Chapter 8: Memory Flashcards
3 basic activities involved in memory
encoding- taking perceptual sensory data and transferring to the brain where it can be stored
storage- retaining memories for future use
retrieval- recapturing memories into consciousness
Information processing model
suggests that information passes through three memory stages during encoding, storage, and retrieval.
(sensory memory, working memory, long term memory)
Sensory Memory
Detailed, brief sensory image of stimuli that is retained for a brief period of time
Lasts up to 1/2 sec for visual and 2-4 sec for auditory
Large capacity
Working Memory
Holds information temporarily for analysis. Conscious effort
Lasts up to 30 sec without rehearsal
Limited capacity of 5-9 items
“use it or lose it” – enter long term memory when rehearsed
Long Term Memory
Relatively permanent storage. Hold information we previously gathered, available for retrieval and use in a new situation
Relatively permanent and relatively unlimited capacity
Parallel Distributed Processing Model
Suggests information is represented in the brain as a pattern of activation across entire neural networks
These networks resulted in sophisticated memories, broad knowledge, and ability to make better decisions
Automatic Processing
Attend info without much conscious awareness and with little to no effort.
Particularly information about time, space, and frequency
Effortful Processing
Encoding of information through careful attention and conscious effort
Heavily disrupted by multitasking
Rehearsal
Conscious repetition of information in an attempt to make sure information is encoded
Moves information from sensory to working and from working to long term memory
Spacing Effect
Facilitated encoding of material through rehearsal situations spread out over time
Phonological Code
repeating sounds of number again and again
Better for verbal information like digits and words
Visual Code
holding image of stimuli
Better for non verbal things like people faces and objects
Eidetic Memories
photographic memory
recall object or scene with great detail and near perfect accuracy. lasts for several minutes
Semantic Codes
representations based on meaning of information
used to encode verbal information into long term memory
Mnemonic Devices
techniques used to enhance the meaningfulness of information to make it more memorable
ex:
Disruptions to Memory
Failure of attention
Lack of rehearsal
Decay
Proactive interference
Retroactive interference
Damage to the brain
Memory Span
maximum number of items that can be recalled in correct order (7 +/- 2)
Chunking
grouping bits of information together to enhance ability to hold that information in working memory
Explicit Memory
Memory with conscious recall
semantic memory- facts and general knowledge
episodic memory- personal experiences and events
storage in hippocampus
Implicit Memory
Memory without conscious recall
motor/procedural memory
classically conditioned memory- conditioned response to conditioned stimuli
Priming- earlier exposure facilitates retrieval
storage in striatum and cerebellum
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
when piece of information feels right at the edge of our consciousness
Retrieval cues
words, sights, other stimuli that remind us of the information we need to retrieve from our memory
Hyperthymesia
enhanced memory.
An ability that allows people to remember nearly every event of their life with great precision
State Dependent Memory
memory retrieval facilitated by being in the same state of kind un which you encoded the memory in the first place
Flash Bulb Memory
detailed and near-permeant memories of emotionally significant events and/pr of the circumstances surrounding the moment we learned about the event
intense emotions trigger special memory mechanism that produce near-permeant record
feels super real. However, flashbulb memories are not more accurate then memories of neutral events
study by Talarico & Rubin (2003): content of flashbulb memory still decays
Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
pattern of rapid memory loss followed by stable retention of remaining information
Decay Theory of Forgetting
suggests that memories fade over time due to neglect or failure to access over long period of time
Interference Theory
forgetting is influenced by what happens to people before or after they take information in
Proactive Interference
past memory interferes with new memory
Retroactive Interference
new memory interferes with recall of old memory
Motivating Forgetting
actively working to forget an unpleasant event
connects to Sigmund Freud’s theory of Repression
Source Misattribution
remembering the information, but not the source it came from.
can lead to remembering things as true info from unreliable source
Exposure to Misinformation
new information that is inaccurate or misleading can distort our recall or lead us to manufacture new memories
Effects of Imagination
our imagination can lead us to recall events that never took place
Infantile Amnesia
children before age 4 do not hold onto memories of life very long
adults do not have any recollections of events that occur before age 3/4
Organic Memory disorders
physical causes of memory impairment can be identified
Amnesia, dementia
Retrograde Amnesia
inability to remember things that occur before an organic event that triggered amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia
inability to form new memories after the onset of disorder
Dementia
severe memory problems combine with losses in at least one of there cognitive function, such as abstract thinking or language
Alzheimer’s Disease
most common form of dementia
beginning with mild memory problems, lapses of attention, and problem with language
progressing to difficulty with even simple tasks and recall of long held memories
Dissociative Disorders
psychological disorder characterized by major loss of memory without clear physical cause
Dissociative Amnesia
inability to recall important information, usually of an unsetting nature, about one’s life
Dissociative Fugue
loss of memory of personal identity and details of one’s past life and flight to an entirely different location
Dissociative Identity Disorder
development of two or more distinct personalities (subpersonalities)
Thompson Cotton Case
factors affecting her memory
she identified the wrong person as her rapist
innocence project
as of jan 2020,
367 convictions have been overturned based on dna evidence
71 percent of those convictions relied on eye-witness testimony
own race bias
we are better at identifying differences of our own race than of those of other races
