Chapter 7 - LTM Encoding, Consolidation, & Retrieval Flashcards
Classifier?
In multivoxel patten analysis, the classifier is a computer program designed patterns of voxel activity.
Consolidation?
The process that transforms new memories into a state in which they are more resistant to disruption.
Cued Recall?
A procedure for testing memory in which a participant is presented with cues, such as words or phrases, to aid recall of previously experienced stimuli.
- Requires context.
- Various categories.
Deep Processing?
Processing that involves attention to meaning and relating an item to something else. Deep processing is usually associated with elaborative rehearsal.
Depth of Processing?
The idea that the processing that occurs as an item is being encoded into memory can be deep or shallow. Deep processing involves attention to meaning and is associated with elaborate rehearsal. Shallow processing involves repetition with little attention to meaning and is associated with maintenance rehearsal.
Elaborative Rehearsal?
Rehearsal that involves thinking about the meaning of an item to be remembered or making connections between that item and prior knowledge.
- Through this process information is placed in LTM.
- The more abstract & elaborate the rehearsal, the better the information is stored.
Encoding?
The process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory.
Encoding Specificity?
The principle that we learn information together with its context. This means that presence of the context can lead to enhanced memory for the information.
- Understanding of the context.
- Retrieval closely matches conditions present during the original learning.
Free Recall?
A procedure for testing memory in which the participant is asked to remember the stimuli that were previously presented.
Generation Effect?
Memory for material is better when a person generates the material themselves, rather than passively receiving it.
Graded Amnesia?
When amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and becomes less severe for earlier, more remote events.
Levels of Processing Theory?
The idea that memory depends on how information is encoded, with better memory being achieved when processing is deep than when processing is shallow. Deep processing involves attention to meaning and is associated with elaborative rehearsal. Shallow processing involves repetition with little attention to meaning and is associated with maintenance rehearsal.
Long-term Potentiation (LTP)?
The increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse.
- Structural changes and enhanced responding.
- Makes further communication easier.
- Damage to hippocampus results in poor or no learning (no LTP).
Maintenance Rehearsal?
Rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information.
Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation?
The idea that the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of remote memories, especially episodic memories. This contrasts with the standard model of memory, which proposes that the hippocampus is involved in only the retrieval of memories.
Multivoxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA)?
A procedure for determining the pattern of voxel activation that is elicited by specific stimuli, within various structures.
Paired-Associate Learning?
A learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, the one word of each pair is presented and the task is to recall the other word.
Reactivation?
A process that occurs during memory consolidation, in which the hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory. During reactivation, activity occurs in the network connecting the hippocampus and the cortex. This activity results in the formation of connections between the cortical areas.
Reconsolidation?
A process proposed by Nader and others that occurs when a memory is retrieved and so becomes reactivated. Once this occurs, the memory must be consolidated again, as it was during the initial learning.
- Memory traces become vulnerable to disruption whenever they are recalled.
Retrieval?
The process of remembering information that has been stored in LTM.
Retrieval Cue?
Cues that help a person remember information that is stored in memory.
Retrograde Amnesia?
Loss of memory for something that happened prior to an injury or traumatic event such as a concussion.
Due to:
- Head injuries.
- Electroconvulsive shock [ECT].
Self-reference Effect?
Memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self.
Shallow Processing?
Processing that involves repetition with little attention to meaning. Shallowing processing is usually associated with maintenance rehearsal.
Spacing Effect?
The advantage in performance caused by short study sessions separated by breaks from studying.
Standard Model of Consolidation?
Proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but once that consolidation is complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus.
State-dependent Learning?
The principle that memory is best when a person is in the same state for encoding and retrieval.
- This principle is related to encoding specificity.
- People find it easier to recall information if they can return to the same emotional or physical state or location they were in when they learned the information.
Synaptic Consolidation?
A process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes.
- Changes at a molecular level.
Systems Consolidation?
A consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within the brain regions and takes place on a long timescale, lasting weeks, months, or even years.
Temporal Cortex Model (TCM)?
Theory that explains how the temporal cortex part of the brain helps us remember things, recognize faces or objects, and understand language.
Ex) Meeting a friend at a coffee shop.
Recognition: When you see your friend, your temporal cortex helps you recognize their face, even if you haven’t seen them in a while.
Memory: Your temporal cortex also helps you remember your past experiences with them, like the fun times you’ve had together.
Language: When they speak, the temporal cortex helps you understand what they’re saying and make sense of their words.
- In this way, the Temporal Cortex Model (TCM) helps explain how the temporal cortex is involved in recognizing faces, remembering people, and understanding language.
Testing Effect?
Enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered.
Transfer-appropriate Processing?
When the type of task that occurs during encoding matches the type of task that occurs during retrieval.
- This type of processing can result in enhanced memory.
Encoding Specificity - Experiment?
How memory is affected by conditions at both encoding and retrieval, and the relation between them.
Levels of Processing - Experiment?
How memory is influenced by depth of processing.
Production Effect - Experiment?
How memory depends on whether words are read aloud or not.
Von Restorff Effect - Experiment?
How the distinctiveness of a stimulus can influence memory.
Three Main Memory Processes?
- Encoding
- Retrieval
- Consolidation (synaptic & systems)
Levels of Processing?
Depths:
- Shallow
- Intermediate
- Deep
Levels of Processing Research Findings?
- Deep processing leads to better recall than shallow tasks.
- Words meaningful to participants were recalled best.
- Criticisms:
- No independent method to measure depth of processing.
- Studies show that shallow encoding can sometimes outperform deep processing, challenging the universal claim.
Two types of Rehearsal?
- Maintenance
- Elaborative
Effect Study Techniques?
- Distributed practice words well.
- Cramming = ineffective for LTM.
- PQ4R Method:
- Preview
- Question
- Read
- Reflect
- Recite
- Review
Which of the two is easier: Cued recall vs Recognition?
Recognition.
Recall of information is best when ____, _____, or ______ matches that when the information was _____ or ______.
- State
- Mood
- Location
- Stored
- Learned
Context-Dependent Memory?
Improved ability to remember if tested in the same environment as the initial learning environment.
Smith Experiment with Context-Dependent Memory?
Participants learned 80 common words in a distinctive basement room.
- 2nd day a free recall task was performed in 3 groups:
(1) same room; RESULTS = 18 correct.
(2) very different & distinct room; RESULTS = 12 correct.
(3) recall in a soundproof booth while simultaneously imaging the basement room; RESULTS = 17.2 correct.
Context vs. State Dependent Memory?
Context = external, environmental factors.
State = internal, physiological facotrs.
Mood Congruent Memory?
Current mood causes selective or better encoding / retrieval of material that is consistent or congruent with the prevailing mood.
- Occurs with greater frequency with positive moods.
Ex.) Depressed individuals recall fewer happy memories during low moods.
Consolidation & Sleep?
- Minimize activity between the time of learning and subsequent recall.
- Memory consolidation seems to be enhanced during sleep. Reason for this; (1) Sleeping stopes interference from environmental stimuli.
- Disruption of REM sleep can decrease subsequent memory performance.
- REM sleep is associated with both brain and body arousal, so it is hypothesized that REM sleep plays a central role in producing memory consolidation.
- When REM sleep is disrupted, recall of previously learned material drops significantly.
Reconsolidation and PTSD?
Brunet et al. :
- blocking stress responses during memory recall reduced traumatic memory intensity.
Ways to improve everyday memory?
- Engage in adequate rehearsal.
- Organize information.
- Use verbal and/or visual mnemonics.
- Distribute practice & minimize interference.
