Chapter 7- Interconnections Between Acquisition and Retrieval

Question 1

Retrieval Paths:

Answer 1

• Connections made between newly acquired material and information already in memory
Travel along paths, moving from one memory to next when you want to retrieve a memory

Question 2

Context Dependent Learning:

Answer 2

• Learning material is remembered better when tested in a similar environment that it was learned
• Psychological context that matters, not physical context
i.e. 2 groups- one group learned material and were tested in the same room, second group learned material in one group, tested in second room. Right before the test, the second group was asked to think about the first room (what it looked like, how it made them feel). Result was both groups did equally well

Question 3

Context Reinstatement:

Answer 3

Strategy of recreating thoughts and feelings of learning episode, even if you are in a very different place at the time or recall

Question 4

Encoding Specificity:

Answer 4

• What is encoded is the stimulus together with its context
• Connections established can differ, can change how you remember the past
• i.e. “the man lifted the piano”, or “the man tuned the piano” creates idea that piano is something heavy or piano as a musical instrument
• Participants asked to recall target word, participants who had heard “man lifted the piano” were likely to recall target word if the cue was “something heavy” but not “nice sound”
See word “other” but fail to realize the word “the” was also present

Question 5

Memory Network:

Answer 5

• Nodes- representations of ideas within network

Associations/associative links- connects nodes together

Question 6

Spreading Activation:

Answer 6

• Node activated when it has received strong enough input signal
• Activated node can activate other nodes via associations
Nodes receive activation from neighbours, more they receive, the more the activation level increases to reach response threshold, causing it to fire

Question 7

Subthreshold Activation:

Answer 7

• Activation levels below response threshold

Recently activated node is “warmed up”, so weaker input will be sufficient to bring node to threshold

Question 8

Retrieval Cues:

Answer 8

• Node receives activation from 2 sources simultaneously (question and cue), allows it to fire
i.e. “Capital of South Dakota” and “Man’s name “ activates “capital” and “man’s name” nodes and associations until they both activate the same node

Question 9

Lexical Decision Task:

Answer 9

• Participants shown series of letter sequences on computer screen, some are words, some are not
• Hit yes if sequence spells a word, and no if it doesn’t
• Speed of response demonstrates how quickly they can locate the word in memory
Sequences presented with pairs of letter sequences (yes if both are words)

Question 10

Semantic Priming:

Answer 10

• 2 words in pair are related in meaning
• Results in faster response time
i.e. “bread” and “butter”, bread nodes activated butter nodes

Question 11

Recall:

Answer 11

• Presented with retrieval cue that broadly identifies information you seek
• Have to come up with information yourself
i.e. Can you remember the words to that song?

Question 12

Recognition:

Answer 12

• Information is presented to you, have to decide if it’s the sought after information or not
i.e. Is this the man who robbed you?

Question 13

Source Memory Without Familiarity:

Answer 13

• Knowing

* Can recall family members (know), but they don’t seem familiar (don’t remember)

Question 14

Remember/Know Distinction:

Answer 14

Participants asked during recognition test to press one button if they recall the episode of encountering a particular item (know), and pressing a different button if they don’t recall the encounter but have the feeling that the item must have been on the earlier list (remember)

Question 15

Familiarity Without Source Memory

Answer 15

• Don’t have recollection of the source of current knowledge, but have strong sense of familiarity (remember)
  
  • Watching a movie, actor seems familiar (remember), but can’t remember where you saw them or what their name is (no source memory- don’t know)

A feeling of “remembering” is more likely with correct memories than false memories.

Question 16

Brain Area For Source Memory

Answer 16

Hippocampus

Question 17

Brain Area For Familiarity

Answer 17

Anterior Parahippocampus

Question 18

Word Stem Completion:

Answer 18

• Participants given 3 or 4 letters and must produce a word with this beginning
People more likely to offer specific word they’ve encountered recently

Question 19

Explicit Memories:

Answer 19

Revealed by direct memory testing- specifically urges you to remember past (i.e. recognition test, recall)

Question 20

Implicit Memories:

Answer 20

• Revealed by indirect memory testing- current behaviour is influenced by prior event
i.e. priming effects

Question 21

False Fame:

Answer 21

• Participants presented with list of names, then presented with list of names and had to decide if the people on the list were famous or not
• If famous list presented right after the first list of names, then someone who felt a name was familiar would realize that it is familiar because they just saw it on the first list (familiarity and source memory)
If famous list presented 24 hours later, name is familiar but don’t know why, so you answer yes to whether they are famous or not (only familiarity)

Question 22

Illusion of Truth:

Answer 22

Statements previously heard more likely to be judged as more credible than sentences never heard before

Question 23

Source Confusion:

Answer 23

• i.e. Participants witnessed staged crime
• 2 or 3 days later, shown mug shots of people who supposedly participated in crime (but weren’t actually involved)
• 4-5 days later, asked to pick out criminal from lineup
Participants often picked out criminal seen in mug shot, not in crime

Question 24

Processing Pathway:

Answer 24

• Sequence of detectors, and connections between detectors that activation flows through in recognizing a specific stimulus
Use of processing pathways strengthens pathway

Question 25

Processing Fluency:

Answer 25

• Use of pathway increases processing pathway

Speed and ease with which the pathway will carry activation

Question 26

Nature of Familiarity:

Answer 26

• Familiarity is a conclusion that you draw rather than a feeling triggered by a stimulus
• Stimulus will seem familiar when…
○ Encountered stimulus before
○ Because of prior encounter, you are now faster and more efficient in processing stimulus (processing fluency)
○ Detect that fluency, and stimulus now deemed special or distinctive
Try to figure out why stimulus Is special and come to a conclusion about where you saw it before

Question 27

Explicit Memories:

Answer 27

• Conscious
	• Episodic Memories
		○ Memory for specific events
	• Semantic Memories
                   General knowledge

Question 28

Implicit Memory:

Answer 28

• Revealed by indirect tests
	• Procedural
		○ Knowing how to do something
	• Priming
		○ Changes in perception and belief caused by previous experience
	• Perceptual Learning
		○Recalibration of perceptual systems as result of experience
         Classical Conditioning

Question 29

Retrograde Amnesia:

Answer 29

Disrupt memory for things learned prior to event that caused amnesia

Question 30

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 30

• Can’t form new memories after event that cause amnesia
• i.e. H.M.- could recall events before surgery, but couldn’t form new memories
• Implicit memories still intact
i.e. Shake hands with patient, prick them with a pin…. Shake hands with them again later, they pull away even though they don’t remember you

Question 31

Korsakoff’s Syndrome:

Answer 31

Anterograde amnesia due to lack of vitamin B1 (thiamine)

Question 32

Damage to Hippocampus and Amygdala and Memories:

Answer 32

• Patient with damaged hippocampus and intact amygdala showed blue light followed by loud horn and green light not followed by horn
  
  • When blue light presented, displayed fear response even though they couldn’t remember which of the lights was associated with the boat horn
  • Patient with damaged amygdala and intact hippocampus showed same lights
  • Could report which light was paired with the horn, but didn’t display fear response