Chapter 7 - LTM Encoding, Consolidation, & Retrieval

Question 1

Classifier?

Answer 1

In multivoxel patten analysis, the classifier is a computer program designed patterns of voxel activity.

Question 2

Consolidation?

Answer 2

The process that transforms new memories into a state in which they are more resistant to disruption.

Question 3

Cued Recall?

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Deep Processing?

Answer 4

Processing that involves attention to meaning and relating an item to something else. Deep processing is usually associated with elaborative rehearsal.

Question 5

Depth of Processing?

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Elaborative Rehearsal?

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Encoding?

Answer 7

The process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory.

Question 8

Encoding Specificity?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Free Recall?

Answer 9

A procedure for testing memory in which the participant is asked to remember the stimuli that were previously presented.

Question 10

Generation Effect?

Answer 10

Memory for material is better when a person generates the material themselves, rather than passively receiving it.

Question 11

Graded Amnesia?

Answer 11

When amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and becomes less severe for earlier, more remote events.

Question 12

Levels of Processing Theory?

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Long-term Potentiation (LTP)?

Answer 13

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).

Question 14

Maintenance Rehearsal?

Answer 14

Rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information.

Question 15

Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation?

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Multivoxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA)?

Answer 16

A procedure for determining the pattern of voxel activation that is elicited by specific stimuli, within various structures.

Question 17

Paired-Associate Learning?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Reactivation?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Reconsolidation?

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Retrieval?

Answer 20

The process of remembering information that has been stored in LTM.

Question 21

Retrieval Cue?

Answer 21

Cues that help a person remember information that is stored in memory.

Question 22

Retrograde Amnesia?

Answer 22

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].

Question 23

Self-reference Effect?

Answer 23

Memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self.

Question 24

Shallow Processing?

Answer 24

Processing that involves repetition with little attention to meaning. Shallowing processing is usually associated with maintenance rehearsal.

Question 25

Spacing Effect?

Answer 25

The advantage in performance caused by short study sessions separated by breaks from studying.

Question 26

Standard Model of Consolidation?

Answer 26

Proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but once that consolidation is complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus.

Question 27

State-dependent Learning?

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

Synaptic Consolidation?

Answer 28

A process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes.

• Changes at a molecular level.

Question 29

Systems Consolidation?

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

Temporal Cortex Model (TCM)?

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

Testing Effect?

Answer 31

Enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered.

Question 32

Transfer-appropriate Processing?

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Encoding Specificity - Experiment?

Answer 33

How memory is affected by conditions at both encoding and retrieval, and the relation between them.

Question 34

Levels of Processing - Experiment?

Answer 34

How memory is influenced by depth of processing.

Question 35

Production Effect - Experiment?

Answer 35

How memory depends on whether words are read aloud or not.

Question 36

Von Restorff Effect - Experiment?

Answer 36

How the distinctiveness of a stimulus can influence memory.

Question 37

Three Main Memory Processes?

Answer 37

• Encoding
• Retrieval
• Consolidation (synaptic & systems)

Question 38

Levels of Processing?

Answer 38

Depths:
- Shallow
- Intermediate
- Deep

Question 39

Levels of Processing Research Findings?

Answer 39

• 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.

Question 40

Two types of Rehearsal?

Answer 40

• Maintenance
• Elaborative

Question 41

Effect Study Techniques?

Answer 41

• Distributed practice words well.
• Cramming = ineffective for LTM.
• PQ4R Method:
• Preview
• Question
• Read
• Reflect
• Recite
• Review

Question 42

Which of the two is easier: Cued recall vs Recognition?

Answer 42

Recognition.

Question 43

Recall of information is best when ____, _____, or ______ matches that when the information was _____ or ______.

Answer 43

• State
• Mood
• Location
• Stored
• Learned

Question 44

Context-Dependent Memory?

Answer 44

Improved ability to remember if tested in the same environment as the initial learning environment.

Question 45

Smith Experiment with Context-Dependent Memory?

Answer 45

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.

Question 46

Context vs. State Dependent Memory?

Answer 46

Context = external, environmental factors.
State = internal, physiological facotrs.

Question 47

Mood Congruent Memory?

Answer 47

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.

Question 48

Consolidation & Sleep?

Answer 48

• 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.

Question 49

Reconsolidation and PTSD?

Answer 49

Brunet et al. :
- blocking stress responses during memory recall reduced traumatic memory intensity.

Question 50

Ways to improve everyday memory?

Answer 50

• Engage in adequate rehearsal.
• Organize information.
• Use verbal and/or visual mnemonics.
• Distribute practice & minimize interference.