Final Flashcards
What is iconic memory?
Brief sensory memory for visual stimuli
Describe iconic memory
A type of sensory memory where you try to recall visual images after seeing it for a few seconds
What is the duration of iconic memory (H: Short)
Less than 1 second
What is the capacity of iconic memory?
The capacity of iconic memory is 3-4 letters when asked to report all items on a screen when shown a matrix of 9 or 12 letters, people remember 100% of the 9-letter matrix and ~75% of the 12-letter matrix when presented with a cue (pitch), and the number of items dropped when presented with a delay
What is echoic memory?
Brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli
Describe echoic memory
A type of sensory memory where you try to register auditory information until it’s processed and comprehended
What is the duration of echoic memory? (H: Longer)
A few seconds
Explain the modality effect (H: E vs I)
Echoic memory is longer than iconic memory because auditory information usually requires integrating information over time
Describe Sterling’s Partial Report Experiment
Participants are shown a matrix of 9 or 12 letters
They were told to report only items in one row based on cue
- High Pitch: Top row
- Middle Pitch: Middle row
- Low Pitch: Bottom row
Results: Participants could remember 100% of the 9-letter matrix and ~75% of the 12-letter matrix
What is short-term memory?
The contents of our conscious awareness
Describe short-term memory
What are we thinking about right now
What is the duration of short-term memory?
15-30 seconds
What is the capacity of short-term memory?
Limited
What is chunking?
A strategy where small units are combined into larger meaningful units
Describe chunking
A collection of units can be strongly associated with one another but weakly associated with units in other chunks
Examples
- Numbers → Area Code
- Letters → Words
What is sensory memory?
The memory system that stores a record of the information received by sensory neurons
Describe sensory memory (H: 4 items)
Characterized by short duration (<1 second), long capacity, highly accurate and modality-specific
How are short-term memory and sensory memory connected? (H: 2 items)
Both are of short duration (less than 1 minute)
Attention controls the transfer of information from sensory memory to short-term memory
What is Baddeley’s model of working memory?
A model that uses different systems of information storage for greater cognitive utility
Describe Baddeley’s model of working memory
Contains three aspects with the phonological loop focused on verbal and auditory information, the central executive focused on controlling activity, and the visuospatial sketchpad focused on visual and spatial information
What are the components of Baddeley’s model of working memory? (H: 3 items)
Phonological Loop
Visuospatial Sketchpad
Central Executive
Describe the phonological loop (H: 2 items)
Holds a limited amount of verbal and auditory information
Rehearsal can keep items in the phonological store from decaying
Describe the visuospatial sketchpad (H: 3 items)
Holds and manipulates visual and spatial information
Visual Cache: Form and color
Inner Scribe: Space and motion
Describe the central executive (H: 3 items)
Coordinates activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
Pulls information for long-term memory
Cognitive Control
What is working memory?
The amount of information that can be held while performing a certain task
Describe working memory
Concerned with the maintenance and manipulation of information that occurs during complex cognition
Modular
- Phonological Loop
- Visuospatial Sketchpad
- Central Executive
- Episodic Buffer
How are short-term memory and working memory connected?
Both are limited-capacity systems
What is long-term memory?
“Archive” of information about past events and knowledge learned
What is the duration of long-term memory?
Years or decades
What is maintenance rehearsal?
Maintains information but doesn’t transfer it to long-term memory
What is elaborative rehearsal?
Transfers information to long-term memory
How are maintenance and elaborative rehearsal connected?
They both help in retaining information
How are short-term and long-term memory connected? (H: 2 items)
Both forms allow us to remember memories
Both use rehearsal to keep information
What is encoding?
Acquiring information and transforming it into memory
Describe encoding
Memory depends on how information is encoded
What are the different types of encoding processes? (H: 2 items)
Shallow Processing
Deep Processing
What is shallow processing?
Little attention to meaning → Poor memory
What is deep processing?
Close attention to meaning → Good memory
Describe an experiment with the levels of processing theory to a memory task
Conditions
- Physical Characteristics: Shallow processing
- Rhyming: Deeper processing
- Meaning: Deepest processing
Results: Participants performed best when meaning was involved
What is the self-reference effect
Memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self
Describe a study that demonstrates the self-reference effect
Conditions
- Physical Characteristics
- Rhyming
- Meaning
- Self-Reference
Results: Participants showed the best memory for words that described them
What is the generation effect?
Memory for material is better when a person generates the material himself, rather than passively receiving it
Describe a study that demonstrates the generation effect
Conditions
- Read
- Generate
Results: Participants who generated the second word of each pair were able to reproduce more word pairs than participants in the read condition
How does organization enhance encoding?
Organization helps reduce the load on memory
Describe a study that demonstrates organization enhancement on memory
Presented participants with difficult-to-comprehend information
- E.G. 1: First saw a picture that helped explain the information
- E.G. 2: Saw the picture after reading the passage
- C.G.: Didn’t see the picture
Results: Group 1 outperformed the others
- Having a mental framework of comprehension aided memory encoding and retrieval
What is the testing effect?
Learning is better when retrieval is practiced
Describe a study that demonstrates the testing effect
Participants read a passage and then either
- Recall as much as they could
- Reread the passage
Test recall after a delay
Results: Learning is better after testing
What is retrieval?
Process of transferring information from long-term memory into working memory (consciousness)
Describe retrieval
Most of our failures of memory are failures to retrieve
What is encoding specificity?
We learn information together with its context
What’s an example of encoding specificity?
Divers studied either on land or underwater and then were either tested on land or underwater
Results: Best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location
Describe retrieval-based learning
Retrieval-based learning helps improve recall
Describe an experiment that demonstrates retrieval-based learning
Conditions
- 4 study sessions
- 3 study sessions, 1 recall session
- 1 study session, 3 recall sessions
Results: Active rehearsal is better than just studying
What is consolidation?
Transforms new memories from a fragile state to a more permanent state
What is synaptic consolidation?
Occurs at synapses, and happens rapidly
Describe synaptic consolidation (H: 3 items)
Cells that fire together, wire together
Learning and memory are represented in the brain by physiological changes at the synapse
Neural record of experience
What is systems consolidation?
Involves a gradual reorganization of circuits in the brain
Describe systems consolidation (H: 4 items)
Retrieval depends on hippocampus during consolidation
Reactivation: Hippocampus replays neural activity associated with memory
Cortical neurons form new connections with each other
After consolidation, hippocampus is no longer needed
How are encoding and retrieval connected?
When occurred in the same location, they both help in improving recall
What regions of the brain support short-term memory? (H: 2 items)
Prefrontal Cortex
Hippocampus
What regions of the brain support long-term memory? (H: 4 items)
Hippocampus
Parahippocampus
Amygdala
Cortex
How are synaptic and systems consolidation in the brain connected?
They both transform new memories from a fragile state to a more permanent state
Describe patient H.M.
Had surgery to remove parts of the brain to relieve epileptic seizures
- Hippocampus
- Parahippocampus
- Amygdala
Post-Surgery Symptoms
- Severe anterograde amnesia
- Moderate retrograde amnesia
Functioning short-term memory but can’t form new long-term memory
Describe Clive Wearing
Contracted encephalitis
- Anterograde and retrograde amnesia
- Still has procedural memory
Functioning short-term memory but can’t form new long-term memory
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of memory for events prior to the trauma
What is anterograde amnesia?
Can’t form new memories
How are retrograde and anterograde amnesia connected?
Both affect the ability to recall information and experiences
What is declarative memory?
Conscious recollection of events experience and facts learned
Describe declarative memory (H: 3 items)
Episodic: Memory for personal events
Semantic: Facts and knowledge
Can be differentiated by the concept of mental time travel
What are examples of declarative memories? (H: 2 items)
Important life event
Capital of Texas
What is semantic memory?
Memory for facts and knowledge
Describe semantic memory (H: 3 items)
Context-free memories
General knowledge
Familiarity
What are examples of semantic memories? (H: 2 items)
Capital of Cuba
Remembering your friend’s name
What is episodic memory?
Memory for personal events
Describe episodic memory (H: 4 items)
Have context
Personal memories
Remembering
Mental time travel
What are examples of episodic memories? (H: 2 items)
10th birthday party
College graduation
How are semantic and episodic memory connected? (H: 2 items)
Autobiographical memories are specific experiences containing both semantic and episodic memories
Personal semantic memories are semantic memories that have personal significance
What is non-declarative memory?
Memory that unconsciously influences behavior
Describe non-declarative memory (H: 4 items)
Procedural Memory
Repetition Priming
Classical Conditioning
Non-Associative Learning
What are examples of non-declarative memories? (H: 2 items)
Riding a bike
Knowing how to use scissors
What is priming?
Previous experience changes response without conscious awareness
Describe priming
Improves processing of a stimulus when it’s repeated again
What are examples of priming? (H: 2 items)
Responding milk after saying silk 10 times after being asked what a cow drinks
Saying pepper after hearing salt
What is procedural memory?
Memory for actions (motor and cognitive skills)
Describe procedural memory (H: 2 items)
No memory of where or when learned
Perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them
What are examples of procedural memories? (H: 2 items)
Tying your shoe
Playing an instrument
What is classical conditioning?
Creating associations between stimuli which creates a naturally occurring response
Describe classical conditioning (H: 2 items)
You can condition an emotional response to a stimulus
You can condition a muscular response
How are declarative and non-declarative memory connected?
Both are memory systems that contribute to our cognitive functioning
What is the propaganda effect?
More likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true
Describe the propaganda effect (H: 2 items)
This occurs even when people are told the information is false
This occurs outside of people’s conscious awareness
What are examples of the propaganda effect? (H: 2 items)
Political campaigns
Advertisements
Describe Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Modal Model of Memory
They proposed that memory goes through a series of stages
Identify each state in the Modal Model of Memory (H: Image)
Input
Sensory Memory
Short-Term Memory
- Rehearsal
- Output
Long-Term Memory
Describe how information moves through these different states
Attention controls the transfer of information from sensory memory to short-term memory
Maintenance rehearsal keeps information in short-term memory
Elaborative rehearsal moves information from short-term memory to long-term memory
Describe interacting memory systems
Memory involves a collection of memory systems that interact to support cognition
- Medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures are involved in declarative tasks
- Caudate nucleus (part of striatum) is involved in non-declarative tasks
Describe habit learning (H: 3 items)
Focuses on the formation and expression of habits through repeated actions and reinforcement
- Early Learning: Medial Temporal Lobe
- Late Learning: Striatum
- Automaticity: Motor Cortex
What is the serial position curve?
A curve relating the percentage of words recalled by the number of words in the list
Describe the serial position curve
There’s greater accuracy of words from the beginning and end of the list than words from the middle of the list
What is the primacy effect?
Enhanced memory for words presented at the beginning of a list
Why does the primacy effect occur?
Thought to occur because these items are the most rehearsed in the list and these items move into long-term memory
What is the recency effect?
Enhanced memory for words presented at the end of a list
Why does the recency effect occur? (H: 2 items)
Thought to occur because these words are still in short-term memory
Can be eliminated by putting in a 30-second delay between presentation of the list and recall
Describe the constructive approach to memory
Memory is what actually happened plus knowledge, experiences, and expectations
What is autobiographical memory?
Memory for dated events in a person’s life
What are examples of autobiographical memories? (H: 2 items)
Birth of your child
Wedding day
What is the reminiscence bump?
People over the age of 40 have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood
What are examples of the reminiscence bump? (H: 2 items)
College years
New career
Describe an experiment illustrating the reminiscence bump
Participants over the age of 40 were asked to recall events in their lives
Results: Memory is high for recent events and for events that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood (10-30 years of age)
What is a flashbulb memory?
Memory for circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events
What are examples of flashbulb memories? (H: 2 items)
9/11
JFK assassination
Describe an experiment testing flashbulb memories
Participants were asked to give an initial description (baseline) of 9/11 and then later asked to give a description again, which was compared to baseline
Results
- Memories can be inaccurate or lacking in detail
- Even though participants report that the memories seem very vivid and that they are very confident
What is source monitoring?
Process of determining the origins of our memories
Describe an experiment showing errors in source monitoring
Acquisition: Participants were asked to read non-famous names
Immediate Test: Read non-famous names plus new non-famous and new famous names and asked to identify which are famous
- Result: Most non-famous names were correctly identified as non-famous
Delayed Test (After 24 hrs): Same as intermediate test
- Result: Some non-famous names were misidentified as famous
Explanation: Some non-famous names were familiar, and the participants misattributed the source of the familiarity
- Failed to identify the source as the list that had been read the previous day
What is false memory?
Someone recalls something that didn’t happen or recalls it differently from how it happened
Describe false memory (H: 2 items)
It’s possible for memories of abuse to have been forgotten for a long time to be remembered
It’s possible to construct convincing psuedomemories for events that never occurred
Describe an experiment demonstrating how false memories can be
created
Participants’ parents gave descriptions of childhood experiences
Participant had conversation about experiences with experimenter; experimenter added new events
Results: When discussing it later, some participants “remembered” the new events as actually happening
What is a script?
Conception of sequence of actions that occur during a particular experience
What are examples of scripts? (H: 2 items)
Going to the restaurant
Going to the dentist
What is a schema?
Knowledge about what’s involved in a particular experience
What are examples of schemas? (H: 2 items)
Post office
Ball game
What is deductive reasoning?
Reasoning that involves syllogisms in which a conclusion logically follows from premises
Describe deductive reasoning? (H: 2 items)
Conclusion is stated as definitely being true
Moves from general statements to specific instances
What is inductive reasoning?
Reasoning in which a conclusion follows from a consideration of evidence
Describe inductive reasoning (H: 2 items)
Conclusion is stated as probably being true
Moves from specific instances to general statements
How are deductive and inductive reasoning connected?
Both forms of reasoning make conclusions based on evidence
What is a categorical syllogism?
A syllogism in which the premises and conclusion describe the relationship between two categories by using statements that begin with all, no, or some
What is a conditional syllogism?
Syllogism with two premises and a conclusion, whose first premise is an “If…then…” statement
What is validity?
Quality of a syllogism whose conclusions follow logically from the premises
What are the different ways to identify if a syllogism is valid or invalid? (H: 4 items)
Affirming the Antecedent
Denying the Consequent
Affirming the Consequent
Denying the Antecedent
Describe affirming the antecedent
P1: If p, then q
P2: p
C: q
Valid
Describe denying the consequent
P1: If p, then q
P2: Not q
C: Not p
Valid
Describe affirming the consequent
P1: If p, then q
P2: q
C: p
Invalid