Chapter 7-2 Flashcards
Implicit memory
Indirect memory tests
Look at how a second encounter yields different responses than the first encounter
Priming indicates implicit memory of first encounter
memory without awareness- repetition priming
lexical decision tasks
Word-stem completion tasks
Lexical decision tasks
decisions are faster if words have been previously seen
Word-stem completion tasks
more likely to complete words as recently encountered ones
LDT study
Participants asked to “spellcheck” list of words
Later given Lexical-Decision Task
Responses to words in initial list of words is faster
Frequent words are also recognized quicker!
Suggests priming
Word-stem completin
Generate words to complete:
CLA___
If participants have encountered one of these words recently, they are more likely to provide it as a response in this task, even if they do not consciously remember seeing that word before
Implicit memory
Direct memory testing, such as recall or recognition
Conscious
Explicit memory
Indirect memory testing, such as a priming task
Unconscious
Let’s talk about how implicit memory feels
Implicit memory
Indirect memory testing, such as a priming task
Unconscious
Let’s talk about how implicit memory feels
Jacoby study
slide 40
Implicit memory and the illusion of thruth
illusion of thruth
Illusion of truth—effect of implicit memory in which claims that are familiar (e.g., from being heard before) end up seeming more plausible
Occurs despite warnings in advance
Begg, Anas et al.
Participants had to rate how interesting statements were
“Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car”
After hearing these sentences, participants were presented with more sentences and they had to rate credibility
Some “Truth Test” sentences were repeats
Sentences heard before -> more credibility
see slide 43
Implicit memory and troubling implications
Source of confusion:
Eyewitnesses may select someone from a photo lineup based on familiarity rather than recollection
In Brown, Deffenbacher, & Sturgill (1977), participants falsely believed they saw a person commit a crime when, in truth, they had actually only seen that person in a previous photograph
Likelihood of error: 29%
Memory without awareness
People are often better at remembering that something is familiar than remembering why it is familiar
Familiarity without episodic memory
May also be influenced by memories of which they are not aware
Processing Pathway
the sequence of detectors and connections between them that leads to recognizing or remembering a specific stimulus
Repeated use of this pathway strengthens it
Recently encountered items are easier to recognize a second time
Implicit memory involves processing fluency—
an improvement in the speed or ease of processing
People are sensitive to degree of processing fluency (“this rings a bell”)
the nature and familiarity
slide 48, 49
Amnesia
The distinction between explicit and implicit memory is also supported by evidence from cases of brain damage
Amnesia is a disruption of memory due to brain damage
Retrograde amnesia
loss of memory from before the disruption
Anterograde amnesia
inability to form new long-term memories
Clive Wearing Amnesia
slide 53
H.M.
Severe epilepsy
severe anterograde amnesia: unable to form new long-term memories
Korsakoff’s syndrome
deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1) because of alcoholism
Severe anterograde amnesia.
Anterograde amnesia
No loss for exixting memories
Damage to the hippocampus and surrounding brain regions
Difficulty forming new long-term memories
Amnesia
Amnesia support the distinction between explicit and implicit memory
Anterograde amnesia affects explicit memory, while implicit memory is preserved
Amnesia
In 1911 Swiss neurologist Édouard Claparède performed an informal experiment with a Korsakoff-syndrome patient
Hid a pin in his hand, which pricked the patient
Later, the patient could not explicitly remember him but refused to shake his hand, saying, “Sometimes pins are hidden in people’s hands”
Amnesia
Amnesic patients demonstrate preserved implicit memories without explicit memory….
Knowing the answer to a trivia question the second time around
Preferring a musical melody that they had been exposed to before
Optimal Learning
The data from amnesia echo an earlier point about the relationship between learning and memory retrieval
The nature of a disruption in the acquisition of new memories depends on how the memories will be used or retrieved later on
Interconnections recap
What you are learning can be useful for memorizing material
At one level, you may want to learn the material in a manner that prepares you for the form of retrieval that is required for your exams
To make memory even stronger, the best strategy is to employ multiple perspectives, creating multiple retrieval paths for the material you want to learn
