Lec 8: Attention and Memory Flashcards
Change blindness
a failure to notice large changes in one’s environment
attention
the granting of priority of processing to a particular location, item, or thought
filter theory
attention is selective, boosting relevant info and rejecting irrelevant info
selective attention
one’s ability to track items rapidly fall apart the more there are to monitor
memory
the nervous system’s capacity to acquire and retain usable skills and knowledge
sensory memory
a memory system that BRIEFLY stores sensory information in close to its original sensory form
a light, sound, an odor, taste leaves a vanishing trace on the nervous system
short term memory
memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of info in awareness
working memory
an active processing system that keeps different types of info available for current use ie sounds, images, ideas
information remains in working memory for about 20-30 seconds unless you prevent it from disappearing by thinking about or rehearsing the info
memory span
the amount of info held in working memory
chunking
organizing info into meaningful units to make it easier to remember
ex: 3104983325 is easier to remember as 310-498-3325
long term memory
a relatively permanent, limitless storage
nursery rhymes, what you had for lunch the previous day
long term memory vs working memory
long term memory has longer duration and a far greater capacity
serial position effect
ability to recall items from a list depends on order of presentation, with items presented early or late in the list remembered better than those in the middle
list of words
words in the beginning and end are better remembered than the ones in the middle
primacy effect
people have a good memory for items at the beginning of a list
recency effect
people also have a good memory for items at the end of a list
levels of processing model
the more deeply an item is encoded, the more meaning it has, and the better it is remembered
maintenance rehearsal
repeating the item over and over
elaborative rehearsal
encodes the info in more meaningful ways
The more an item is elaborated at the time of storage
the richer the later
memory will be because more connections can serve as retrieval cues
schemas
cognitive structures that help us perceive, organize, process, and use info
decisions about how to chunk info depend on schemas
prior knowledge and culture shapes our schemas and can lead to biased encoding, influencing memory
associative networks
organized by category and structured in a hierarchy
provide a blueprint for where to find info
spreading activation models
Stimuli in working memory activate specific nodes in long-term memory,
making retrieval easier.
Activation of a node spreads throughout its network,
enhancing memory of related items
retrieval cue
anything that helps a person or an animal recall info stored in long term memory
memory may be enhanced by
Context-dependent memory
when the recall situation is similar to the encoding situation
state-dependent memory
when a person’s internal states match during encoding and recall
two types of long term memory
explicit memory (declarative)
implicit memory
explicit memory
system underlying conscious memories, recalled as facts or memories
implicit memory
system underlying unconscious memories
memories that exist w/o our awareness of them and don’t require conscious attention
episodic memory
type of explicit memory
memory for one’s personal past experiences, often a narrative
ex: remembering parts about your 16th birthday
semantic memory
explicit memory
memory for knowledge about the world
ex: knowing what Jell-O is
evidence that episodic and semantic systems of explicit memory are separate
in cases of brain injury in which semantic memory is intact even though episodic memory is impaired
procedural memory
implicit memory
involved motor skills, habits, and other behaviors employed to achieve goals
ex: coordinating muscle movements to ride a bike or how to tie shoes
so unconscious that consciously thinking about automatic behaviors can interfere with the smooth production of those behaviors
forgetting
the inability to retrieve memory from long term storage
amnesia
a deficit in long term memory, resulting from disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories (HM)
retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve past memories such as events, facts, people, personal info
ribot’s law
has to do with retrograde amnesia
recent memories are most prone, bc they have the weakest neural representation
7 sins of memory
transience blocking absentmindedness persistence misattribution bias suggestability
transience
deterioration of quality of memory over time
ex: right after a movie, you can recall many details, but eventually you might forget the entire plot of a movie
transience is caused by
interference
proactive interference
when prior info inhibits the ability to remember new info
ex: moving to a new city but you keep writing down your old zip code
retroactive interference
when new info inhibits the ability to remember old info
ex: after a while, you forget your old zip code
blocking
temporary inability to retrieve specific info
often occurs bc of interference from words that are similar in some way
ex: tip of the tongue
absentmindedness
caused by shallow encoding (not a lot of attention) which occurs when ppl fail to pay sufficient attention
multi-tasking can often lead to absentmindedness
during most of our day we are consciously aware of only a small portion of both our thoughts and behaviors
persistence
recurrence of unwanted memories
PTSD
emotional events are associated with amygdala activity
misattribution
memory distortion that occurs when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with a memory
false fame effect
effect that causes people to mistakenly believe that someone is famous simply bc they have encountered the person’s name before
sleeper effect
an argument initially is not very persuasive bc it comes from a questionable source, but becomes more persuasive over time
cryptomnesia
type of misattribution that occurs when a person thinks he or she has come up with a new idea but has only retrieved a stored idea and failed to attribute the idea to its proper source
can lead to plagiarism
kiran thinking he came up with “they’re playing basketball”
Bias
changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with current beliefs or attitudes
individuals tend to remember events as casting them in prominent or favorable roles
suggestability
the development of biased memories from misleading info
people can “remember” seeing nonexistent objects
different wordings of questions altered the participants’ memories of the event
lost in the mall
25% of people failed to recognize a false memory
confabulation
unintended false recollection of episodic memories
honest lying
flashbulb memories
vivid episodic memories in which people first learned of a surprising, emotionally arousing event
ex: 9/11
can be biased and inaccurate
engram
the physical site of memory storage; the place where memory lives
equipotentiality
the idea that memory is distributed throughout the brain rather than confined to any specific location
prefrontal cortex
working memory
temporal lobe
declarative memory
amygdala
fear learning
hippocampus
spatial memory
cerebellum
motor action learning and memory
remembering something seen or heard involves
reactivating the cortical circuits involved in the initial seeing or hearing
