Chapter 8 Flashcards
What is memory?
The phenomenon of storing learned information so that it can be retrieved through time.
What are the three measures of memory retention?
Recall, recognition, and re-learning.
What is a testing method for recall?
A fill-in-the-blank question.
What is a testing method for recognition?
A multiple choice question.
What is recognition?
A measure of memory that requires one to correctly identify previously learned information.
What is recall?
A measure of memory that requires one to completely retrieve a piece of learned information.
What is relearning?
A method of assessing memory that measures the amount of time saved when relearning material one has learned before.
What are the three stages of the information-processing model of memory?
Encode, store, retrieve.
What is the information-processing model of memory?
A three-stage memory model that analogizes human memory to computer operations.
What is encoding?
“the process of getting information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.”
What is storage?
The retention of encoded information in the memory over time.
What is retrieval?
“The process of getting information out of memory storage.”
What makes human memory different from a computer process?
Computers process information sequentially, while humans use parallel processing to process multiple things simultaneously.
What is connectionism?
An information-processing model that accounts for parallel processing by viewing memories as products of interconnected neural networks. Memories arise from the activation of specific patterns in these networks.
Who proposed the three-stage information processing model?
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin
What are the three stages of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s information-processing model?
Sensory memory -> short-term memory -> long-term memory.
What is sensory memory?
The very brief and immediate recording of sensory information in the memory.
What is working memory?
A briefly activated memory of a few items that is rehearsed and actively maintained. It may later be stored in long-term memory or forgotten. Working memory also works backwards by retrieving items from long-term memory to aid in processing novel information.
Why has short-term memory been updated to including working memory?
Because it involves a lot of active processing.
What is automatic processing?
When information enters long-term memory without being actively rehearsed or maintained, bypassing working memory.
How has later research updated Atkinson and Shiffrin’s three-stage information-processing model?
The concept of working memory has been introduced as part of the short-term memory stage. We also know that some information is encoded in long-term memory through automatic processing, bypassing working memory.
How much of the different in working memory between people is explained by heredity?
About half.
What is a central executive?
The coordinator of focused processing during the working memory stage of information-processing.
What are two basic functions of working memory?
Integrating novel information with long-term memories and focusing our attention.
What are explicit memories?
Memories we’re consciously aware of having and are able to declare as facts.
What is effortful processing?
The encoding of memories using focused attention and conscious effort.
What is automatic processing?
The encoding of memories that occurs without our awareness, resulting in our knowing certain things without having to think about them (such as information about space, time, or frequency).
How do explicit and implicit memories differ?
Explicit memories are formed through effortful processing, while implicit memories are formed through automatic processing.
What is procedural memory?
A form of implicit memory for skills we use automatically, like riding a bike.
What is an association?
An implicit memory formed through classical conditioning.
What are implicit memories?
Memories encoded through automatic processing, such as procedural memories or classically conditioned associations.
What does it mean that we automatically process information about space?
We remember where we retrieved a piece of information, or what room we were in when something happened, without having actively concentrated on remembering it at the time.
What does it mean that we automatically process information about time?
Your brain automatically encodes the chronological sequence of events throughout your day without your conscious awareness.
What does it mean that we automatically process information about frequency?
You remember how many times something has happened in a day without needing to intentionally encode that memory.
What information do we process automatically?
Learned skills, classically conditioned associations, incidental information about space, time, and frequency.
What is iconic memory?
A fleeting visual sensory memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
What is echoic memory?
A fleeting auditory sensory memory lasting about 3 or 4 seconds. If you are distracted, sounds and words from your environment can still be extracted from your echoic memory for 3-4 seconds.
How does sensory memory work?
By feeding some sensory information into working memory to be actively processed. Sensory memories include iconic and echoic memories.
What is the relationship between short-term memory and working memory?
Working memory is the actively processing manager of short-term memory.
Who proposed that we can store about seven pieces of information in working memory?
George Miller.
Which demographic tends to have a greater working memory capacity?
Young adults.
What is the difference between automatic and effortful processing, and what are some examples of each?
“Automatic processing occurs unconsciously (automatically) for such things as the sequence and frequency of a day’s events, and reading and comprehending words in our own language(s). Effortful processing requires attentive awareness and happens, for example, when we work hard to learn new material in class, or new lines for a play.”
What is chunking?
The organization of information into meaningful, familiar, manageable chunks for easier recall (like sorting a grocery list into food groups).
What are mnemonics?
Techniques to aid memory, especially those that use vivid imagery or organizational devices.
What are hierarchies?
Broad concepts divided into narrower categories.
What are some effortful processing strategies that can help us remember new information?
Chunking, hierarches, and mnemonics.
What is the spacing effect?
The tendency for learning or practice distributed over time to result in better long-term retention than massed study or practice.
What is the testing effect?
“Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.”
What is shallow processing?
Memory encoding of verbal information on a superficial level, such as the appearance or structure of words.
What is deep processing?
Memory encoding of verbal information on a semantic level, which yields better retention of the words.
What is the self-reference effect?
The tendency to remember information if it is relevant to oneself.
A psychologist who asks you to write down as many objects as you can remember having seen a few minutes earlier is testing your:
Recall.
The psychological terms for taking in information, retaining it, and later getting it back out are:
Encoding, storage, and retrieval.
What is the capacity of long-term memory?
It is essentially unlimited.
Are our long-term memories processed and stored in specific locations?
No. Many areas of the brain interact as we encode, store, and retrieve memories.
Are our long-term memories processed and stored in specific locations?
No. Many areas of the brain interact as we encode, store, and retrieve memories. The brain distributes parts of a memory across different areas. A memory is like a sigil, with some of the brain areas that fired when we had the experience firing again when we recall it.
What are the two kinds of explicit memories?
Semantic (facts and general knowledge) or episodic (experienced events).
What is episodic memory?
Explicit memory of experienced events - one of our two conscious memory systems.
What is semantic memory?
“Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).”
What brain regions are involved in processing and storing new semantic and episodic memories?
The frontal lobes and hippocampus.
Who has greater episodic memory: women or men?
Women.
What different types of memories do the left and right frontal lobe process?
The left frontal lobe is active when you try to remember a password, while the right frontal lobe is active when you try to visualize a scene from a party last night.
What is the hippocampus?
A temporal lobe neural structure located in the limbic system that processes explicit memories of facts and events for storage in other brain areas.
What happens when the left side of the hippocampus is damaged?
People have trouble recalling verbal information, but are able to recall locations and visual designs.
What happens when the right side of the hippocampus is damaged?
People have trouble recalling locations and visual designs, but are still able to recall verbal information.
Does the hippocampus permanently store memories?
No. The hippocampus is a temporary holding station.
Where do memories travel for storage?
To the cortex.
What is memory consolidation?
The neurological process of storing a long-term memory, with the information being registered and processed in the hippocampus, then being archived in the cortex for permanent storage.
What does the hippocampus do during deep sleep?
Processes memories for later retrieval.
What roles do the frontal lobes and hippocampus play in memory processing?
The formation and storage of explicit memories. Many brain regions send information to the frontal lobes to be processed. The hippocampus (with the help of nearby networks) registers and temporarily holds elements of explicit memories, which are moved to other brain regions for long-term storage.
What is procedural memory?
The memory of how to do certain things. Our memory for actions and skills.
What are the basal ganglia?
A group of structures located at the base of the brain, implicated in coordinating movement and implicit memory, particularly procedural memory.
Which parts of the brain are important for implicit memory processing?
The cerebellum and basal ganglia.
Which parts of the brain are important for explicit memory processing?
The frontal lobes and hippocampus.
What role does the cerebellum play in memory processing?
“The cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories.” Implicit memory.
What role do the basal ganglia play in memory processing?
“The basal ganglia are involved in motor movement and help form procedural memories for skills.” Implicit memory.
What is the amygdala?
Two clusters in the limbic system that process emotions and initiate memory traces. Implicated in the formation of emotional memories.
What is a memory trace?
A lasting physical change caused by the amygdala as a memory forms that imprints it on the mind.
What are flashbulb memories?
Vivid memories of emotionally significant events.
Besides memory trace, how do emotionally significant memories endure?
We tend to rehearse them frequently.
What is long-term potentiation?
“An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.”
What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?
“An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.”
What is the neural basis for learning?
Long-term potentiation (LTP) - “an increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.”
Does electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) disrupt long-term potentiation (LTP)?
No. ECT or a blow to the head disrupts recent memories.
What is glutamate?
A neurotransmitter that enhances LTP.
What is CREB?
A protein that boosts LTP.
What is propranolol?
A drug that reduces signs of stress in traumatized people.
Increased efficiency at the synapses is evidence of the neural basis of learning and memory. This is called:
Long-term potentiation (LTP).
Which brain area responds to stress hormones by helping to create stronger memories?
The amygdala.
What is a retrieval cue?
Pieces of information that make up the web of associations with something you are trying to remember. These cues can help you retrieve a specific memory they are associated with.
Why are we more likely to remember someone’s occupation than their name?
Because there is a greater network of associations with an occupation.
What is retrospective memory?
Memories of the past.
What is prospective memory?
Remembering something we intend to do in the future.
What is an effective strategy for improving prospective memory?
Associating the future intention with a cue, like a string tied around a finger.
Do people spend more time thinking about the future or the past?
The future.
What are the best retrieval cues?
The ones we form at the time we encode a memory, such as a sensory memory of the sights or scents happening at the time.
What is reminiscence therapy?
Immersing people with memory problems in an environment filled with retrieval cues in order to improve their memory abilities.
What is priming?
When a stimulus (often unconsciously) activates an association that predisposes one towards a certain response to another stimulus (such as interpreting the spoken word “hair/hare” as “hare” after being shown a picture of a rabbit).
What is the encoding specificity principle?
“The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.”
What is mood-congruent memory?
“the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.”
What is serial position effect?
“our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.”
What is recency effect?
Our tendency to recall the most recent items on a list shortly after seeing them.
What is primacy effect?
Our tendency to recall the earliest items on a list after time has passed.
How do external cues influence memory retrieval?
“External cues activate associations that help us retrieve memories; this process may occur without our awareness, as it does in priming. The encoding specificity principle is the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.”
How do internal emotions influence memory retrieval?
“Returning to the same physical context or emotional state (mood congruency) in which we formed a memory can help us retrieve it.”
How does order of appearance influence memory retrieval?
“The serial position effect is our tendency to recall best the last items (which may still be in working memory) and the first items (which we’ve spent more time rehearsing) in a list.”
What is memory consolidation?
“the neural storage of a long-term memory.”
What is anterograde amnesia?
The inability to form new memories, although the past is still remembered.
What is retrograde amnesia?
The inability to remember long-term memories.
Are people with anterograde amnesia able to form new implicit memories?
Yes. They can still be classically conditioned and learn new things, but they aren’t aware of it happening.
What is proactive interference?
When previous learning interferes with new learning (such as when your old phone number makes it hard to learn your new phone number).
What is retroactive interference?
When new learning disrupts previous learning (such as when you forget your old phone number because you have learned a new one).
What is positive transfer?
When old and new information support each other rather than competing, such as when knowing a certain language supports the learning of a new language.
What is motivated forgetting?
The revision of memories to make them more favourable.
What are three ways we forget?
Encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure.
What is reconsolidation?
“a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.”
What is the misinformation effect?
The corruption of a memory by misleading information.
What is imagination inflation?
When memories corrupted by imagination effects become more vivid and detailed over time.
What is source amnesia?
“faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.)”
What is deja vu?
French for “already seen.” “that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.”
What causes deja vu?
Temporal lobe processing creates a sense of familiarity, while hippocampus and frontal lobe processing allow us to consciously remember details. When these brain regions are out of sync we may experience the sense of familiarity without consciously recalling details.
How many times should you retrieve something you wish to remember before you stop studying it?
Three times.
When forgetting is due to encoding failure, information has not been transferred from:
short-term memory into long-term memory.
Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve shows that after an initial decline, memory for novel information tends to:
Level off.
If you learn new material in the hour before sleep instead of learning it before turning to a new subject you will experience less:
Retroactive interference.
Freud proposed that painful or unacceptable memories are blocked from consciousness through a mechanism called:
Repression.
One reason false memories form is our tendency to fill in memory gaps with our reasonable guesses and assumptions, sometimes based on misleading information. This tendency is an example of:
The misinformation effect.
We may recognize a face at a social gathering but be unable to remember how we know that person. This is an example of:
Source amnesia.
Children can be accurate eyewitnesses if:
a neutral person asks nonleading questions soon after the event.
What is the difference between leading and non-leading questions?
Leading questions point someone towards a particular answer. Non-leading questions focus only on what the person saw, thought, or felt, without any prompting one way or another.
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of previously learned information is called:
Retroactive interference
Karl Lashley trained rats to solve a maze and then removed pieces of their cortexes. He observed that storage of their maze memories
was not restricted to single, specific regions of the cortex.
The famous Ebbinghaus forgetting curve indicates that how well we remember information depends on
How long ago we learned that information.
