Maintenance rehearsal: simply repeating information
Elaborative Rehearsal: thinking about meaning of information
Levels of Processing (LOP) framework
Our ability to recall information is most directly related to how it was initially processed
Shallow Processing
Encoding more superficial properties of a stimulus
-sound or spelling of word
Deep Processing
Encoding information about an item’s specific meaning or function
-Self reference effect
> how does the information relate to you?
Retrieval
Recognition: Identifying a stimulus or piece of information when presented to you (retrieval cues)
Recall: Retrieving information when asked but without information present during retrieval process
Encoding Specificity Principle
Retrieval most effective when conditions at time of encoding and retrieval are same
-retrieval cues
Context dependent memory
Retrieval is more effective when taking place in same physical context as encoding
-increase activity in hippocampus, prefrontal cortex
State dependent memory
Retrieval more effective when internal state matches state during encoding
Mood dependent memory
Retrieval more effective when mood matches mood during encoding
Emotional memories
Emotion-related aspects enhance memory of events
Tend to focus attention on emotional contexts of a scene
Emotion likely contribute to memory consolidation
Emotional arousal unrelated to stimulus can also influence memory consolidation
Temporal Lobe
Hippocampus: Memory consolidation
Amygdala: Activated by emotional memories, Can influence activity in temporal lobe> send input to hippocampus
Flashbulb Memories
Extremely vivid and detailed memory about an event and conditions surrounding learning of event
Not more accurate than regular memories
Confidence in accuracy increases
The Forgetting Curve
Most forgetting occurs right away
Rate of forgetting slows to point of almost nothing
Schemas
Organized clusters of memories that constitute a person’s knowledge/beliefs about events, objects and ideas
Self schema
Used to organize and encode self relevant info; process info about ourselves
Constructive memory
Process of remembering events
> first recall a generalized schema, then more specific details
Memory Bias
Different motivations can influence which schemas we access
Memories have potential to change
False memory
Remembering events that did not occur or incorrectly recalling details of event
Misinformation Effect
Information encoded after event can alter/become part of memory of original event
Imagination Inflation
Increased confidence in false memory following repeated imagining of event
Guided Imagery
Technique used to recover details of events unable to remember
Deese-Roediger-McDermott(DRM) Paridgm
Participants study list of highly related words>Semantic associations
List missing critical lure> obvious related word
Participants remember critical lure as part of list> intrusion
Recovered Memory
Memory of traumatic event suddenly recovered after blocking memory of event for long period of time
Controversy:
Debate about validity of recovered memories
