Long and Short Term Memory (Chapter 6)

Question 1

Length of STM

Answer 1

15-30 seconds (in other accounts, 15-20 seconds)

Question 2

Length of LTM

Answer 2

Anything longer than 20 or 30 seconds (almost everything we know)

Question 3

Serial position curve

Answer 3

Given list of words to remember: one group got to write words right away, while other group was distracted (multiplication problems) for 30 seconds prior to getting to write words
Result: U-shaped curve when graphing serial position vs. probability of recall (highest recall for words at beginning and ending of list; lowest recall for words at end of list)

Question 4

Primacy effect and serial position curve

Answer 4

The words presented first in the list are remembered well

Given most time to practice the words heard first: using long term memory

Question 5

Recency effect and serial position curve

Answer 5

The words presented last in the list are remembered well (particularly when in the group that got to write down the words right away): utilizing short term memory

Question 6

Auditory encoding

Answer 6

Used in STM
Representing items based on their sound
Repeating information over and over (hearing it in head)

Question 7

Semantic coding

Answer 7

Used primarily in LTM

Representing items based on their meaning

Question 8

Relationship between long and short term memory (neuropsychological evidence)

Answer 8

Studying brain-damaged individuals: double dissociation between STM and LTM
STM and LTM are separate and independent processes

Question 9

2 types of LTM

Answer 9

Implicit/non-declarative (information that is known but is hard to describe)
Explicit/declarative (information that is known and easy to describe)

Question 10

2 types of explicit LTM

Answer 10

Semantic (facts)

Episodic (personal events)

Question 11

Difference in experience of retrieval of semantic and episodic memories

Answer 11

Episodic memories are laden with senses and emotions (experience of mental time travel)
Semantic memories don’t have the same experience of emotions and senses

Question 12

Relationship between semantic and episodic memories (neuropsychological evidence)

Answer 12

Studying brain-damaged individuals: double dissociation between semantic and episodic memories
Semantic and episodic memory are separate and independent processes

Question 13

How semantic and episodic memories can interact

Answer 13

Semantic memories can be enhanced if associated with episodic memories (remembering circumstances of learning a certain fact)
Semantic memories can influence experiences by influencing attention
Episodic memories can be lost, leaving only semantic memories

Question 14

2 types of implicit LTM

Answer 14

Priming (facilitated response to a stimulus that has been recently used)
Procedural (how to do things)

Question 15

Experimental evidence for priming (implicit memory)

Answer 15

Presenting a word list to people and determining what they recall later on: faster to respond to words that had been seen
Word completion task (given gr—, fill in green if having seen green in list)
Amnesiacs (no explicit memory): same levels of implicit memory as normal people

Question 16

Incomplete pictures studies with amnesiacs

Answer 16

Incomplete pictures task: show people line drawings with many lines erased; picture becomes more complete with each successive slide
Amnesiacs actually do better on successive trials (they don’t remember doing it before, but exhibit priming)

Question 17

Procedural memory and amnesiacs

Answer 17

Amnesiacs are often able to utilize procedural memory, even though they have no explicit memories
Example: Clive Wearing (can still play piano after viral encephalitis damaged hippocampus, preventing the formation of new long term memories)