L17 & 18 - Memory and State Dependence

Question 1

What is the forgetting curve?

Answer 1

Herman Ebbinghaus
Used nonsense syllables and tested himself
Realised that forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off

Question 2

How can forgetting be reduced?

Answer 2

Reminder
Avoidance learning procedure - memory performance improved by a reminder 24h or 10m before the test

Question 3

What is the Krechevsky maze?

Answer 3

A rat maze
Rapid learning shown in the decrease of mistakes
After 25 days memory restored by a reminder 90 seconds before the test

Question 4

What is trace decay theory?

Answer 4

Information storage is reflected by physical changes in the brain, trace becomes weaker over time
Assumes that forgetting is equal to memory erasure
Does not explain the effect of reminders

Question 5

What is inference theory?

Answer 5

Human memory is fundamentally associative
Recall is guided by cues or stimuli to which items in memory are associated
May be associated with many things e.g. one name many faces

Question 6

What is proactive and retroactive interference?

Answer 6

Proactive - old information prevents learning of new
Retroactive - new information prevents remembering old

Question 7

What are the implications of experimental observations?

Answer 7

Memories can last a lot longer than you might think if trace decay were the cause of forgetting
Memories can be rejogged - memories can be forgotten without decaying
Temporary retrieval problems point to interference as a reason for forgetting

Question 8

What is Tulving and Thomson 1973?

Answer 8

Encoding in context provides memory triggers
Effective cues enable the retrieval of items that would not be retrieved under non-cued recall conditions

Question 9

What is a mood?

Answer 9

A temporary affective state
Often contrasted in psychology and psychiatry with a more specific and short term emotion

Question 10

What did Bower do to study mood state forgetting?

Answer 10

They used hypnosis to induce either happy or sad mood
They then learned 2 lists of words
It didn’t matter if it was happy or sad but recall was best when the state matched the learned state

Question 11

Is state dependency unreliable?

Answer 11

Not everyone was finding the results
88% studies showing state dependence effects used free recall
State dependent effects consistent and reproducible only when contextual cues aren’t overshadowed by more explicit reminders