LTM: Encoding, Retrieval, & Consolidation Flashcards
What is Encoding?
-Getting info into LTM
What is Retrieval?
-Bringing info into consciousness by transferring it from LTM to WM
What is Coding?
-The form in which info is presented
What is Maintainance Rehearsal?
- Rehearsing info w/o considering its meaning or making connections w/ other info
- Results in little/ no encoding= poor memory
What is Elaborative Rehearsal?
- Rehearsing the info in ways that makes connections w/ other info
- Results in better memory
What is Levels of Processing Theory?
-Early idea linking the type of encoding to retrieval
What does the Levels of Processing Theory explain?
- Memory depends on the Depth of Processing that an item received
- Memory retrieval is affected by how items were encoded
What is Depth of Processing?
- Distinguishes between Shallow Processing & Deep Processing.
- Deep Processing= better memory than shallow processing
What is Shallow Processing?
-Involves little attention & meaning
What is Deep Processing?
-Close attention & elaborative rehearsal= focuses on item’s meaning & its relationship to something else
What is Pair-Associate Learning?
- Tests if using imagery enchances memory
- Consists of being presented a list of word pairs and then being asked to recall on of the words in the pair
- Participants that used imagery remebered twice as many words
What is Self-Reference Effect?
-Memory is better when you can relate the words to yourself
What is the Generation Effect?
- Getting your hands dirty & actually generating material yourself rather than passively perceiving it
- Fill in the blanks is good way to generate the material
What is the best way to memorize info that can be split into different categories?
-Organizational tree
What are factors that aid in Encoding?
- Creating connections
- Active creatioin
- Organization
How would you Create Connections to aid in encoding?
- Using imagery
- Linking info to yourself (self-reference effect)
How would you partake in Active Creation to aid you in encoding?
- Generating info on your own (generation effect)
- Testing yourself
How would you Organize info so that it can aid you in encoding?
- Recalling info in groups
- Present info in organized way (the tree)
- Meaningful mental framework (visual reference)
What is the Testing Effect?
-The enhanced performance due to retrieval practice
What are the 6 components for Effective Studying?
- Elaboration
- Generate & test
- Organize
- Taking breaks
- Avoiding illusions in learning
- Being an active notetaker
What is the Elaboration component for effective studying?
- Help transfer material that you’re reading to LTM
- Relating what you have read to something you already know which creates a structure that will support new info
What is Procative Interference?
- Memory effect
- Previously learned info interferes with learning new info
- Past info influencing present info
What is the Generate & Test component for effective studying?
- Form of Generation bc you’re generating your own questions & involving w/ the material
- Increases what you know & ability to remember later
What is the Organize component for effective studying?
- Create framework to relate info w/ something you already know (by making bubble maps/ trees)
- Reduces load on your memory bc you’re chunking info info= makes it easier to remember
What is the Taking Breaks component for effectivy studying?
- Taking breaks & having small study sessions throughout the day
- Memory is enhanced if sleep follows learning= consolidation
What is the Spacing Effect?
-It’s the advantage for short study sessions & spacing them out throughout the day= distributed practice
What is the Avoiding Illusions of Learning component for effective studying?
- Rereading the text= greater FLUENCY= faster reading= tricks you into thinking that you’re learning the material
- Rereading the text also increases the familiarity= makes you think you learned it= FAMILIARITY EFFECT
- Avoiding highlighting when reading material for the first time bc it becomes automatic
What is the Active Notetaking component for effective studying?
- Writing notes by hand is better than on the computer bc computer leads to shallow processing bc you’re just typing everything the professor says w/ little thought
- Long hand notes= involve synthesizing material & summarizing lecture
What are Retrieval Cues?
-Words/ stimuli (like location,songs, smell) that helps us remember info stored in our memory
What is the Difference between Cued Recall & Free Recall?
- Cued Recall is when person is presented w/ retrieval cues to aid in remebering the stimuli but SELF GENERATING retrieval cues are better for your memory
- Free Recall is just recalling info on your own
What are ways to increase Retrieval?
- Using retrieval cues (self generated ones are the best)
- Matching conditions of encoding & retrieval
How can Retrieval be increased?
-Matching the conditions at retrieval to the conditions that existed during encoding
What are the 3 situations in which Retrieval can be increased by matching conditions at retrieval to conditions to encoding?
- Encoding Specificity
- State-Dependent Learning
- Transfer Appropiate Processing
What is Encoding Specificity?
- Incoding info ALONG with context
- Best recall occurs when encoding and retrieval occur in the same location
What is State-Dependant Learning?
- Learning that is associated w/ particuar inner state (mood, state of awareness)
- Best memory is when inner state during retrieval matches their state suring encoding
What is Transfer-Appropiate Processing?
- When the type of processing matches in encoding & retrieval
- Best retrieval is when cognitive tasks are involved during both encoding & retrieval
What does Morris’s experiment about transfer appropiate processing indicate about Processing Theory?
-Since the rhyming group did better on the test than the meaning group, deeper processing at encoding DOES NOT ALWAYS result in better retrieval
What is Consolidation?
-Process that transforms memories from fragile state to a more permenant state so that they’ll become resistant to disruption
What is Synaptic Consolidation?
- Involves structural changes in synapses (occurs over the course of minutes or hours)
- Experience causes changes in the synapse
What is Systems Consolidation?
- Involves the gradual reorganization of neural circuits (occurs over the course of months or years)
- Involves hippocampus & cortex
What is the relationship between Synaptic Consolidaton & Systems Consolidation?
- They occur simulatneously! but at different speeds & levels in the nervous system
- Synatic C. is faster while Systems C. is slower
What is Long-Term Potentiation?
- Results from the outcome of structural changes in the synapse due to the strengthening of synaptic transmission
- Causes enhanced firing in neurons after repeated stimulation
How are memories represented physiologically?
-A pattern of firing that will increase it’s speed and strength as a result of repeated stimulation of the neuron
What is the Standard Model of Consolidation?
- When hippocampus is encoding new memories, it makes strong connections w/ higher cortical areas but connections between cortical areas themselves are weak
- As time passes, the connections between the hippocampus & cortical areas weaken while connections between cortical areas themselves strengthen until the hippocampus’s connections are no longer present
What role does the Hippocampus play duing the Standard Model of Consolidation?
- It replays neural activity associated with a memory & sending this info to the cortex
- It’s called REACTIVATION= helps form direct connections between the various cortical areas
The hippocampus is considered to be the…….
Glue because it binds together representations of memory from different cortical areas but then “dissolves” itself when cortical representations are formed
What is Retrograde Amnesia?
- Loss of memory for events that happened BEFORE an injury
- Can extend minutes, hours, or years depending on the injury
What is Anterograde Amnesia?
-Loss of memory for events that happened AFTER an injury (inability to form new memories)
What is Graded Amnesia?
- Characteristic of retrograde amnesia
- The amnesia tends to be more severe for events that happened JUST before injury & being less severe for earlier events
What does Graded Amnesia correspond to?
-The changes in connections between the hippocampus & cortical areas bc as time passes after an event, the cortical representation becomes stronger
What is the Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation?
- Agrees that the hippocampus communicates w/ coritcal areas during early consolidation BUT
- Proposes that the hippocampus REMAINS in active communication with the cortical areas, even for remote memories
What is the relationship between the hippocampus & stimuli that have lost their episodic character?
-The response of the hippocampus changes over time only for stimuli that have lost their episodic character
What is Multivoxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA)?
-Determines the voxel activation between various structures using fMRI
Where are Remote & Recent memories presented?
- Remote memories are present in cortex
- Both remote & recent memories are presented in hippocampus but with more info about remote memories being stored in the Posterior hippocampus
How can reaction process thats associated w/ consolidation strengthen?
-It strengthens during sleep
Why is sleep essential for enhancing memory?
- Going to sleep shortly after learning eliminates interference w/ consolidation
- So consolidation is enhanced during sleep
- Memories that are more important (ones likely to be tested) will be strengthened by consolidation
What is Reconsolidation?
-Updating/ modifying an existing memory that is in its fragile state
What is the relationship between the Original memory & Reactivated memory?
-Original memory is FRAGILE UNTIL it is consolidated for the FIRST time but Reactivated memory is fragile UNTIL RECONSOLIDATED (updated)
How does Reconsolidation help patients with PTSD?
-By reactivating the memory & injecting propanolol which blocks hormone receptors in the amygdala which reduces the feelings of stress associated w/ that memory
Why can’t Reconsolidation be applied to infants?
-Bc their memory is a work in progress= constantly changing based on experiences & milestones
What is the Temporal Context Model?
- Doesn’t involve reconsolidation
- It focuses more on the context in which learning & retrieval take place which can lead to cued recall for old & new memories
