Long-term memory systems

Question 1

What are the components of short-term memory?

Answer 1

• Visuo-spatial sketchpad focusses on memory stores of visuals and space tasks
  -Phonological loop focusses on visual and auditory tasks
• The short-term memory may also contain a semantic component
• e.g some patients have been identified to not repeat more than 1-2 words however they can speak normally in convo
• This suggests poor phonological short-term memory, but good semantic short-term memory, that can store the gist of a sentence for a short time
• The short-term memory also has a function to convert information into the long-term memory

Question 2

What is phonological long-term memory?

Answer 2

• It supports out ability to identify spoken words

Question 3

What is visual long-term memory?

Answer 3

• It supports our ability to identify visual information, including written words, faces, etc

Question 4

What is Semantic long-term memory?

Answer 4

-It is our knowledge of the meaning and functions of words and objects
- The semantic memory supports inferences

Question 5

What does semantic short-term memory deficit lead to?

Answer 5

• Difficulty in learning new concepts
• Problems in understanding and producing complex meaningful sentences

Question 6

What is episodic memory and procedural memory?

Answer 6

• Episodic memory links memories from various long-term systems to store a record of a personal memory
• Procedural memory is when u learn skills over many trials

Question 7

What evidence for different long-term memory systems comes from single dissociation?

Answer 7

• Single dissociation is an experimental manipulation or neurological impairment affects performance3 on task 1 more than task 2
• Example is that dyslexics have difficulty identifying words (task 1) but are fine in recognising faces (task 2)
• Single dissociation suggests that long-term memory for words and faces are stored in different systems, and that long term memory for words is damaged in dyslexia

Question 8

What evidence for different long term memory systems come from double dissociation?

Answer 8

• Double dissociation is when another experimental manipulation or neurological impairment affects performance on task 2, but not task 1.
• Example is that prosopagnosic patients have more difficult in identifying faces (task 2) compared to words (task 1)
• This is much stronger evidence that there are two types of visual long term memory - visual long-term memory for words and for faces.
• implies both tasks are localised in distinct brain areas.

Question 9

What can the long-term memory system for sound stimuli be broken down into?

Answer 9

• Pure word deafness is when patients cannot understand words but can understand environmental sounds e.g can understand sound MEOW, but not the spoken word CAT
  -Auditory Agnosia is when people can understand spoken words but not environmental sounds, so opposite to pure word deafness

Question 10

What are dissociations between episodic long-term memory and phonological short-term memory?

Answer 10

• Anterograde amnesic patients (memory loss where you can’t form new memories) have poor episodic memory and good phonological short-term memory
• Phonological short-term memory patients have poor phonological short-term memory but good episodic memory
• This double dissociation suggests that short-term memory and episodic memory are different memory systems
• This doesn’t contradict that info is first t
  stored in short-term memory before being transferred to long-term memory because the episodic memory can be supported by other short-term memory systems, not just phonological

Question 11

What are dissociations between episodic long-term memory and procedural memory?

Answer 11

• Amnesia selectively impairs episodic memory, but procedural memory is fine
• Parkinson’s and Huntingdon’s disease selectively impairs procedural learning
• These two sets of results constitute a double dissociation

Question 12

How can single and double dissociations be found in individuals with normally functioning brains?

Answer 12

• If we consider the serial position curve, if we speed up the presentation of words, then the primary component decreases
• If we delay the memory test ( ask after lots of time has passed) then there is a selective decrease in the recency component
• The conclusion is that primacy is mediated by the episodic memory, and recency by the phonological short-term memory

Question 13

What is the overview of the long term memory system?

Answer 13

• There is the episodic memory which links to the semantic memory and the auditory and visual stimuli
• The the semantic memory which links to the auditory stimuli and visual stimuli
• The auditory stimuli can be broken into 1) the phonological LTM and 2) LTM for non-language sounds
  -The visual stimuli can be broken into 1) LTM for written words and 2) LTM for visual faces
• There is also the procedural memory which isn’t linked to anything