Exam 3 - Memory Flashcards
Encoding
Process of transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory
(memories are constructed, not recorded)
Storage
Process of maintaining information in memory over time
Retrieval
Process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
Semantic Encoding
the process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory
Semantic judgement?
Judgement where you have to THINK of the meaning of words
Area of the brain active during semantic encoding
The Lower left part of the frontal lobe and the inner part of the left temporal lobe (See pg. 221)
Visual imagery encoding
the process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures
(the “imagine walking through the house to remember things” method, or Method of loci)
Reasons for how semantic encoding work?
Because you need to think about the meaning, it is better processed and more easily remembered than judging case, for example
Reasons for how visual imagery encoding work?
2 reasons:
1) You are making a visual image using incoming information and relating it to knowledge that you already have. By assosiation, your ability to remember things improves
2) You are using more than one mental placeholder to remember the item - a visual and verbal placeholder -> therefore, more ways to remember.
What part of the brain is active when you are doing visual imagery encoding?
Visual processing regions in the occipital lobe. (pg. 221)
Organizational encoding
The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items
ex. grouping “peach, apple, cherry” into a group “fruits” from a list, such as: peach cow lion chair table couch apple cheery desk lion horse, or a server grouping together drinks, hot foods, deserts, etc.
What part of the brain is active when you are doing organizational encoding?
Upper surface of the left frontal lobe (pg. 221)
Survival Encoding
Memory tasks that are related to task related to survival (ex. what would you bring on to a deserted island?) is easier to encode and recall versus other non-survival-encoding tasks
What are the advantages of survival encoding?
- It draws on the other three encoding types (semantic, visual imagery, and organizational encoding).
- It encourages thinking about end goals in detail, resulting in extensive planning. Extensive planning in turn benefits memory. Planning can benefit memory encoding even when NOT in survival situations.
Three memory types?
Sensory, short-term, long-term
Sensory memory?
A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less
2 examples of sensory memory? (hint: think types of senses)
Iconic memory and Echoic memory
visual info and auditory info
Iconic memory
Fast-decaying store of visual information, about 1 second before decay
Echoic memory
fast-decaying store of auditory information, retained abut 5 seconds before decay
How does one convert sensory memory into short-term memory?
Attention; by paying attention to the sensory information, you are able to convert what you transduce into something you retain (sensory -> short term memory)
Short-term memory
A type of memory storage that holds non sensory information for more than a few seconds, but less than a minute.
Information storage time in short-term memory?
About 15-20 seconds.
Rehersal
The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.
This works by “resetting” the short-term memory “counter”
Serial position effect
The observation that the first few and last few items in a series are more likely to be recalled than the terms in the middle.
Rehersal can play a role in this
The 2 subsets of serial position effect?
Primacy effect & Recency effect
Primacy effect
Enhanced recall of the FIRST few items in a series
Why does the primacy effect occur?
It is because the items in the beginning are more likely to receive more rehearsals than subsequent items in the middle. Thus,it is more likely to be encoded into long-term memory.
Recency effect
Enhanced recall of the LAST few items in a series
Why does recency effect occur?
It can result from rehearsing items that are still in short-term storage (i.e. the most recent is more likely to be rehearsed)
Limitations of short-term memory?
Storage time (15-20 seconds) & Storage capacity (about 7 items or 7 chunks, even when the seven words contain more than 7 letters)
Chunking
Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or “chunks” that are more easily held in short-term memory
used to bypass capacity limitation
Working memory
A type of short-term storage that actively maintains information
Parts of the Working memory and their functions?
Visual-spatial sketchpad (stores visual info) Phonological loop (stores verbal information) Episodic buffer (integrates visual and verbal info) Central executive (controls all 3)
Refer to figure 6.8
Long-term memory
a type of storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years
Limits on capacity on long-term memory?
No known limit
What region is critical for long-term storage?
Hippocampus
Anterograde amnesia
The inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery
How is the hippocampus involved in long term memory?
Current theory is that it is like a form of “index”, retrieving the different aspects that comprise a single memory during recall (ex. sights, sounds, smell, emotional content)
Consolidation
The process by which memories become stable in the brain
How is the hippocampus related to consolidation?
The hippocampus is involved in the transfer and “permanancy” of the brain’s memories over time. Damage to the hippocampus thus will affect consolidation and thus the consolidation of long-term memories.
Reconsolidation
The process where memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, thus requiring them to be consolidated again.
i.e. the act of recall can cause memories to change, thus requiring a repeated “fixing” of the memory
How can reconsolidation help?
Reconsolidation may be potentially used as a way to make traumatic memories not as traumatic.
What is meant by “cells that fire together wire together?”
Sending a signal between the synapse between neurons strengthens the connections between them
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
A process whereby repeated communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier
(i.e. the more they fire, the stronger they get)
Retrieval cue
External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind
Ex. when trying to remember a list of objects, such as different furnitures, having a retrieval cue such as “soft” or something else related to those memories will help the retrieval of memory
Encoding Specificity principle
The idea that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded -
How does the encoding specificity principle apply?
A retrieval cue, such as the environment (ex. classroom) in which the memory has formed, can help one retrieve the memory
State-dependent retrieval
The process whereby information tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same (internal) state during encoding or retrieval
ex. If you were sad at the time of memory formation, being sad will help you increase the retrieval of that sad memory (same when happy, angry, etc.) In other words, personal state itself is a retrieval cue
Transfer-appropriate processing
The process whereby memory is more likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding and retrieval contexts of the situations match.
Se.. pg. 234 for example.
Consequences of retrieval?
Retrieval can improve, impair, or change subsequent memory
Retrieval-induced forgetting
Process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items.
Theory behind retrieval-induced forgetting?
Idea is that in order to retrieve a particular result, you have to suppress competitors. That suppression can reduce the ability to retrieve competitors at a latter time; even if you are not successful in retrieving the target memory.
(i.e. stuff that you were not tested on will be easier to forget that those that were tested)
