Lecture 7

Question 1

Define memory

Answer 1

The process by which we observe, store and recall information
Can be visual, auditory or tactile (physical sensations)

Question 2

What systems are involved in memory processing?

Answer 2

Conscious: Active memory system that requires effort and awareness to recall memories
Autonomic: Memories that influence behaviour or thought that can be recalled without much awareness (riding a bike)

Question 3

What are the steps of encoding

Answer 3

Attention: Acts as a filter to determine which stimuli needs to be processed and which is ignored. Spotlight analogy is used to describe attention to certain objects while others are ignored
Sensory detection: Initial processing of information by sensory systems
Recognition of meaning: Brain interprets sensory information based off context from past experiences and knowledge
Response selection: One decides on how to respond or act upon the information that has been encoded

Question 4

What are the levels of processing?

Answer 4

Shallow processing: Structural encoding (capital letters, colour)
Intermediate processing: phonemic encoding (rhyming) - Based off sound
Deep processing: Semantic encoding (meaning or symbolism)

Question 5

Facilitating encoding strategies

Answer 5

Elaboration: Connecting new information with past knowledge to create connections
Visual imagery: Creating mental images that helps to understand the material
Self referential encoding: Relating new information to yourself or your personal experiences
Rehearsal and over learning: Repeating information to keep it active in memory and over learning is the continuous learning of a skill even after mastering it
Deep and transfer appropriate processing: Deep processing is to focus on the meaning behind the information and TAP suggests that encoding is most efficient when the conditions of learning match the conditions of retrieval
Distributed practice: Involves spreading study or practice sessions over a period of time
Organize information

Question 6

What are the types of mnemonic devices

Answer 6

Verbal: Acrostics, acronyms, rhymes
Visual: Keyword, SQ3R

Question 7

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 7

Idea that ease of retrieval of a memory depends on match of encoding with retrieval

Question 8

What are the three stores of memory

Answer 8

Sensory registers: Iconic (Visual) and Echoic (Auditory)
Short term memory
Long term memory

Question 9

Describe the information processing model of memory

Answer 9

Stimulus -> Sensory registers -> Short term memory (rehearsal used to send memory to long term) -> Long term -> Retrieval sends information back to short term. Note that some information is lost at each step after stimulus

Question 10

Characteristics of short term memory

Answer 10

Variant of memory that is of limited duration (Information fades after 20-30 secs without rehearsal)
Has limited capacity storage ( 7 items of information only and this capacity is constant among all cultures)
Involves rehearsal: Maintenance (Information is repeated) and elaborative (Information is related to other knowledge)

Question 11

Describe working memory

Answer 11

Temporary storage and processing of information is used to solve problems, respond to environmental demands and achieve goals

Question 12

What three modules does the working memory consist of?

Answer 12

Visual memory store: A temporary image (20-30 secs) that provides information about the location and nature of objects
Verbal memory store: Involves storage of verbal items
Central executive
Note that the modules are independent of each other so damage to visual does not damage verbal

Question 13

Describe long term memory

Answer 13

Refers to the representations of facts, images, actions, and skills that may persist over a lifetime
Involves retrieval of information
and is theoretically limitless in capacity

Question 14

Describe the serial position curve

Answer 14

Supports the existence of
STM versus LTM
– Primacy effect reflects LTM
– Recency effect reflects STM
The primacy effect refers to the phenomenon where items presented at the beginning of a list are more likely to be remembered than those in the middle.
The recency effect refers to the phenomenon where items presented at the end of a list are also more likely to be remembered, but this effect is thought to reflect the operation of short-term memory

Question 15

State some distinctions between working memory and long term memory

Answer 15

1. Differences in capacity: WM has limited capacity whereas LTM theoretically has unlimited capacity
   2.WM can easily be accessed whereas LTM requires the use of retrieval strategies
2. WM and LTM are independent of each other, if LTM damaged WM can still work and if WM is damaged LTM can still work
3. Chunking of information allows information from LTM to increase the size of the working memory

Question 16

Describe the graph showing recall differences between men and women

Answer 16

Individuals usually recall more things that they are interested in. Graph showed that men can recall more details on how to build a work bench rather than how to make the shirt when women could recall more details about the shirt than the workbench

Question 17

What are the networks of association

Answer 17

LTM is organized in clusters of information that all connect with each other. This network is composed of interconnected nodes that contains information like thought, smell, emotion. Mnemonic devices help add concepts to existing networks

Question 18

What are the varieties of LTM

Answer 18

Declarative memory contains of semantic: “generic” knowledge of facts and episodic: memories of specific events
Procedural memory: For skills
Explicit memory: Conscious retrieval of information
Implicit memory: Skills, conditioned learning

Question 19

How are some ways memories get repressed?

Answer 19

Retrieval failure
Motivated forgetting
Denial
Repression
Psychogenic amnesia
False memory syndrome

Question 20

What are the seven sins of memory

Answer 20

Memories fade with time
We do not remember what we don’t pay attention to
Our memories can be temporarily blocked
We can misattribute the source of memory
We are suggestible in our memories
We can show memory distortion
We often fail to forget the things we would not like to recall