Long-Term Memory Flashcards
episodic memory
memory of events
semantic memory
facts, knowledge
explicit memory (conscious)
- episodic
- semantic
implicit memory (not conscious)
- procedural
- priming
- conditioning
procedural memory
- skill memory: memory for actions
- perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them
people who cannot form new LTMs can still learn _____
new skills
Donald Hebb
- Father of neuropsychology and neural networks
- The Organization of Behaviour (1949)
priming
presentation of an earlier stimulus changes a person’s response to a test stimulus
propaganda effect
we are more likely to rate statements read or heard as being true (even when initially told it was false or didn’t believe it)
classical conditioning
the pairing of a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response (dog salivating from ringing of bell)
operant conditioning
behaviour is strengthened by presentation of reinforcers or withdrawal of negative ones
how info is transferred to episodic memory
-rehearsal (a set of strategies for encoding information into LTM
Types of rehearsal:
- maintenance: keeps information ‘alive” in WM
- elaboration: “promotes” information to LTM (make connections rather than just memorization)
levels of processing
memory depends on how information is encoded
-depth of processing: shallow/deep
who proposed the ‘levels of processing’ concept?
Craig & Tulving
criticisms of levels of processing
- circular: there is no independent measure of depth in the framework (deciding which category is deeper)
- context effects: results are sometimes opposite from predicted
value of levels of processing theory:
- places emphasis on processes
- introduced incidental learning
representation of LTM
- people tend to cluster related items
- mostly semantic
for information in LTM is forgotten
- LTM is better when sleeping after learning, suggesting retroactive interference plays a role in loss of information
- retrieval failure
- decay
interference theory of forgetting
emphasized role of proactive interference
retrieval from LTM
-may be “content-addressable” to optimize access and speed (able to search within part of memory related to what you need)
context dependency
emphasizes the match between encoding and retrieval
encoding specificity principle
- the idea that the way in which information is encoded determines the optimal way to retrieve that information
- the better the match the more likely you will be able to retrieve it
state-dependent learning
learning is associated with a particular internal state (better memory if a person’s mood at encoding matches mood during retrieval)
the capacity of LTM is ____
unlimited
recent long-term memories tend to be more ____
detailed
the serial position curve suggests that
memory is better for words at the beginning of the list and at the end of the list than for words in the middle
the primacy effect
when subjects tend to remember words at the beginning of a sequence
the recency effect
a better memory for words presented at the end of a sequence
best explanation for recency effect
the most recently presented words are still in STM and therefore are easier for subjects to remember
best explanation for primacy effect
subjects had time to rehearse the words at the beginning of the sequence and transfer them to LTM
coding
the form in which stimuli are presented
recognition memory
the identifiction of a stimulus that was encountered earlier
autobiographical memory
memory for specific experiences from our life
the semantic components of autobiographical memory are called
personal semantic memories
semanticization of remote memories
loss of episodic derail for memories of long-ago events
difficulty remembering things of the past is often associated with
difficulty imagining future events
constructive episodic simulation hypothesis
episodic memories are extracted and combined to construct simulations of future events
repetition priming
the test stimulus is the same as or resembles the priming stimulus
consolidation
the process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state
synaptic consolidation
takes place over minutes or hours, involves structural changes at synapses
systems consolidation
takes place over months or years, involves gradual reorganization of neural circuits within the brain
long-term potentiation
enhanced firing of neurons after repeated simulation
rectivation
a process in which the hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory
graded amnesia
when amnesia tends to be most severe for events that happened just before the injury
multiple trace model of consolidation
the hippocampus is involved in retrieval of episodic memories, even if they originated long ago
reconsolidation
when a memory is retrieved, it becomes fragile and needs to be consolidated again
