Memory Flashcards
Selective attention
Focusing on one piece of info, placing other info in background
Memory
Internal record/representation of some prior event/experience
What are the 3 basic levels of info processing model
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
Encoding
Info converted to neural code
Storage
Retained in appropriate area of brain
Retrieval
Act of bringing to mind material stored in memory
Sensory memory + types
System holding info coming through senses for less than few seconds; iconic vs echoic
Iconic memory
Visual info, 0.5sec
Echoic memory
Auditory memory, 4sec
Short term memory (4)
Info stored less than 30sec without rehearsal
Working memory
Active maintenace of info
12-30sec
How many things can STM remember at once
7
Which type of memory can be interfered with
Short term
Displacement
STM holding max info, each new item in pushes one old out
Chunking
Combining small pieces of info into larger clusters
Long term memory + 2 types
Multiple forms
Unlimited capacity
Relatively permanent
Types: explicit, implicit
Explicit LTM + types
Conscious recall
Semantic (facts, general knowledge)
Episodic (personally experienced events)
Implicit LTM + types
No conscious recall
Procedural (motor, cognitive skills)
Priming (enhanced identification of objects, words)
Consolidation
Info moving from STM to LTM due to neural assemblies
Neural assemblies
Physical change in neurons where specific neural pathways are built thanks to repeated practice
Long term potentiation (3)
Prolonged action at synapses
Repeated stim of synpases causes dendrites to grow more spines
2 neurons fire tgt = strong synapse
Patient Henry Molaison case
Epileptic seizures lead to hippocampus removal, then leads to
1. anterograde amnesia
2. loss of declarative memory (explicit)
3. retainment of procedural memory (implicit)
Anterograde amnesia
Can’t remember anything new from point of injury due to incapability of forming LTM
Hippocampus
Feeds memories to other parts of brain for storage
Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory from point of injury past (can only make new memories)
Is memory a process or anatomical structure
Process
How does hormonal changes affect memory
- Emotional arousal = stronger memory
- Fight-flight (epinephrine, glucose, cortisol, proteins)
- Amygdala signals hippocampus and cortex
Flashbulb memory
Vivd images of circumstances associated with surprising, strong emotional events
Forgetting memory
Inability to retrieve info still stored in LTM
Encoding failure
Info never enters LTM (difficult for some memories without effort)
Retrieval failure types
- tip of tongue (Blocking)
- interference: 2 competing memories
Types of interference
Retroactive (new interferes with old)
Proactive (old interferes with new)
Absentmindedness
Lapse of attention resulting in memory failure
Transcience (decay)
Memory degrades over time with no explanation
Memory as reconstruction
Not exact replica of event
Highlights pieced together with info sometimes inaccurate
Why is memory not always accurate
Sake of effeciency, logic, consistency
Schema (3)
Mental rep. of world
Framework of knowledge, assumptions about people objects events
Affects encoding, info recall
Misinfo effect
Memory distorted by post-event info
Ex: mem as reconstruction, eyewitness testimonies
Eidetic memory
Retain image of visual stim for several minutes once it’s no longer in sight
Serial position effect
Tendency to remember items first/last on list
Recency effect
Recall last items only
Primary effect
Recall first items only
State-dependant memory
Recall improved when retrieval happens in emotional state
Context-dependant
Recall improved when in same context as initial event
Automatic processing
Encoding without effort or awareness
Elaborative processing
Actively making meaningful associations between old/new info
Types of measuring
Recall: retrieval without cues
Recognition: with cues
Retrieval cue
Info associated with shared knowledge helps bring it to mind
Spaced practice
Rehearsal over time, better LTM recall
Massed practice
Long learning session, worse LTM recall
Visual imagery encoding (mnemonics) + types
Storing new info by converting into mental pictures
First letter technique, method of Loci, keyword method
Organizational encoding
Categorizing info by noticing relationship among series of itemsO
Overlearning
Practice, study beyond where repeated once without error
