LCT11: Attention and Memory Flashcards
What are we often wrong about?
our experiences… both of the past and present
Attention
the process of focusing awareness on a narrowed aspect of the environment
Attention is…
selective
Change Blindness
missing large changes in environment
Memory
the process by which information - our experiences - are retained for later use OR the nervous systems capacity to acquire and retain skills and knowledge
Information processing model of memory
1) Encoding - processing information
2) Storage - retaining information
3) recalling information
Three-part model of memory
aka - Atkinson-Shiffrin
1) Sensory memory
2) Short-term or working memory
3) Long-term memory
Sensory Memory (Echoic and Iconic)
brief, fleeting sense information
- Echoic = auditory
- Iconic = visual
Short-Term memory
- immediate, ACTIVE memory –> limited
- aka: Working Memory
Maintenance Rehearsal
process of keeping information in STM by repeating it
Chunking
grouping items into larger wholes to aid memory
Long-Term memory
- the virtually-unlimited storage of all memories
- likely permanent
Serial Position Effect
recall of a list depends on order
Primary Effect
better memory for first items (LTM)
Recency Effect
better memory for last items (STM or WM)
How does information get to LTM?
rehearsing… better way is elaboration.
Rehearsing
simple repetition.
- distributed vs. massed practice = multiple sessions better for memory than one session - ongoing studying is better than cramming
Elaboration
elaborative or meaningful encoding
Ways for elaborative encoding?
Visual imagery : converting information into mental pictures
Organization : noticing relationships among items
Long-Term memory is based on…
meaning = provides greater depth or breadth of processing (“deep processing”)
Self-reference
elaboration that links material to personal experience - highly effective for recall
Schema
mental framework centering on a specific theme, that helps us to reorganize social information
Schemas are.. and influence our…
Are… culture-bound
Our… memory
Where is information stored?
Networks of Association or Semantic Networks
- memories are stored throughout brain in connected networks
- formed by nodes, or units, of information
- nodes are linked together
- spreading activation model
Recognition is easier than…
recall
What helps access the right information?
retrieval cues
Recognition tasks contain…
retrieval cues
Retrieval cues
reminders that trigger memories
encoding specificity
any similes encoded along with an experience can later trigger one’s memory of that experience
Context-Dependent Memory
recall is improved when recall situation is similar to encoding situation
State-Dependent Memory
recall is improved when internal states match during encoding and recall
Long-term memory systems
Explicit memory and Implicit memory
Explicit memory
system of conscious memory
- aka: declarative memory
Declarative memory
information retrieved from explicit memory can be verbally discussed, stated, or declared
- facts, rules, concepts, events
Two types of Explicit memory
Episodic - personal events
Semantic - knowledge
Implicit memory
system of unconscious memories
- influences our attitudes and associations
- non-declarative = very hard to put implicit memories into words
Procedural memory
knowing how to do things, skills, over learned info, habits
What parts of the brain are key for memory? Who found this observation?
Hippocampus and the medial temporal lobes
- case of H.M.
consolidation
converting short-term memories into permanent storage
Long-term potentiation
the strengthening of the synaptic connection so that postsynaptic neurons are more easily activated
Candidate for neural basis of… and for the movement of what…where?
basis of learning… and movement of memories from STM to LTM
Forgetting
decay, interference, amnesia
Distortion
suggestibility, bias - eyewitness testimony and false memories
Decay
aka: transience = the pattern of forgetting things over time
Forgetting appears due to the…
interference of other information
Proactive
old information interferes with learning new
Retroactive
new information interferes with remembering old
Amnesia
deficit in long-term memory - causes by both injury or disease
Basic types of amnesia
Retrograde Amnesia = the inability to recall past memories
Anterograde Amnesia = the inability to form new memories
Memory distortion means that…
people are often bad eyewitnesses
- particularly when trying to identify persons of other ethnicities (bias)
Suggestibility
tendency to incorporate misleading information into our own memories
Misinformation can lead to…
false memories
