Memory Flashcards
What is the DVD-in-the-head analogy for memory and why is it bad
Analogy:
Encoding - record on disk
Storage - store DVD in a drawer
Retrieval - play the disk back on a DVD player
Bad/inaccurate bc it implies we record memories w 100% accuracy
In the free recall task we did in class, were words remembered better when we recorded the # of syllables or if they were pleasant/unpleasant
Pleasant/unpleasant – emotionally charged words (esp positive ones) generally remembered better
Emotional valence: describes the extent to which an event/stim is pleasant or unpleasant
3 phases of memory storage
1) Encoding: perceptions –> memory
2) Storage: info held in a way that allows it to be retrieved
3) Retrieval: bring to mind info that’s alr been encoded and stored
Atkinson-Schiffrin Model
Sensory store –> Short term store (STM) –> Long term store (LTM)
- ATTENTION causes events to go from sensory store to STM
- REHEARSAL of memories in STM helps facilitate ENCODING which transfers it to the LTM
3 levels of processing/encoding
Craik & Tulving 1975
(Shallow)
Physical encoding: structure of the word (e.g. is the word written in capital letters?)
Acoustic encoding: how the word/concept sounds (e.g. does the word rhyme with another word?)
Semantic encoding: what the word/concept means (e.g. is the word a type of plant?)
(Deep)
3 types of encoding
Semantic encoding: relating new info to knowledge alr stored in memory in a meaningful way
Visual imagery encoding: stores new info by converting it into mental pics; reqs lots of cog effort to use successfully –> may not be practical
Organizational encoding: categorizing info according to the relationships btw series of items
Craik & Tulving 1975
Found that words processed semantically had the highest accurate recall rate, phonological/acoustic second, structural third
Mnemonic
- Encoding strategies used to improve memory for large amounts of info
- Usually involves some memorized cues (e.g. u can memorize the orientation of north south east west by remembering the mnemonic Never Eat Soggy Waffles)
Sensory storage
- holds sensory info for a few secs or less
- Includes iconic and echoic memory
Iconic vs echoic memory
Iconic: fast-decaying store of VISUAL info – decays in 1 sec or less
Echoic: fast-decaying store of auditory info – decays in ~5 secs
**Can remember by thinking that “echo” has to do w hearing
Short-term memory (STM)
- Holds nonsensory info for ~20 secs
- Limited in terms of both how MUCH info we can hold and how LONG we can hold it
- Can hold ~7 chunks of info (info grouped together into a meaningful unit, like letters/words)
- We can bring memories from LTM into STM if presently required
Rehearsal
Keeping info in STM by mentally repeating it
Serial position effect
- First and last few items of a list more likely to be remembered than the first once
- Primacy and recency effects
Primacy vs recency effect
Primacy effect: enhanced recall of FIRST few items
Recency effect: enhanced recall of LAST few items
Is the primacy or recency effect stronger
Primary effect – found by adding delay btw viewing of list and recall task
Working memory
- Manipulation of info in STM for certain task (e.g. recalling phone number)
- Baddeley & Hitch 1974 model
- Effect of WM on cog func still being studied
Baddeley & Hitch 1974 model of working memory
- 2 systems (visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop) feed into episodic buffer (integrates info)
- Central executive coordinates subsystems and episodic buffer
Visuospatial sketchpad vs phonological loop
Visuospatial sketchpad: visual images
Phonological loop: verbal info
Long-term memory
- Holds info for hours, days, weeks, years
- No known capacity limit
Consolidation vs reconsolidation in LTM
Consolidation: process where memories become stable in the brain
- Sleep, rehearsal, etc can help w consolidation
Reconsolidation: update of previously consolidated memory
- disrupting reconsolidation can reduce traumatic memories
Patient HM
- Removed hippocampus –> lost ability to form new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia)
- Had difficulty transferring explicit memories from STM to LTM
- IMPORTANT: Could still form new procedural memories
What are the 2 types of LTM
Implicit memory: memories you must demonstrate by doing
Explicit memories: memories you can verbalize
Implicit memory + 4 types
Not consciously recalled, but its presence is “implied” by our actions (e.g. how to ride a bike)
Procedural memory, priming, classical conditioning, non-associative learning
Procedural memory
The gradual acquisition of skills as the result of practice
Note: procedural memory not reliant on hippocampus –> ppl without hippo can still acquire new skills
Priming
Enhanced ability to think of a stim after recent exposure to it from an earlier task
Explicit memory + 2 types
The types of memorize you can verbalize
Semantic and episodic memory
Semantic memory
associated facts and gen knowledge abt world (e.g. state capitals)
Episodic memory
Past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place
Collaborative memory
- Describes how ppl remember in groups
- Can be inhibiting - groups can recall more than one person but less than the sum of multiple ppl working on their own
Can also be beneficial - indivs are exposed to items recalled by others they may not recall themselves
Collaborative inhibition
- Same # of indivs wokring together recall fewer items than they would on their own
- Likely caused by each group member’s indiv retrieval strats disrupting each other
Retrograde vs anterograde amnesia
Retrograde: can’t recall memories BEFORE the event
Anterograde: can’t form new memories AFTER the event
(Think retro = old —> no old memories)
Patient KC
- Severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia
- Old semantic memories but not episodic
Retrieval cue + 3 types
- External info associated w stored info that helps bring it to mind
- 3 types: encoding specificity principle, state-dependant retrieval, and transfer-appropriate processing
Encoding specificity principle
ENVIRONMENT is retrieval cue; ppl more likely to recall info when encoding and recall contexts are the same
e.g. If I memorize things at my desk, I’ll remember them better if I do the recall task at my desk vs in a classroom
Godden & Baddeley scuba diver experiment
Supports encoding specificity principle: participants remembered words better when either on land or underwater for both memorizing and recall
State-dependant retrieval
EMOTIONAL STATE is retrieval cue; info tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same emotional state during encoding and retrieval
Transfer-appropriate processing
COGNITIVE PROCESSES are retrieval cue; memory more likely to transfer from one situation to another when the cog processes during encoding and retrieval match
Cognitive interview
Procedure btw an interviewer and respondent that uses a series of retrieval techniques to help the respondent recall info
Context reinstatement
- Recall strat utilizing encoding specificity and state-dependent retrieval
- Ppl encouraged to try to reconstruct the physical setting of an event + their physiological state during the event –> increases # of accurate details
Retrieval-induced forgetting
Retrieving an item from LTM impairs subsequent recall of related items
What are the two types of interference
Proactive: OLD way of learning blocks NEW way of learning
Retroactive: NEW way of learning blocks OLD way of learning
**can remember that pro = previous —> priority to prev as opposed to new memory
Blocking
Failing to recall something, even if you know it
How does the Loftus and Palmer 1974 car verb experiment demonstrate how our memories can be manipulated
- Participants were shown the same video of a car crash
- Later, participants were asked how fast the cars were going when they ____ into each other (smashed, hit, contacted)
- SHORT TERM: The ppl w “smashed” said the cars were going a lot faster than the ppl w “contacted”
- LONG TERM: 1 week, later, participants were asked if there was any glass on the ground (there wasn’t any); 14% of “hit group + 34% of “smashed” group said yes
