Lecture 9: Motor Memory

Question 1

What is Memory?

Answer 1

1. Our ability to remember
2. Memory is the capacity that permits organisms to benefit from past experiences.

Question 2

Encoding

Answer 2

1. Process of registering info from the environment to memory.

Question 3

Storage

Answer 3

1. Capacity to retain encoded information in both active and nonactive forms until needed.

Question 4

Retrieval

Answer 4

1. The ability to locate and recall information stored within memory.

Question 5

Declarative Knowledge

Answer 5

1. Knowledge that can be verbally described
2. Ex. “What to do” to perform a skill

Question 6

Procedural Knowledge

Answer 6

1. Knowledge that enables the person to actually perform a skill.
2. Know “ how to do” a skill.
3. Typically not verbalized or difficult to verbalize.

Question 7

What is Sensory Memory?

Answer 7

1. Stage of memory that takes in virtually everything registered by sensory receptors and holds it for a brief period during which it can be organized, prioritized, and encoded in transferable form.

Question 8

What is the function of Working Memory?

Answer 8

1. Couples current sensory inputs, attention processes, and relevant information from long term memory stores.

Question 9

Phonological Loop

Answer 9

1. Responsible for the short term storage of verbal information
2. Information heard

Question 10

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Answer 10

1. Responsible for storing visually detected spatial information for short periods of time.
2. Information seen

Question 11

Episodic Buffer

Answer 11

1. Integrates phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad with aspects of long term memory

Question 12

Central Executive

Answer 12

1. Coordinates information in working memory, which includes information retrieved from long term memory.

Question 13

Duration of working memory?

Answer 13

1. Maintains information for 20-30 sec before loosing parts of info.

Question 14

Capacity of working memory?

Answer 14

1. Can store 7 items (+/-2)
2. Person can increase capacity (Chunking)

Question 15

What is long term memory? Function, duration, capacity

Answer 15

1. Permanent storage of info.
2. Function: Allows people to have info about specific past as well as general knowledge.
3. Duration: Unknown since we cannot satisfactorily measure duration of info in LTM.
4. Capacity: Unlimited

Question 16

What are the 4 causes of forgetting?

Answer 16

1. Trace Decay
2. Interference
3. Proactive Inhibition
4. Retroactive Inhibition

Question 17

Trace Decay

Answer 17

1. Forgetting over time
2. Associated with STM

Question 18

Interference

Answer 18

1. Associated with LTM
2. Forgetting that memories encoded into long term storage may fail to be retrieved into short term memory because other memories stored block retrieval.

Question 19

Proactive Inhibition

Answer 19

1. Interference of newer memories with retrieval of older memories.

Question 20

Retroactive inhibition

Answer 20

1. Interference of older memories with the learning and retrieval of newer memories.

Question 21

Explicit memory tests

Answer 21

1. Person asked to consciously call something to mind.
2. Recall test (short answer/essay or fill in the blank)

Question 22

Implicit Memory Tests

Answer 22

1. Difficult to consciously call something to mind.
2. You do not have immediate access to declarative memory (Tying shoe laces.
3. Access info in memory that is difficult or impossible to verbalize.(not accessed in explicit memory test)

Question 23

Encoding Conditions

Answer 23

1. Conditions of learning in which memories are originally formed.

Question 24

Recall Conditions

Answer 24

1. Conditions existing later, when a person attempts to perform the skill.