Memory

Question 1

An active system that receives information from the senses, puts that information into a usable form, organizes it as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage

Answer 1

Memory

Question 2

Three Processes of Memory

Answer 2

Encoding
Storage
Retrieval

Question 3

Explain Encoding

Answer 3

Encoding is the set of mental operations that people perform on sensory information to convert that information into a form that is usable in the brain’s storage systems.

Ex. When people hear a sound, their ears turn the vibrations in the air into neural messages from the auditory nerve (transduction), which make it possible for the brain to interpret that sound.

Question 4

Explain Storage

Answer 4

Hold on to the information for
some period of time.

The period of time will actually be of different lengths, depending on the system of memory being used.
: Short-term, Long-term

Question 5

Explain Retrieval

Answer 5

Getting the information they know they have out of storage.

Question 6

Model of memory that assumes the processing of information for memory storage is similar to the way a computer processes memory in a series of three stages

Answer 6

Information-processing Model

Question 7

Model of memory in which memory processes are proposed to take place at the same time over a large network of neural connections.

Answer 7

Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) Model

Question 8

Model of memory that assumes information that is more “deeply processed,” or processed according to its meaning rather than just the sound or physical characteristics of the word or words, will be remembered more efficiently and for a longer period of time.

Answer 8

Levels-of-Processing Model

Question 9

Three Models of Memory

Answer 9

Information Processing Model
Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) Model
Levels-of-Processing Model

Question 10

Three Memory Systems

Answer 10

Sensory memory
Short-term memory
Long-term memory

Question 11

Explain Sensory Memory

Answer 11

The very first system of memory, in which raw information from the senses is held for a very brief period of time.

The point at which information enters the nervous system through the sensory systems—eyes, ears, and so on.

Information is encoded into sensory memory as neural messages in the nervous system.

Question 12

Two Kinds of Sensory Memory

Answer 12

Iconic (Visual) Sensory System
Echoic (Auditory) Sensory System

Question 13

Visual sensory memory, Only lasts for a fraction of a second. Allows enough time for the *brain stem to decide if the information is important enough to be brought into consciousness.

What is the Greek word for “image”?

Answer 13

Iconic memory

Icon

Question 14

Information that has just entered iconic memory will be pushed out very quickly by new information, a process called _____

After only ________, old information is replaced by new.

Answer 14

Masking

a quarter (1/4) of a second

Question 15

The ability to access a visual sensory memory over a long period of time (30 seconds or more)

Answer 15

Eidetic Imagery (Photographic memory)

Question 16

The brief memory of something a person has heard. The “What?” phenomenon.

If you realize all this within
about ______, you will more than likely be able to “hear” an echo of the statement in your head, a kind of “instant replay.”

Answer 16

Echoic Sensory Memory

4 seconds

Note: Echoic memory’s capacity is limited to what can be heard at any one moment and is smaller than the capacity of iconic memory, although it lasts longer—about 2–4 seconds

Question 17

May be held for up to 30 seconds and possibly longer through *maintenance rehearsal.

Answer 17

Short-term memory

Question 18

The ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input.

It is through this that info enters our STM system.

Answer 18

Selective Attention

Question 19

Short-term memory tends to be encoded primarily in _____ form.

Answer 19

Auditory (sound)

That simply means that people tend to “talk” inside their own heads.

Question 20

Thought of as an active system that processes the information present within short-term memory.

Consists of 3 interrelated Systems

Answer 20

Working memory

Question 21

Difference of short-term memory and working memory

Answer 21

Short-term = simple storage of info
Working memory = storage and manipulation of info

Question 22

Describe Three interrelated systems of Working Memory

Answer 22

1. Central Executive (CEO)
   : controls and coordinates the other two, interpreter for the visual and auditory info contained in STM
2. Visuospatial (“sketchpad”)
   : the sketchpad will contain images of the people and events of the particular passage being read
3. Phonological loop (“recorder”)
   : the recorder “plays” the dialogue in the person’s head

Question 23

Bits of information are combined into meaningful units, or chunks

Answer 23

Chunking

“654-789-3217,” for example, instead of 10 separate bits of information, there
would only be three “chunks” that read like a phone number

Question 24

The best way to encode information into LTM in an organized fashion is to make it meaningful through ________.

A way of increasing the number of
retrieval cues (stimuli that aid in remembering) for information by connecting new information with something that is already well known

Answer 24

Elaborative Rehearsal

Question 25

How long is the “short” of short-term
memory?

Answer 25

Short-term memory lasts from about 12 to 30 seconds without rehearsal.

After that, the memory seems to rapidly “decay” or disappear. Some memories, without rehearsal, will decay as new neurons (and newer memories) are added to the already existing neural circuits.

Question 26

Practice of saying some information to be remembered over and over in one’s head in order to maintain it in short-term memory.

Answer 26

Maintenance rehearsal (Rote learning = rotating info in mind)

When rehearsal stops, the memory rapidly decays and is forgotten.

Question 27

Third stage of memory, the system into which all the information is placed to be kept more or less permanently.

There is a relatively permanent physical change in the brain itself when a memory is formed.

Unlimited capacity

Answer 27

Long-term memory (LTM)

We only store long-lasting memories of events and concepts that are meaningful and important to us.

Question 28

Types of Long-Term Information

Answer 28

1. Nondeclarative memory (implicit) LTM
   : know HOW TO DO like tying shoe, have to be demonstrated and not reported
   : skills, habits, simple conditioned reflexes [cerebellum in hindbrain]
   : emotional associations, like fear [amygdala]
2. Declarative memory (explicit) LTM
   : people CAN KNOW
   : facts that make up knowledge, known and can be declared
   : personal experiences
   : two types - semantic & episodic

Question 29

Type of long-term memory including memory for skills, procedures, habits, and conditioned responses. These memories are not conscious but are implied to exist because they affect conscious behavior.

Kinds of memories that people “never forget.”

Answer 29

Nondeclarative (implicit) LTM

Question 30

Loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to form new long-term memories.

Alzheimer’s patients, Dory suffer from this

Answer 30

Anterograde amnesia

Question 31

Type of long-term memory containing information that is conscious and known

Answer 31

Declarative (explicit) LTM

Question 32

Two types of Declarative (explicit) LTM

Answer 32

1. Semantic memory
   : general knowledge, anyone can know
   : semantic = “meaning,” awareness of the meanings of words, concepts, and terms
2. Episodic memory
   : personal knowledge that each person has of their daily life and personal history, autobiographical* memory
   : certain birthdays, anniversaries that were particularly special, childhood events

Question 33

Type of declarative memory containing general knowledge, such as knowledge of language and information learned in formal education

Answer 33

Semantic memory

Question 34

Type of declarative memory containing personal information not readily available to others, such as daily activities and events.

Updated and revised more or less constantly. (can’t remember what you had for breakfast 2 years ago)

Answer 34

Episodic memory

Question 35

Model of memory organization that assumes information is stored in the brain in a connected fashion, with concepts that are related stored physically closer to each other than concepts that are not highly related.

Answer 35

Semantic Network Model

Question 35

The tendency for memory of information to be improved if related information (such as surroundings or physiological state) that is available when the memory is first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved.

Answer 35

Encoding specificity

a. Context-dependent learning
b. State-dependent learning

Question 35

Parts of the brain involved in consolidation of information from STM to LTM

Answer 35

Hippocampus and Cortex

Question 36

The physical surroundings a person is in when they are learning specific information.

Answer 36

Context-dependent learning

Question 37

Memories formed during a particular physiological or psychological state will be easier to remember while in a similar state.

Answer 37

State-dependent learning

Question 38

Two kinds of memory retrieval

Answer 38

Recall - memories are retrieved with few or no external cues

Recognition - involves looking at or hearing information and matching it to what is already in memory

Question 39

Type of memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be “pulled” from memory with very few external cues.

Essay, short-answer, and fill-in-the-blank tests that are used to measure a person’s memory for information

Answer 39

Recall

Question 40

The ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact.

Multiple-choice, matching, and true–false tests

Answer 40

Recognition

Question 41

Recall failure:
Answer seems so very close to the surface of conscious
thought that it feels like it’s on ________

Answer 41

Tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon

Question 42

TOT phenomenon may be a function of an area of the brain called the _________, part of the _____ and ______ lobes.

An area of the brain that is involved in several forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, and people with this type of dementia often have trouble recalling the names of things.

Answer 42

fusiform gyrus
temporal, occipital

Question 43

Tendency of information at the beginning and end of a body of information to be remembered more accurately than information in the middle of the body of information

Answer 43

Serial position effect

Question 44

Tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows.

Answer 44

Primacy effect

Question 45

Tendency to remember information at the
end of a body of information better than the information that precedes it.

Answer 45

Recency effect

Question 46

Occurs when a person thinks that he or she has recognized (or even recalled) something or someone but in fact does not have that something or someone in memory.

Answer 46

False positive

Eyewitness recognition are prone to this

Question 47

Tendency of certain kinds of information to enter long-term memory with little or no effortful encoding.

Answer 47

Automatic encoding

Question 48

Referring to the retrieval of memories in which those memories are altered, revised, or influenced by newer information.

Memories are literally “built,” or reconstructed, from the information stored away during encoding

Answer 48

Constructive processing

Question 49

Type of automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has strong emotional associations for the person remembering it.

Answer 49

Flashbulb memories

: As subject to decay and alterations over time as other kinds of memories.
: Memory of highly stressful events are shown to be *less accurate than other memories

Question 49

The tendency to falsely believe, through revision of older memories to include newer information, that one could have correctly predicted the outcome of an event.

Answer 49

Hindsight bias

Question 50

Memory retrieval problems

Answer 50

Misinformation effect
False memory syndrome

Question 51

The tendency of misleading information presented after an event to alter the memories of the event itself.

Answer 51

Misinformation effect

Question 52

Refers to the creation of inaccurate or false memories through the suggestion of others, often while the person is under hypnosis.

Answer 52

False-memory syndrome

Question 53

Human Google

Answer 53

Brad Williams, can remember nearly every day of his life (rare)

Has a condition: hyperthymesia

Question 54

Explain Hyperthymesia

Answer 54

An astonishing and rare ability to recall specific events from their personal past but also spends an unusually large amount of time thinking about that personal past.

Inability to forget

Question 55

Explain Adaptive forgetting

Answer 55

The idea that being able to suppress information that we no longer need makes it easier to remember what we do need

Question 56

Mr. S the Mnemonist

Answer 56

A. R. Luria’s (1968) famous mnemonist, Mr. S. (A mnemonist is a memory expert or someone with exceptional memory
ability.)

Mr. S. was a performing mnemonist, astonishing his audiences with lists of numbers that he memorized in minutes. But Mr. S. found that he was unable to forget the lists. He also could not easily separate important memories from trivial ones, and each time he looked at an object or read a word, images stimulated by that object or word would flood his mind.

He eventually invented a way to “forget” things—by writing them on a piece of paper and then burning the paper.