Episodic Memory Flashcards
1
Q
How is information encoded in episodic memory?
A
- To store things (e.g words, pics, events) in episodic memory, you must pay attention
- When you divide your attention at encoding, it impairs your memory more and makes it harder
2
Q
What is one way to encode information?
A
- Through maintenance rehearsal, which is when u keep information active in the short-term memory by relying on phonological loop, so we just repeat info without considering the meaning
3
Q
How can we encode into the long-term memory?
A
- Through elaborative rehearsal, which is when you encode the meaning of the word, rather than just the word, so it tends to lead to better episodic memory
4
Q
What are the levels of processing (linked to elaborative rehearsal)?
A
- The three levels are the perceptual level, the phonological level and the conceptual level
- Memory is a by-product of perceptual and conceptual analysis
- Memory tends to be best for deep levels of encoding, to ensure it stays relevant
5
Q
What are the 3 encoding conditions for levels of processing?
A
1) Case - so is the word in capital letters?
2) Rhyme - does the word rhyme with aother word?
3) Sentence - Does the word fit in the sentence e.g the ____ is sleeping
6
Q
What are more details about Elaborative rehearsal/encoding ?
A
- Elaborative encoding is best when new memories are organised to fit with old memories
- Encoding is affected by our backgeround knowledge, our interests and how we organise information
- This is why people often remember quite different things
7
Q
What is the picture superiority effect?
A
- This is when we encode pictorial information better than verbal information
8
Q
What is the dual code theory?
A
- The mind stored information in at least 2 different form: 1) verbal/linguistic code and a 2) mental image code
- This theory came about from from the concreteness effect, where words like ‘car’ and ‘house’ were better remembered than words like ‘truth’ and ‘betrayal’
9
Q
What are mnemonic devices?
A
- Mnemonic devices improve memory by improving the encoding of information
- It introduces deep levels of encoding through organising and linking new information to old or through visual imagery
- e.g never east shredded wheat, North East, South West
10
Q
What is consolidation?
A
- Consolidation is the process of converting memories into a format resistant to forgetting
- There are two types; short-term consolidation and long-term consolidation
11
Q
What is short-term consolidation?
A
- Short term consolidation coverts memories into a more enduring format
- It occurs over seconds or minutes
- It involves the hippocampus linking information from all various long-term memory systems to form an episodic memory
- Information is binded across different systems located in different parts of the cortex
- The evidence for short-term consolidation is that brain trauma erases memories encoded seconds/minutes before trauma (short-term retrograde amnesia)
12
Q
What is long-term consolidation?
A
- Long-term consolidation occurs over months/years and involves moving memories from hippocampus to cortex
- It has been observed in extended temporally graded retrograde amnesia
- due to short-term consolidation, memory in hippocampus links all the various types of LTM in order to store a record of the episode
- Overtime, memories in the various LTM systems are linked directly (without requiring hippocampus) to form an episodic memory
- Then damage to hippocampus does not erase old episodic memories because they have moved to cortex
13
Q
What is the multiple-memory trace hypothesis?
A
- A hypothesis that older memories are better coded within the hippocampus because they have been rehearsed more often.
- This hypothesis doesn’t agree with info transferring from hippocampus to cortex, and believes that episodic memories always rely on the hippocampus- so basically no long-term consolidation
14
Q
How is information retrieved from episodic memory?
A
- Retrieval is less affected by divided attention than encoding - this suggests an automatic component to memory retrieval
- In Korsakoff amnesia patients, recall is more affected than recognition
- There are two ways of retrieving information in episodic memory: 1) Automatic retrieval and 2) Effortful retrieval
15
Q
What is automatic retrieval?
A
- Automatic retrieval is when the hippocampus can retrieve information relatively automatic with strong retrieval cues
- In cued recall task, part of the studied items are repeated at test, allowing retrieval under divided attention
- In recognition task, the study word itself is presented at test, allowing Korsakoff patients to recognise some items
- In automatic retrieval, memories pop out so sometimes the memories are correct, sometimes not, and the hippocampus cannot correct itself.- the false memories are confabulations
- Automatic retrieval supports recognition memory better than free recall
16
Q
What is effortful retrieval?
A
- If not given a strong retrieval cue (e.g free recall), then the hippocampus can’t retrieve memories very well
- e.g divided attention impairs free recall, and free recall is poor in Korsakoff patients
- The frontal system can generate better retrieval cues than the hippocampus can to generate a memory
- Frontal systems can also monitor and eliminate errors in memory retrieval
17
Q
What does the frontal system do?
A
- The frontal system is the boss of the hippocampus memory system
- It controls the information that is presented to the hippocampus at encoding (by directing attention)
- It initiates and guides retrieval and monitors information that is retrieved from the hippocampus
- It is analogous to the central executive in the working memory
18
Q
What is retrieval and encoding specificity?
A
- It is defined as ‘the effectiveness of a retrieval cue depends on how well it related to initial encoding’
- so in other words, the way we perceive and think about events at encoding determines what cues will later elicit episodic memories
19
Q
What does encoding and retrieval specificity help explain?
A
- It explains state dependant and mood dependant episodic memory
- It may help explain exceptional visual long term memory when same identical images are repeated at study and test
- It may also explain childhood amnesia - encoding specificity is related to the ‘testing effect’ so practising retrieval improves memory, as a child you aren’t practising it much
- Encoding specificity may even explain amnesia between personalities in multiple personalities
20
Q
What two ways do memories fail in?
A
1) Episodic memories fail due to poor encoding, poor retrieval cues and due to the loss of storage (learning new memories can interfere with previously stored ones)
2) False memories are remembered due to errors in encoding and errors in retrieval
21
Q
How can memory be distorted at encoding?
A
- Various studies have shown that episodic memory for faces is better for own race rather than other race, usually due to poor encoding, same for own-age, own-gender etc
22
Q
How can memory be distorted at retrieval?
A
- The words used during retrieval can distort memories.e.g using more extreme words etc
23
Q
What causes false memories?
A
- Memories can be distorted in various ways at both encoding and retrieval
- The very same processes that make memory good (e.g semantic encoding of knowledge etc) also contribute to errors
24
Q
What are some real-world implications of false memories?
A
- The ability to induce false memories in the labs has led some researchers to claim that recovered memories of traumatic events are false memories, which has impacted on the law
25
What is the retrieval induced forgetting paradigm?
- There is something called retrieval induced forgetting, which is considered rare, but it is said to be able to suppress some real memories
- This method includes letting participants study words in 2 categories, then they practice a small set of words from one of the categories
- They are then asked to recall all items from both categories
- For the category which wasn't practices, memory was worse.
