Memory Flashcards
Three different cognitive processes involved in memory
Encoding, storage, retrieval
Features of sensory memory
Modality specific, large capacity, no processing
Length of iconic (visual) memory
0.5s
Length of echoic (auditory) memory
2s
Capacity of short term memory
7+/-2 items
Capacity for short term memory for reversing the information
5+/-1 items
Length short term memory lasts unaided
15-30 seconds
Features of long term memory
Unlimited capacity and indefinite duration
Developed the storehouse model of memory, with a short term storehouse with limited capacity which can send information to the long-term memory
Atkinson and Shiffrin
Developed the multi-storehouse model of memory, with a visuospatial sketchpad and an episodic buffer
Baddeley and Hitch
Role of the central executive in the multi-storehouse model of memory
Capacity to focus, divide and switch attention
Role of the visuospatial sketchpad in the multi-storehouse model of memory
Stores and processes information in visual and spatial form allowing images to be manipulated in the mind
Role of the phonological buffer in the multi-storehouse model of memory
Holds verbal and auditory information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds
Role of the episodic buffer in the multi-storehouse model of memory
Temporary storage system which integrates information from the different systems of short term memory (e.g. the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop) along with relevant long-term knowledge into a coherent whole
Type of long term memory which can be consciously retrieved
Declarative memory
Type of long term memory which stores personal experiences
Episodic memory
Type of long term memory which stores facts and concepts
Semantic memory
Type of long term memory which recalls motor and executive skills needed for a task, formed without conscious awareness (e.g. how to swim)
Procedural memory
Type of long term memory where there is storage and retrieval of information through association with other information
Associative memory
Effect on memory where exposure to a certain stimulus influences the response to other stimuli later - occurs without conscious recall of memorising
Priming
Type of memory where there is detailed recollection of an event due to heightened emotions at the time of the event
Flashbulb memory
Seven types of memory failure
Transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, suggestibility, bias, persistence, misattribution
Type of memory failure that covers the decreasing accessibility of memory over time
Transience
Type of memory failure that covers lapses in attention and forgetting to do things
Absent-mindedness
Type of memory failure that involves the temporary inaccessibility of stored information e.g. tip of the tongue syndrome
Blocking
Type of memory failure where leading questions etc. allow misinformation to be incorporated into the memory
Suggestibility
Type of memory failure where current knowledge and beliefs distort the memories
Bias
Type of memory failure involving the inability to forget unwanted memories e.g. in PTSD
Persistence
Type of memory failure where memories are attributed to incorrect sources or you believe you have seen or heard something you haven’t
Misattribution
The belief that a thought is new when it is actually a memory
Cryptomnesia
Person who plotted the ‘forgetting curve’
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Time over which memories decay and are lost the fastest
9 hours
Theory in memory where due to limited capacity new information replaces old information
Displacement theory
Strategies used to improve memory encoding
Chunking, ordering information, mnemonics, imagery, adding importance to the information, using primacy-recency effects
Method of increasing short term memory by combining units of information (usually numbers) into groups
Chunking
Principle where the more similar the retrieval situation is to the encoding situation, the better the retrieval
Encoding specificity principle
Ribot’s law of retrograde amnesia - usually seen in dementia
Recent memories are more likely to be lost than more remote memories
Jost’s law of forgetting
If two memories are of the same strength but of different ages, the older memory will decay more slowly
Loss of ability to form new memories after an injury/event
Anterograde amnesia
Classic area of damage in the brain leading to anterograde amnesia
Hippocampus
Loss of episodic memories stored before an event causing brain damage (usually a head injury)
Retrograde amnesia
Type of memory failure caused by temporary lack of blood supply to regions of the brain involved in memory, causes sudden onset severe anterograde amnesia with retrograde amnesia for the preceding days
Transient global amnesia
Amnesia occurring in patient who have had no brain insult but who have experienced a traumatic event - can be global or situation specific
Psychogenic amnesia
Sudden loss of all autobiographical memories, usually involves wandering and lasts hours to days before complete recovery - procedural and semantic memories left intact
Fugue state
Amnesic syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency including autobiographical loss
Korsakoff’s syndrome
The effect of the ability to more easily recall information if it is congruent with the current mood - e.g. negative experiences are more easily retrieved while someone is experiencing depression
Mood-congruent effect
The effect of the ability to retrieve information more easily if the emotional state is the same at the time of retrieval and the time of decoding
Mood-state dependent retrieval
Area of the brain most involved in procedural memory
Cerebellum
Area of the brain most involved in working memory
Pre-frontal cortex
Areas of the brain associated with emotional memories
Hippocampus and amygdala
Area of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the encoding of memories into long term memory
Hippocampus
Demonstrated that short term memory is limited to seven chunks of information
Ebbinghaus
Eponymous law that states short term memory is limited to seven chunks of information
Miller’s law
Reported that less than one hundredth of the information sensed by humans reaches short term memory
Lloyd
Described the passive decay theory in relation to forgetting long term memories
Solso
Retrieval of a memory from long term memory precipitated by the presence of a cue such as a smell or sound
Redintegration
Five functions of long term memory
Registration Retention Retrieval Recall Recognition
The ability to obtain memories stored in the long term memory
Retrieval
The ability to add new memory to the long term memory store
Registration
The ability to store memories in the long term memory, which can be later retrieved
Retention
The return of stored memory into the consciousness at a chosen moment
Recall
The sense of familiarity that accompanies the recall of memories
Recognition
