lesson 7 memory Flashcards
Memory
the ability to store and retrieve information over time
encoding
the process of transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory
storage
the process of maintaining information in memory over time;
retrieval
the process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
how do we make memories
combining information we already have in our brains with new information that comes in through
our senses. In this way, memory is like cooking; starting from a recipe but improvising along the way, we add old information to new information, mix, shake, and bake, and out pops a memory. Memories are constructed, not recorded, and encoding is the process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring
memory
Semantic encoding
is the process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory
how the lobes work with memory
visual imagery encoding
the process of storing new information by converting
it into mental pictures
- For example, a visual image of a parked car might help you create a link to your memory of
your first kiss
organizational encoding
the process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series
of items
*For example, suppose you had to memorize the words peach, cow, chair, apple, table, cherry, lion, couch, horse, desk. The task seems difficult, but if you organize the items into three categories—fruit (peach, apple, cherry),
animals (cow, lion, horse), and furniture (chair, table, couch, desk)—the task becomes much easier
which kind of encoding tends to lead to faster and better recall
survival encoding- One advantage of encoding survival-related information is that it draws on elements of semantic, visual imagery, and organizational encoding, which together produce high levels of subsequent
memory. Also, survival encoding encourages participants to think in detail about the goals they want to achieve and thus engage in extensive planning, which in turn benefits memory and may account for much of the benefit
of survival encoding
Sensory memory
is a type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less
Iconic memory
fast-decaying store of visual information
Echoic memory
fast-decaying store of auditory information
short-term memory
holds nonsensory information for more than a
few seconds but less than a minute
Rehearsal
the process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it
serial position effect
refers to the observation that the first few and last
few items in a series are more likely to be recalled than the items in the middle
Enhanced recall of the first few
items in, say, a list of words is called the
primacy effect. It occurs because these items receive more rehearsals
than subsequent items in the middle of the list and thus are more likely to be encoded into long-term storage
Enhanced recall of the last few items is called the
recency effect and can result from rehearsing items that are still
in short-term storage
combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short term memory
Chunking
working memory
refers to active maintenance of information in short-term
storage
long-term memory
a type of storage that holds information for
hours, days, weeks, or years
In 1953, a 27-year-old man, known then by the initials HM,
suffered from intractable epilepsy
what happened?
HM’s doctors removed parts of his temporal lobes, including the hippocampus and some surrounding regions. After the operation, HM could converse easily, use and understand language, and perform well
on intelligence tests, but he could not remember anything that happened to him after the operation
*The fact that HM had much worse anterograde than retrograde amnesia suggests that the hippocampal region is not the site of long term memory
anterograde amnesia
the inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store
retrograde amnesia
the inability to retrieve
information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery
consolidation
the process by which memories become stable in the brain
*For example, when someone experiences a head injury in a car crash and later cannot recall what happened during the few seconds or minutes before the crash—but can recall other events normally—the head injury probably prevented consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory. Another type of consolidation occurs over much longer periods of time—days, weeks, months, and years—and likely involves transfer of
information from the hippocampus to more permanent storage sites in the cortex
how do memories become encoded as long term
sleep