Exam 2 (LTM)

Question 1

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 1

the probability of remembering depends on similarity of encoding at time of learning and time of test-taking
When we learn things in certain situations, we are more likely to remember them under the same situation (more similarity = better remembering)

Question 2

What are the three types of context effects on LTM?

Answer 2

1. physical context
2. affective context (mood-dependent memory)
3. state-dependent learning

Question 3

What is physical context?

Answer 3

recall is better in same physical environment

ex. learning underwater or on shore, learning with jazz v Mozart

Question 4

What is affected context?

Answer 4

mood-dependent memory; recall is better when emotional state at time of learning and time of recall match

Question 5

What is mood congruence effect?

Answer 5

better memory for material that “fits” your mood

ex. happy people are more likely than depressed people to remember pleasant events

Question 6

What is the Polyanna Principle?

Answer 6

Positivity bias; we tend to have better memory for pleasant material
ex. rosy views of past vacations - like a bike tour

Question 7

What is state-dependent learning?

Answer 7

better memory with same level/type of drug influence

Question 8

What is the power law of forgetting

Answer 8

rate of loss decreases with passage of time

Question 9

What effects does comprehension have on memory

Answer 9

poor comprehension = poor memory

context is important, understanding things is easier when they’re meaningful (e.g. laundry story)

Question 10

What are the causes of forgetting?

Answer 10

1. Decay/lack of use
2. interference
3. amnesia

Question 11

What is interference?

Answer 11

loss due to other material

Question 12

What is proactive interference?

Answer 12

forward acting; older memories prevent new facts from being committed to memory effectively
e.g. learning german in high school and switching to spanish in college - hard time remembering spanish because you think of the german words first

Question 13

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 13

backward acting; new memories tend to replace older ones

e.g. learning spanish in college - hard time remembering German

Question 14

What is amnesia?

Answer 14

Severe memory loss due to trauma or drugs

Question 15

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 15

learning deficit, but memory span (STM) normal

ex. concussion, can’t remember things before the trauma

Question 16

What causes anterograde amnesia?

Answer 16

1. Korsakoff syndrome (alcohol abuse)
2. drug-induced (surgery)
3. surgical and brain trauma patients (H.M., Clive Wearing)

Question 17

What is retrograde amnesia?

Answer 17

lost memory of events for a limited period prior to incident, but information is often retained immediately after incident onwards