Chapter 8 Flashcards by Mona Fazakas

What is memory?

process that allow us to record and retrieve experiences and information

three basic processes:
encoding (translate into neural code)
storage (retain over time)
retrieval (access content, “pull back out”)

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What is the 3 Stage Model of Memory?

does not correspond to specific brain areas

3 components: sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory

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What is sensory memory?

briefly maintains perceptions

sensory “buffer” for transfer to STM

likely each sense has their own sensory memory

iconic (visual, fraction of a sec)
echoic (auditory, ~2+ sec)

illustrates that the time course for visual sensory memory is brief

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What is Short Term Memory (STM)?

temporarily holds a limited amount of information

intact in amnestics

construct perceptual memory into meaningful info

memory codes: visual, phonological, semantic, motor

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What is STM magic number?

retain 7 +/- 2 pieces of information in STM

numbers, letters, cities, etc.

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What STM chunking?

organize material into meaningful groups

reduces the number of items needed to be remembered

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What is STM Duration?

how long can information be retained in STM?

tested by giving a list of 3-letter syllables, and then asking participant to count backwards by 7 (in retention interval) to prevent rehearsal

brief duration (~20 seconds)

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What is rehearsal?

extends duration of time items remain in STM

if stop and shift attention, info will be lost

maintenance rehearsal: repeat original stimuli (out loud or in head), visual and phonetic

elaborative rehearsal: link stimuli in meaningful ways, understand relationships

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What are four components of STM?

Phonological loop (auditory WM)
Visuospatial sketchpad (store/manipulate images and spatial information)
Episodic buffer (temporary storage for items from LTM)
Central executive (control process which directs action)

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What is long term memory (LTM)?

enduring information storage

life-learned facts, experiences and skills

unlimited capacity

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What is the primacy effect?

items encoded into LTM

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What is recency effect?

last few words still in STM, can be wiped out with a delay and no ability to rehearse

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What is encoding?

if you don’t encode something, it won’t be remembered

role of attention: do not have a record of everything we experience

autonomic vs. effortful processing
unconscious vs. conscious
minimal vs. high attention

information about frequency, spatial location, sequence, and timing of events often encoded autonomically

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What is depth of processing?

deeper processing increases likelihood of recall

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What is maintenance processing?

rote repetition of information

not an optimal method

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What is elaborative processing?

focuses on information’s meaning

organizing

understanding

applying to one’s life

resulting to already learned concepts

using imagery

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What are Mnemonic Devices?

any type of memory aid

enhances encoding and recall

relies on internal mental strategies

can be applied to a variety of information

works best if you’ve already learned the knowledge

What is visual imagery?

dual coding theory

harder to remember words that lack a mental image

What are schemas?

mental framework

organized pattern of thought around the world

How is memory stored in associative networks?

nodes = major concepts

lines = connections between concepts, more connection within categories of shared associations

spreading activation: priming is the activation of one concept by another

What is the neural network?

nodes: information processing unit, groups of neurons encoding information units

distributed throughout the brain

activated in parallel

parallel distributed processing models: parallel activation of distributed networks encode different information

What are the different types of LTM?

all call upon long-term information you have, but each is different: some unique to you, some is general to everyone, some requires physical movement

declarative and procedural

What is episodic LTM?

episodic: personal experiences
semantic: general knowledge

What is procedural LTM?

non-declarative memory

reflected in skills and actions

some CC responses

What is explicit memory?

conscious memory retrieval recognition: "target" stimuli are provided recall: spontaneous memory retrival

What is implicit memory?

memory influences our behavior without conscious awareness riding a bike, driving a car priming tasks: identify a stimulus more easily if previously encountered

What is memory retrival?

reactivation of reconstruction of what is in memory storage memory doesn't always match the original event/fact forgetting: memory present but inaccessible retrieval cues: hints make recall easier, multiple self-generated cues best

What are Flashbulb Memories?

emotional memories so vivid that people recount in remarkable detail seem to see pictures in our head most likely to occur for distinctive events (positive or negative) that evoke strong emotions high confidence in these memories, however accuracy does not relate to confidence

What is encoding specificity?

more likely to remember when conditions at time of initial learning and retrieval are the same context dependent learning (external conditions) state-dependent learning (internal conditions, can extend to mood, physiological or psychological state)

Why do we forget?

encoding failure: failing to transfer knowledge to LTM decay of memory trace: thought that, with time and disuse, neural traces of memory disappeared, not supported by data interference, retrieval failure, and tip-of-the-tongue

What is proactive inference?

material learned in the past interferes with recall of newer material old phone number interferes with recalling new number

What is retroactive interferences?

new information interferes with old information more similar, greater interference

What are case studies of anterograde amnesia?

could not recall any new memories memory of past life intact could acquire implicit memories, but no memory of training damage to hippocampus impairs explicit but not implicit memory

What is memory deterioration?

memory loss is normal with aging small and consistent reduction in cortical volume as we age Alzheimer's Disease: cause of 50% of dementia cases, increased risk with increased age, memory and language deterioration

What is infantile amnesia?

inability of adults to retrieve accurate memories before a certain age

What is prospective memory?

remembering to do something at a future date event or time related does not correspond to retrospective memory worse in older adults: more distracted/less attention, outside of standard routine

What is memory distortion?

memory us a constructive (or reconstructive) process piece together bits of information in ways that intuitively "makes sense" often highly inaccurate schemas can distinct memories

What are eyewitness testimony?

majority of wrongful conviction cases due to eyewitness misidentification could be due to mis-information from police change 1 word, change view of what happened

How do you find the engram of memory in the brain?

physical trace of memory in the brain memory is not located in a single place three approaches to find memory in brain: human lesion studies, nonhuman animal studies, brain-imaging studies

How are different brain areas involved in memory?

hippocampus: encoding station, convert STM to LTM cerebral cortex: encoding information from sensory registers, stores semantic information prefrontal cortex: involves WM, allocating attention