Episodic memory Flashcards
What is mental time travel?
The ability to think in terms of past or future events (eg, tomorrow, last week, next friday, last time you went to the shops, etc)
What is episodic memory?
> A feeling of re-experiencing a specific past event
An awareness that the event happened in the past
Realisation that these are one’s own memories
What are the features of the behavioural criteria for episodic memory?
> Content
Structure (Integration of content information)
Flexibility (flexible deployment of information indicative of a declarative framework)
What are the limitations of tradition studies of animal memory?
> Only assesses familiarity
Multiple training trials
Does not test ‘when’ in a way that transcends relative familiarity
What does food cacheing in Jays demonstrate?
> Two types of food (one perishable), two time differences (4hrs, 124hrs)
Search behaviour
Long retention interval demonstrated 2nd trial preference for non-perishable
All trials had accurate recovery
Demonstrated episodic memory, no order effects
What did Menzel (1999) demonstrate?
> Chimpanzee named Panzee
Symbol trained
Could use symbols to explain the location of hidden objects in a once-seen novel location
Suggests awareness of Content recall
What did Ferkin et al (2007) find?
> Male meadow vole
Tested recall of location of soon-to-be sexually receptive female v non-sexually receptive female
Demonstrated Content recall
What behavioural criteria is needed for Future Planning?
> Flexibility
> Falsify the Bischof-Kohler Hypothesis
What is the Bischof-Kohler Hypothesis?
That animals other than humans cannot anticipate future needs or drive states
What factors distinguish Mental Time Travel from Prospective Cognition?
> Delayed reinforcement is not future planning
> Behaviour directed towards a current need state does not necessarily involve future planning
What did Clayton et al (2005) find?
> Jays
Cacheing of perishable and non-perishable food for extended absence
Quickly learned not to cache perishable
What did Correia et al (2007) find?
> Jays
Cacheing by flavour (one group pre-fed food A before cacheing and recovery, second group pre-fed A before cacheing and B before recovery)
Second group switches to pre-cacheing food A on trial 2
Demonstrates awareness of future desires unrelated to current ones
What did Raby et al (2007) find?
> Jays
Cacheing location (1 room has breakfast, 1 doesn’t, both open for cacheing)
Cached in no breakfast room
Evidence of anticipation of future needs
Extended to show Jays would cache different food to that usually given for breakfast
