Chapter 9

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

the process of acquiring new information

Question 2

memory

Answer 2

outcome of learning; may occur by single exposure or repetition of information, experience, or actions

Question 3

sensory memory

Answer 3

retention, for brief periods of time, of the effects of sensory stimulation (echoic memory, iconic memory)

Question 4

short term and working memory

Answer 4

store limited amounts of information for a brief duration

Question 5

declarative memory

Answer 5

(explicit); consists of our conscious memory of both facts (semantic memory) and events (episodic memory)

Question 6

nondeclarative memory

Answer 6

(implicit); unconscious memory that cannot be verbally reported, often expressed through performing of procedures (procedure memory), priming, and classical conditioning

Question 7

memory stages

Answer 7

encoding (creates memory traces), consolidation (brain stabilizes changes), storage (retention of memory traces), retrieval (involves accessing stored memory traces)

Question 8

amnesia

Answer 8

memory deficits or loss

Question 9

retrograde amnesia

Answer 9

loss of memory before a lesion or trauma; tends to be greatest for the most recent events

Question 10

anterograde amnesia

Answer 10

loss of memory for the events that occur after lesion or trauma

Question 11

modal model of memory

Answer 11

double dissociation of short and long-term memories; attention, rehearsal, transfer, retrieval

Question 12

working memory

Answer 12

represents a limited capacity store for retaining information over the short term (maintenance) and for performing mental operation on the contents of this store

Question 13

central executive mechanism

Answer 13

presides over and coordinates interactions between two subordinate stores

Question 14

phonological loop

Answer 14

verbal and auditory information

Question 15

visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 15

visual and spatial information

Question 16

long term declarative memory

Answer 16

explicit, conscious

Question 17

episodic v semantic memory

Answer 17

events versus knowledge and facts

Question 18

long term nondeclarative memory

Answer 18

implicit; procedure (motor skills), priming and classical conditioning, nonassociative learning

Question 19

nonassociative learning

Answer 19

habituation, sensitization; with weaker stimuli generally leading to habituation (decreased response) and strong, more aversive stimuli causing sensitization (increased response) with repeated exposure

Question 20

H.M.

Answer 20

hippocampus affected, could not form long term memory (evidence from amnesia)

Question 21

R.B.

Answer 21

affected hippocampus; showed similar (mild) symptoms to those of H.M. in formation of long term memory

Question 22

amnesia evidence from animals

Answer 22

lesions in surrounding cortex produce more severe amnesia than those restricted to hippocampus; involved in contextual memory

Question 23

Hebbian learning

Answer 23

3 properties of long-term potential:
1. cooperativity: probability of inducing LTP increases with the number of stimulated fibers
2. associativity: a weak stimulus can trigger LTP if it occurs at the same time as a strong stimulus on a neighboring pathway
3. specificity: only stimulated synapses become strengthened