Long-term memory Flashcards
long-term memory
information retained for a longer period of time
anything beyond 30 seconds is thought the be stored in LTM
any type of info that is not currently in use and anything that is currently not in your mind
capacity of LTM
stores large amounts of information
no one knows exact number
perhaps 10^13 pieces of information
misconceptions of LTM
you start off with an empty room and add memories, until it becomes full
adding more memories makes other memories drop off
researchers also thought brain would grow until a certain age and then it decays
after ages 20-25 researchers thought the brain couldn’t grow new connections but it actually does until you die
duration of LTM
lasts a long time
possible confound: memories you form in late teens-early 20s are more resilient than memories formed earlier or later
these memories hold status because they can be retrieved in a way that other memories can’t
effects of music on Alzheimer’s and dementia
music therapy: music is from when the person was around 20 years old
produces lucid moments in people with Alzheimers
music can act as a way to retrieve other memories from that time
should you study with music?
yes if it makes you feel happy but it should also not distract you from what you are studying
* singing along to lyrics while trying to read is not helpful
music helps with encoding when it puts you in a better mood but can also distract
LTM representation
memory is stored in LTM as meaning
you won’t remember the exact words
memory for words stored in STM relies on sound
memory for words stored in LTM relies on meaning
LTM vs STM
semantic (meaning) information
delay: confusion is in the words meaning not in the way that the words sound
- greater confusion with STM
LTM structure
how do we organize different types of memories
* info doesn’t come from conscious awareness
explicit memory: LTM retrieval or performance that entails deliberate recollection or awareness
* measured with direct memory tests
implicit memory: LTM performance affected by prior experience with no necessary awareness of the influence
* measured with indirect memory tests
declarative vs nondeclarative memory
another way to make the explicit vs implicit distinction
- explicit is declarative and controlled (remembering specific formula or date)
- implicit is nondeclarative and automatic (motor memory, procedural memory)
similar to autonomic vs controlled processe with Attention
these memory systems cannot be completely independent
declarative memories
explicit
semantic vs episodic memory
episodic: memory associated with time, placem with a this-happened-to-me feeling
* specific event
semantic: memory for general world knowledge, not associated with time or place
LTM the big picture
the whole LTM encompasses some type of episodic memory
* from these episodes, can extract and generalize info which is what semantic is
* can then explicitly declare this information
explicit = declarative memory: remembering with awareness
implicit = nondeclarative memory: remembering without awareness
episodic memory
representation tied to sensory experience
temporal and contextual information
prone to forgetting
semantic memory
representations store conceptual information
- representations are seperate from encoding experience, time or context
less prone to forgetting
- taking info from episodic memory and making generalized information
- can remember information but you don’t have to remember the time and place
- you just know it so its easier to remember
semantic priming: lexical decision task
- subjects are shown strings of letters, decide whether they are words or not
–milk vs milc
even though each trial is separate, information processing on one will affect the other
participants are faster to make a lexical decision after a related prime
semantic priming: facilitation in the processing of a word when it is preceded by a related word
priming
being exposed to a certain stimuli makes a particular response to a second stimuli more likely to happen
implicit memory
learning and remembering
memory divided into declarative and nondeclarative
declarative (explicit): semantic vs episodic
nondeclarative (implicit): procedural skills, priming, conditioning, nonassociation
Priming examples
being exposed to a stimuli will make a particular response more likely to happen
- word completion task
- lexical decision task
* cow and milk - stereotype threat
* participants who have been primed with gender stereotypes related to match: women performed worse than those that were not primed
(no difference in performance for men)
conditioning
everyday examples:
* a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of nausea (UCR)
- a stomach virus (UCS) might be associated with eating a certain food such as chocolate (CS)
- chocolate (CS), which was eaten before a person was sick with a virus (UCS) is now produces a response of nausea (CR)
procedural memory
procedural memory is responsible for knowing how to do things, also known as motor skills
* motor memory (misnomer)
some examples of tasks dependent upon procedural memory
* playing piano
* skiing
* ice skating
* sports
* driving a car
* climbing stairs
* riding a bike
amnesia
the catastrophic loss of memory or memory abilities caused by brain damage or disease
two types: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia
retrograde amnesia: the loss of memory for events before a brain injury
* follows Robot’s Law
* more disruption for more recent memories
anterograde amnesia: disruption of memory for events occuring after brains injury, that is, acquiring new long-term memories
areas of brain sensitive to O2 levels like the hippocampus also make memories stick
amnesia and implicit memory
Amnesic patients can retain and express some aspects of a learning experience, despite their inability to recollect the experience in a conscious or explicit manner
- This phenomenon is referred to as an implicit expression of memory.
anterograde amnesia
scoville performed radical surgery on H.M. with the results being pervasive anterograde amnesia
* to treat seizures
his memory of events before surgery was good
evidence to say that H.M’s procedural memory was normal
- couldn’t make new memories explicitly after surgery
he had encoding for the way he felt about people and he would not like someone but couldn’t remember why
encoding and retrieving information
encoding: the process of adding information to memory
* modal model: STM to LTM
Retrieval: the process of finding target information in memory
* what’s his name? How do I knnow her?
usually encoding and retrieval interact
encoding elaboration
effective elaboration is more likely when elaborated information adds meaning or supports meaning of the target info
elaboration experiment
3 types of sentences:
precise elaboration: information in the sentence that was meaningfully related to the target adjectives
* example: the college girl was tired from studying all night
imprecise elaboration; information in the sentence was not meaningfully related to the target adjectives
* the school girl kelp in the barn next to the goat
base: no elaboration
* the young girl found a book
elaboration experiment conclusions
Precise > Base > Imprecise
- concluded that elaboration can help with memory, but it needs to be meaningful
implications: meaningful elaborations help integrate information with prior knowledge
linking knowledge increases remembering
if you elaborate but the connection is not obvious or part of current knowledge or the connection is weak
organization
gave 24 items either organized into their category or in a random order
people performed worse on lists with no organization
organization links info together and the linking helps retrieval
links gives cues for recalling information
organization improves memory
schemas
an organized unit of knowledge
* provides typical expectations about situations, events, people
use them to infer details
way of organizing information
how certain events take place
allows to make predictions of what’s going to happen
if two people share schema, assumed knowledge makes recalling easier?
unexpected schemas are easier to remember bc more surprising
* bob ordered a meal, but left no tip when he was finished
Schemas results
schemas can distort memory to fit expectations
they can fill in details that aren’t present
like looking at an office desk and recalling seeing a pen when there wasn’t actually one
summary of schemas
schemas: an organized unit of knowledge or script
how do they function?
* can help infer details
how can they hurt us?
* can hurt because we insert things that never happened
encoding variability
list 1: arm leg foot, arm leg foot.
list 2: arm leg foot, inch meter foot
* better memory
* more connections and links so more cues to recall the information
* easier to remember if you have multiple retrieval cues
perspective
participants read a story about a house from one of 2 different perspectives
* home buyer or burglar
then try to write down as much of the story as possible
subjects with burglar perspectives recalled different details to those recalled by home-buyers
changing perspective
later tries to write down the story from the same perspective as before or from other perspective
- participants with new perspective recalled more than the first time
- but those with the old perspective recalled slightly less
- shift in perspective can help recall
- but information must be encoded in the first place
perspective does not prevent encoding even if it is not relevant to the perspective
perspective change acts as a new retrieval cue to get at the information
what does memory teach us about studying
- spacing effect
- context effects
- state depending learning
- levels of processing
- transfer appropriate processing
spacing effect
looked at students studying list 8 times in one day vs 2 times a day for 4 days
do both
- benefits to mass studying right away for long term retention
- distributed spacing is better because you can hold onto information longer
context effects
presenting 40 words to scuba divers wither under water or on shore
recall test in same context (on water or shore)
environment has effect on retrieval
* better retrieval for words learned and recalled in same environment
- encoding specificity
encoding specificity effect
retrieval is successful to the extent that the encoding and retrieval cues match
- contect effects: related to the external environment
- state-dependent learning: arises from our internal states
how you are internally matters
state dependent learning
- material learned while intoxicated
- best recalled while intoxicated
disclaimer: people sober for both performed better than any intoxicated group
the state that you’re in while studying affects the outcome
* if you are sad while studying and sad while taking test, results are better because everything you feel while studying can act as a cue later on
- encoding specificity
levels of processing
processing can range from “shallow” processing of the physical features of stimuli to “deep” processing of their meaning
putting meaning into words results in better recall
example: subjects shown a word and then had them make 3 judgments:
1. case
2. rhyme
3. sentence completion
more processing = more remembering
problems with levels of processing
circular reasoning
* theory predicts: deeper encoding results in greater memory
how do you know the encoding was deep?
* memory was better
transfer appropriate processing
at encoding: varied in depth
* rhyming is shallow encoding
* sentence frame is deep encoding
at retrieval, used rhymes as retrieval cues
* rhyme as retrieval cue (shallow)
* recognition (deep)
Transfer-appropriate processing (TAP) is a type of state-dependent memory specifically showing that memory performance is not only determined by the depth of processing (where associating meaning with information strengthens the memory; see levels-of-processing effect), but by the relationship between how information is initially encoded and how it is later retrieved.
