Forgetting

Question 1

what are the three forgetting hypotheses?

Answer 1

1. memory decay hypothesis
   - use it or lose it
   - items not recalled - lose their strength as a result of automatic decay
2. Interference theory
   - not decay but interference
   - forgetting occurs because recall of certain words interferes with recall of others
3. retrieval failure
   - forgetting is the result of temporarily being unable to locate the stored memory due to insufficient activation of nodes
   - remember something one could not previously remember

Question 2

Explain the forgetting curve.

Answer 2

greatest decay over the first 20 minutes
continued decay until 1 hour
slower decay over time
forget a lot very quickly but less over longer time

Question 3

Why do we forget over time?

Answer 3

Decay - memory trace is lost from the LTM over time
Interference - new memories make older ones difficult to locate, especially when they are closely related or competing for activation
retrieval failure - the nodes that would normally activate a memory temporarily below threshold - the memory is stored but cannot be retrieved

Question 4

Compare and contrast proactive and retroactive interference?

Answer 4

interference - memories from similar types of information are confusable and susceptible to errors
Proactive Interference - old information interferes with learning new information
retroactive interference - new information interferes with learning old information

Question 5

Describe both type of Amnesia.

Answer 5

Retrograde Amnesia - loss of memory from before the disruption
Anterograde amnesia - inability to form new long-term memories

Question 6

HM

Answer 6

loss of explicit memory but implicit memory intact

• practiced a task
• able to do task better
• does not remember practicing
• evidence of Double Disassociation

Question 7

Damage to amygdala versus hippocampus

Answer 7

damage to amygdala - explicit intact but implicit deficit
- no fear response but explicit memory
damage to the hippocampus - implicit intact, explicit deficit
- fear with no memory (HM)

Question 8

Remembering versus knowing

Answer 8

-both direct tests of memory
- recall - memory connections leading to a specific node
- recognition can rely on just a sense of familiarity
knowing - familiarity without details
remembering - familiarity and recollection of specific details SOURCE MEMORY

Question 9

Familiarity versus source memory

Answer 9

familiarity - greater activation in rhinal cortex

source memory - greater activation in hippocampus (remember)

Question 10

what does Processing Fluency mean?

Answer 10

• how easily new information is processed
  relies on
• seen frequently
  -recently primed to
  processed fluently -> makes sense to think you may have seen it recently
  can be manipulated using repetition priming
  more frequent we encounter a. stimulus ->less the source tend to matter
  higher processing fluency = decreased source memory