Lecture 5: Episodic memories Flashcards
What are episodic memories?
Those are memories of experienced events. They are influenced by order in which things are learned (primacy and recency effects). Capture information at multiple levels of representation.
What is going to be remembered in episodic memories?
-> primacy and recency effects
-> level of representation
-> context
-> physiological state
-> learning schedule
Why level of representation matters in remembering information?
The higher level of processing (surface -> text -> mental model), the more is remembered. However, importantly match between encoding and retrieval is important. If people are instructed to recall surface information, then shallow processing level is favored.
Why is testing context important?
Contexts levels are shown in the Baddeley experiment in which learning conditions were either on land or underwater. Subsequently, retrieval of information was either on land or underwater. People are better at remembering in the same environment in which they learned.
What parameters did Jaap change in his replication? Did he replicate the findings?
The context effect has not been replicated. He introduced manipulation - in his experiment, in underwater condition, divers needed to get out of the water both in water-water, land-water and water-land conditions.
What is state-dependent memory?
This type of memory refers to internal context such as physiological body state. People who learn sober, remember better sober. People who learn while drunk also remember better while drunk.
What is retrieval practice effect?
if you try to remember sth and with some effort are just able to do so, this gives a large learning effect
taking some time to retrieve information from memory shows the best learning effect
it is also important to repeat when you are about to forget!
why mere exposure has little effect on learning?
because you must pay attention and consciously elaborate the to-be-learned material
What is the relationship between spacing, learning sessions and final test?
During the learning sessions (short retention interval), performance increases with less spacing. However at final test (long retention interval), the performance is better for long inter-session intervals.
Why longer inter-session intervals are favorable?
There is more consoldiation in between sessions. There is less habituation (less deficient processing). There is more diverse memory trace (different cues, contextual variability)
How did Ebbinghaus came about with his forgetting curve?
He repeatedly tested himself on ability to recall nonsense syllables. He had initial learning phase of 8 perfect recalls of the nonsense syllable. Subsequently, he investigated whether there are savings in re-learning of the material.
How did Jaap replication differ from Ebbinghaus experiment?
Ebbinghaus => 7 months; 12-45 replications per time interval
Replication => 2.5 months; 10 replications per time interval
Nevertheless, replication attempt was successful. There was strong serial-position effect.
What did both Ebbinghaus and Jaap found?
Effect of sleep! which shows increase in performance
Can forgetting stop?
Yes, according to study conducted by Bahrick. In his study, he investigated ability of Spanich words recall learned in high school. People received similiar grades when they needed to recall those words 30 years after learning. This suggest permastore - remaining memories, which will not be forgotten. According to the data, forgetting may stop after 3-12 years depending on learned material
On what proactive interference is dependent on?
It is dependent on degree of overlap between sets of information. It is irrelevant how much information was learned.
