Chapter 7: The many types of memory Flashcards
Context-dependent learning
Pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are well remembered when the person returns to that setting but are less well remembered in other settings
Pg. 230
Context reinstatement
A procedure in which a person is led to the same mental and emotional state they were in during a previous event
Can often promote accurate recollection of that event
Pg. 231
Encoding specificity
Tendency, when memorizing, to place in memory both the materials to be learned and some amount of their context
As a result, these materials will be recognized as familiar later on only if they appear again in a similar context
Pg. 232
Nodes
An individual unit within an associative network
In a scheme using local representations, nodes represent single ideas or concepts
In a scheme using distributed representations, ideas or concepts are represented by a pattern of activation across a wide number of ndes
The same nodes may also participate in other patterns and therefore in other representations
Pg. 234
Associations
(Or associative links)
Functional connections hypothesized to link nodes within a mental network or detectors within a detector network
often hypothesized as the “carriers” of activation from one node/detector to the next
Pg. 234
Subthreshold activation
Activation levels below response threshold
Will not trigger a response
Can accumulate to anactivation level that reaches response threshold
Pg. 234
Summation
Addition of 2+ separate inputs so that the effect of the combined inputs is greater tha the effect of any one input alone
Pg. 234
Spreading activation
Process through which activation travels from one node to another, via associative links
As each node becomes activated, it serves as a source for further activation, spreading on through the network
Pg. 234
Lexical-deision task
Test in which participants are shown strings of letters and must indicate, as quickly as possible whether or not each string of letters is a word in their language
People may “look up” these strings of words in their “mental dictionary”
Pg. 235
Semantic priming
Process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other ideas related to the first in meaning
Pg. 237
Recall
Task of memory retrieval in which the rememberer must come up with the desired materials, sometimes in response to a cue that names the context in which these materials were earlier encountered
Recognition
Task of memory retrieval in which the items to be remembered are presented and the person must decide whether or not th item was encountered in some earlier circumstance
“Have you ever seen X before?”
Pg. 238
Familiarity
The subjective feeling that one has encountered a stimulus before
OR
The objective fact that one has indeed encountered a stimulus before, and is now in some way influenced by that encounter, whether or not one recalls that encounter or feels that the stimulus is familiar
Pg. 239
Source memory
Form of memory that enables a person to recollect the episode in which learning took place or the time and place in which a particular stimulus was encountered
Pg. 239
Attribution
Step of explaining a feeling/event, usually by identifying the factors that caused the current feeling/event
Often elaborated with the term “causal attribution”
Pg. 239
“Remember/Know” distinction
If you remember encountering a stimulus, you can usually offer information about the encounter (when, where, why, how)
If you know that you encountered a stimulus before, you likely have a sense of familiarity but may have no idea when or where the encounter was
Pg. 239
Explicit memory
Memory revealed by direct memory testing and usually accompanied by the conviction that one is, in fact, remembering (drawing on some sort of knowledge)
Contrast with implicit memory
Pg. 242
Word-stem completion
Task in which research participants are given the beginning of a word and must provide a word that starts with the letters provided
In some versions, only one solution is possible and others have multiple
Pg. 242
Direct memory testing
Form of memory testing in which people are asked explicityly to remember some previous event
Recall and standardrecognition testing are both forms of direct memory testing
Contrast with indirect memory testing
Pg. 242
Implicit memory
Revealed by indirect memory testing and often manifested as a priming effect in which current performance is guided or facilitated by prevous experiences
Implicit memories are often accompanied by no conscious realization that one is being influenced by past experiences
Contrast with explicit memory
Pg. 242
Indirect memory testing
Form of memory testing in which participants are not told that their memories are being tested
Contrast with direct memory testing
Pg. 242
Illusion of truth
Effect of implicit memory in which claims that are familiar end up seeming more plausible
Pg. 244
Source confusion
Memory error in which one misremembers wherre a bit of info was learned/where a stimulus was last encountered
Pg. 246
Processing pathway
The sequence of nodes and connections between them through which activation flows when rcognizing or thinking about a stimulus/idea
Pg. 246
Processing fluency
Speed/ease of activation flow
Pg. 248
Amnesia
Disruption of memory
Often due to brain damage
Pg. 253
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to remember experiences that occured before the event that triggered memory disruption
Contrast with anterograde amnesia
Pg. 253
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to remember experiences that occur after the event that triggered the memory disruption
Contrast with retrograde amnesia
Pg. 253
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Clincial syndrome characterized by dense anterograde amnesia
Caused by damage to specific brain regions, often precipitated by a form of malnutrition that is common among long-term alcoholics
