LTM: Encoding, Consolidation, and Retrieval Flashcards
encoding
Acquiring information and transforming it into memory.
retrieval
transferring information from LTM to working memory, our failures of memory are failures to retrieve.
maintenance rehearsal
using meanings and connections to help transfer information to LTM.
shallow processing
little attention to meaning, focus on physical features, poor memory.
deep processing
close attention to meaning, and elaborative rehearsal that focuses on an item’s meaning and its relationship to something else.
Craik and Tulvings experiment
According to levels of processing theory, memory depends on the depth of processing that an item receives. Depth of processing distinguishes between shallow processing and deep processing. The three types of questions were designed to create different levels of processing: (1) physical features 5 shallow processing; (2) rhyming 5 deeper processing; (3) fill in the blanks 5 deepest processing. Results show deeper processing is associated with better memory.
visual imagery
generating images in your head to connect works visually. People who created images remembered more then twice as many words as the participants who just repeated the word pairs.
self-reference effect
Memory is better if you are asked to relate a word to yourself.
generation effect
generating material for yourself, rather than passively receiving it, enhances learning and retention. Participants who generated the second word of each pair were able to reproduce 28% more than participants who just read the word pairs.
organizing to-be-remembered information
people remember words in a particular category that serves as a retrieval cue – a word that helps a person remember information stored in memory.
relating words to survival value
memory was shaped to increase the ability to survive, especially in situations experienced by our ancestors, who were faced with basic survival challenges like finding food and evading predators.
retrieval practice
demonstrated by Karpicke and Roediger, testing memory to elaborate on material.
Recognition vs. recall
recognition is different from recall because in recall the person must produce the item to be recalled. A recall test would be like filling in blanks, while a recognition test would be multiple choice.
cued recall
most of our failures of memory are failures to retrieve, cue presented to aid retrieval, increased performance over free call, retrieval cues most effective when created by the person who uses them.
recognition
identification of a stimulus that was encountered earlier, present stimulus during a study period and later to present the same stimulus along with others that were not presented.
free recall
a participant is asked to recall stimuli, used in serial position curve.
serial recall
participants recall a list of items in a specific order it was presented.
Bransford and Johnson experiment
the importance of organization, comprehension of material.
Presented difficult-to-comprehend information:
- Experiment group 1 saw picture that helped explain the information before reading it.
- Experiment group 2 saw picture after reading the passage.
- Control group did not see the picture.
Results: Group 1 outperformed the others because having a mental framework of comprehension aided memory encoding and retrieval.
Karpicke and Reodiger word pair experiment
- Group 1 – studied and tested all words/all sessions.
- Group 2 – studied only words missed in previous tests; tested on all words.
- Group 3 – studied all words; tested on words missed in previous test.
Results: Group 3 had a later performance then 1 and 2, which shows testing memory retrieval can improve memory.
encoding specificity
we learn information together with its context.
Baddeley’s diving experiment
best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location.
state-dependent learning
learning is associated with a particular internal state, better memory if person’s mood at encoding matches mood during retrieval.
transfer-appropriate processing
memory task results improve if the type of processing used during encoding is the same as the type used during retrieval. Morris and coworkers.
Hebb experiment
learning and memory represented in the brain by physiological changes at the synapse, neural record of experience.
long-term potentiation
enhanced firing neurons after repeated stimulation, structural changes, and enhanced responding.
standard model of consolidation
Systems consolidation, after encoding, activity of hippocampus fades with time.
multiple trace model of consolidation
hippocampus activity is activated during retrieval of both recent remote memories; response of the hippocampus can change over time.
Difference between standard and multiple trace model of consolidation
The standard model shows that connections between the hippocampus and the cortex are initially strong and inter-cortical connections are weak. As time passes inter-cortical connections strengthen and hippocampus-cortical connections remain.
consolidation
transforms new memories from fragile state to more permanent state, enhanced during sleep.
synaptic consolidation
rapid, occurs at synapses.
systems consolidation
gradual, reorganization of neural circuits.
Muller and Pilzecker experiment
participants either learned first list then a second list, or there was a 6-minute delay between lists. Those who delayed had better recall when memory was tested later.
reconsolidation
Retrieved memories become more fragile and are consolidated again.
Hupbach experiment
human reconsolidation experiment
Brunet’s PTSD experiment
PTSD causes severe emotional responses to traumatic memories. Participants reactivated traumatic memory, a drug was administered to block amygdala stress receptors during reconsolidation of memory, later reactivation of same memory showed lower stress response.
