Memory Flashcards
What are the three steps in memory processing?
encoding, storage and retrieval
What does encoding mean in regards of memory processing?
The processing of information into the memory system
What does storage mean in regards of memory processing?
The retention of encoded material over time
What does retrieval mean in regards of memory processing?
The process of getting information out of the memory storage
What method can be used to contrast the effects of forgetting?
Testing effect
What is the testing effect?
This is where memory is increased when some of the learning period is spent retrieving the to-be-remembered information
What are the two main questions in neuropsychology?
(1) What has happened to a patient?
(2) What does the patient teach us about the way the normal mind and brain work?
What is plasticity?
Plasticity is the brain’s ability to change as a result of experience; persists throughout life; changes in neural connectivity
What is functional specialization?
The notion that different regions of the brain serve different functions
The hippocampus is a fundamental aspect in the memory system, why is this?
Because most of the encoding and storage happens within its cells.
What do single cases allow us to do?
Single cases allow us to change what we think we already know about reality
{Karl Popper: “no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white”}
When double dissociation occurs what can we claim?
When double dissociations are observed, we are allowed to postulate that the two relevant memory systems involve different cognitive systems possible mapped onto different neuronal networks.
What is anterograde amnesia?
Impaired recall and recognition of facts and personal episodes encountered after the occurrence of the brain damage
Who is the prototypical case for anterograde amnesia?
HM:
He had epileptic seizures at age 10 and was operated on after high school. Following the operation, he had profound amnesia. Several decades after the operation he still can’t remember his last meal, where he lives, or his own age.
What brain functions are maintained and impaired in anterograde amnesia?
People with anterograde amnesia have a normal digit span but impaired long-term memory
What are the components of short term memory?
Limited capacity
Limited duration
Holding available recent and relevant information in a temporary store
What are the components of long term memory?
Unlimited storage
Relatively permanent
Store for episodic and semantic memory
What is the primacy effect?
In free recall, more item are recalled from start of list
What is the recency effect?
In free recall, more item are recalled from the end of the list
What is the hippocampal formation responsible for?
Episodic memory [events]
What is the Parahippocampal region responsible for?
Semantic memory [facts]
What did patient KC’s case highlight?
Highlighted that semantic memory and episodic memory are two independent systems from one another
What is a key point when thinking about memory?
What we remember is framed in what we believe in our expectations
What is forgetting defined as?
It is defined as the lack of availability, partial or total, temporary or permanent, of memories of lived events or of information previously encountered, processed, or learned.
When does forgetting occur?
It occurs when something is disregarded, erased, or transformed during encoding or retrieval. After the learning phase, information may be inaccessible because of inhibition, removal, or interference
What is forgetting essential for?
It is essential for categorization, learning and abstract reasoning as well as for maintaining social and affective relationships.
What are pathological signs revealing memory dysfunction?
Disproportionate or abnormally fast forgetting
What are the two main theories for forgetting?
Trace decay theory and Interference theory
What is Trace decay theory?
We forget because the memory trace fades, that is, the memory trace is no longer available
What is Interference theory?
We forget because some memory traces interfere with the retrieval of others, that is, the memory trace is no longer accessible
What does Ebbinghaus’s “curve of forgetting” show?
(1) A very fast early forgetting
(2) A very slow later forgetting
What is an adaptative reason for forgetting?
The loss of access to information through disuses is seen not as a failure of the system, but an adaptive feature that facilitates updating
What is transient epileptic amnesia?
It is a syndrome of temporal lobe epilepsy in which the principal manifestation of a seizure is a brief episode of amnesia during which other mental functions are predominantly or entirely preserved
What is amnesia?
It refers to the acquired impairment of explicit long-term memory, that is, when remembering requires overt reference to the learning phase.
What can cause amnesia?
It can be due to brain lesions (neurogenic amnesia) or to psychological factors (psychogenic amnesia)
What is retrograde amnesia?
Impaired recall and recognition of memories of facts and personal episodes acquired before the brain damage
What are the components of global amnesiacs?
normal digit span
impaired LTM
damage to medial temporal lobe
When is a memory defined as implicit?
- A memory is defined implicit when the learned information is retrieved and used without awareness of remembering it and with no reference to the learning phase
What is prefrontal cortex (PFC) involved in?
It is involved in online maintenance and manipulation of information
This includes working memory as well as ‘working with memory’ (i.e., encoding, retrieval and evaluation of information stored in long term memory)
What is working memory?
Manipulation of information currently held in short- term stores
What do patients with PFC lesions suffer from?
Disorganized memory
What are confabulations?
false and sometimes self-contradictory memories that the patient believes to be real (i.e., without an intention to lie)
What are confabulations associated with?
Associated with damage to different regions than in classical amnesia
