Chapter 7 Flashcards
Memory
Memory
Nervous system’s ability to obtain and retain information and skills for later retrieval.
1) encoding
2) storage
3) retrieval
Encoding
Brain changed information into meaningful neural code that it can use
Storage
Lets you maintain the information in your brain, can last as littles as a fraction of second or as long as a lifetime
Retrieval
Process of accessing the information later
Why don’t humans create memories the way computers store information?
1) brain is more complicated than a computer. Brain is complex system of neurons and synapses that dynamically change over time.
2) Brain is unique- each person’s processing of experiences leads to individuals having their own memories. Memories are filtered through your own perceptions and knowledge. Perceptions change during the processes of creating, maintaining, and accessing memories.
3) Human memory fails, involves different type of memory, which has its own “rules.”
Attention
The focusing of mental resources on info to allow further processing, essential for conscious awareness of info. Critical for memory creation.
Selective Attention
Ability to direct mental resources to relevant information in order to process that information further, while ignoring relevant information.
Filter Theory
Effect in which we selectively attend to the most important information in a message
Faces: good example of stimuli that are allowed through the filter because they provide important social information
Three different types of memory stores
Sensory storage
Short-term storage
Long-term storage
Memory stores Unique in 3 ways
1) each memory store exists to serve a different function
2) each store retains information that has been encoded in ways specific to itself
3) each store is able to hold information for a particular length of time
4) each store has the ability to maintain a particular amount of information
Sensory Storage
a very brief maintenance of sensory information
also called sensory memory
lets us have unified experience of the world around us
By maintaining large amount of info briefly, sensory storage lets you experience the world as a continuous stream of info rather than as discrete sensations
Short-term storage
Originally believed seen as a buffer or holding place, that small amount of info could be encoded and this coding could be maintained for only a short time.
New research includes the important process of working memory- allows you to work on the information you have in short-term storage (like visualization)
Duration of short-term storage
lasts under 20 seconds when people do not use working memory processes to actively maintain the info they want to remember
working memory allows manipulation of sounds, images, and ideas to keep info in short-term storage longer
Chunking
Process of using working memory to organize information into meaningful groups of units
Makes info easier to recall:
1) using working memory, reduce 20 items to be recalled into 7 chunks (7 items are within capacity of memory span)
2) meaningful units are easier to remember than nonsense units because they draw info we already know
Long-term Storage
Has nearly limitless capacity and duration
Info that helps you adapt to your environment is likely to be transformed into a memory held in long-term storage
Evolutionary theory: memory lets you use info in ways that assist in reproduction and survival
Levels of processing model
The more deeply an item is processed during encoding, the more meaning it has and the better it is remembered
Two types of rehearsal
Maintenance rehearsal: working memory process that leads to shallow encoding of info (like repeating item over and over) based on how the item sounds
Elaborative rehearsal: encodes the info more deeply, based on meaning. Info is encoded more deeply when it is meaningful to you
Dual coding
Combo of visual and semantic encoding, very successful method of transferring the info into long-term storage
Primacy effect
refers to the better memory people have for items presented at beginning of list
Recency effect
refers to the better memory people have for most recent items, like end of list
Schemas
Decisions about how to chunk info, cognitive structures that aid in the perception, organization, processing, and use of info
Using schemas, you can construct new memories by filling in holes within existing memories, overlooking inconsistent info, and interpreting meaning based on your experiences
Can lead to biased encoding
Networks of Associations
The meaning of info that is organized in long term storage
Item’s distinctive features of linked in a way that identifies the item
Each unit of info is the network is a node, each node connected to other nodes
Resulting network is like the linked neurons in brain, but are instead bits of info
Activating one node increases likelihood that closely associated nodes in the same category will also be activated
Spreading activation models of memory
encountered info activates specific nodes for memories in long-term storage- increases the ease of access of stored info to linked material= easier retrieval
Explicit Memory
Long term storage of conscious memories that can be verbally described
Also known as declarative memories
Two types of explicit memory:
Episodic: personal experiences, includes information about time and place each experience occurred
Semantic: knowledge based on facts independent of personal experiences
Implicit Memory
memories that you are not conscious of
Also known as nondeclarative memoriesPe
Procedural memory
Also called motor memory, involves learning motor skills and behavioral habits and knowing how to do things
These memories tend to last a long time
Brain regions involved in memory
Prefront Cortex: Working memory
Temporal Lobe: Explicit memory
Amygdala: Implicit memory, emotional memories
Cerebellum: Implicit memory, procedural memory
Hippocampus: consolidation and spatial memory
