LECTURE TWELVE

Question 1

BASIC STRUCTURE OF MEMORY

Answer 1

• Iconic (sensory) memory
• Short-term (working) memory
• Long-term memory
  -Implicit memory: Memory for motor skills (also called procedural memory)
  Memory for perception
• Priming
• Explicit (declarative) memory:
• Semantic memory – facts, concepts, information
• Episodic memory – life events, first-hand experience

Question 2

STUDYING LONG TERM MEMORY

Answer 2

• Recall tasks
• Free recall vs. serial recall
• Immediate recall vs. delayed
• Cued recall
• Recognition tasks
• More sensitive than recall
• This is why multiple choice
  tests are easier!

Question 3

LTM PROCESSES

Answer 3

Encoding: Get information into LTM
* Storage: Store information in LTM
* Retrieval: Retrieve information from LTM

Question 4

ATKINSON-SHIFFRIN MODEL

Answer 4

• More time in STM = more rehearsal
• More rehearsal = stronger LTM encoding
• LTM encoding largely automatic

PROBLEM: * Is rehearsal the most important thing?
* How do you remember things?
* Are some things easier to remember than others?

Question 5

LEVELS OF PROCESSING

Answer 5

• Not just amount of time rehearsed – quality of
  rehearsal is also important
• Items encoded “deep” are better than those
  encoded “shallow”

Question 6

LOP TASKS

Answer 6

• Deep encoding
  Does the word fit into the sentence?
• Shallow encoding
  Does the word rhyme with the word below it?

Question 7

CUED RECALL

Answer 7

• Cued recall task shows that deep encoding is not always the best
• Depends on cue relevant information
• Relation between encoding and retrieval – more on this later

Question 8

ELABORATIVE ENCODING

Answer 8

• Not just time and not just “deep”
• To better encode things, they should be linked to already stored information
• The process of linking new information to old is called
  elaboration
• Fitting information into a schema

Question 9

SEMANTIC NETWORK

Answer 9

• Concepts are connected together in a complicated web called a semantic network
• New information fits into the semantic network by linking with old information
• Best way to remember new information is to link it with old information (more links = better)
• Non-hierarchical, local representation

Question 10

MNEMONICS

Answer 10

• Helpful ways to remember information
• Can dramatically increase capacity (memory
  athletes)
• Method of Loci
  Walk around an interior setting placing and finding
  objects
• Peg method
  Information “pegged” to overlearned sequence (such as
  numbers or a calendar)
  Can also work in reverse – numbers pegged to semantics
• Linguistic elaboration
  “Eddie ate dynamite, good bye eddie”

Question 11

OTHER LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Answer 11

• Testing effect: Ask questions while learning, while studying, while reviewing…
• Interleaving: Intersperse old material with new material
• Generative learning: Teach the topic to someone else
• Re-learning (coming up): Forget material, and learn it again

Question 12

FORGETTING

Answer 12

• Decay – information decays with time
• Interference – new information/experiences
  interfere with old information/experiences or vice
  versa
• Retroactive – new interferes with old
• Proactive – old interferes with new
• Never encoded into LTM in the first place (or poorly
  encoded)
• Forgotten information can be relearned quicker

Question 13

MEMORY CONSOLIDATION

Answer 13

• Long term memories “consolidate” gradually
• Memories can fade or be disrupted before complete
  consolidation
• amnesia after concussion
• Similar material can interfere with consolidation
• proactive interference
• retroactive interference
• Reactivating a memory helps consolidate it
• Memories that stick around long enough
  become part of “perma-store”

Question 14

ENCODING-RETRIEVAL INTERACTIONS

Answer 14

• State-dependent memory: Memories are more easily recalled if you are in a similar state as when encoding. Internal similarity. Emotional state, mental state, state of consciousness
• Context-dependent memory: Memories are more easily recalled if you are in a similar
  context as when encoding
• External similarity: Location, people, activity, objects

Question 15

RETRIEVAL INTERFERENCE

Answer 15

(“Blocking,” “Retrieval Induced Forgetting”)
* Retrieving some items in a category inteferes with retrieving the others
* Tip-of-the-Tongue phenomenon

Question 16

TIP OF THE TONGUE

Answer 16

• You know you know it, but you can’t quite get it!
• FRUSTRATING!
• Some information might be accessible – number of
  syllables, first letter, etc.
• Similar to “feeling-of- knowing” effect

Question 17

EMOTIONS AND MEMORY

Answer 17

• Pollyanna effect: Pleasant items are usually
  processed more efficiently and
  accurately.
  Rosy view: “Positivity effect”. Events are remembered as
  more positive / less negative
  over time
• Source of nostalgia?
• How do these manifest in
  mood disorders?
• “Depressive realism”