memory Flashcards
The three stage model
Atkinson and Shiffren 1968 very influencial model based on general informaion processing sensory input sensory memory given attention and encoded into short term working memory encoded into ltm for future retrieval
memory stores: sensory
Separate store for each sense e.g. auditory store (echoic) holds trace for few seconds/ visual (iconic) < 1 second
- See Sperling’s experiment of iconic memory in your text book page 280
memory stores: short term memory
if unrehearsed new memory trace is lost
info also enters here from lTM
memory stores: long term memory
informatin is stored here indefinitely
working memory
Alternative view – emphasises working memory
four main components are:
•Phonological loop
•Visuospatial sketchpad
•Central executive
•Episodic buffer
Refs:Baddeley 1990, 2000,2002), Squire & Knowlton (2000), Cabeza & Nyberg 1997), Haxby et al (1995) Roberts, Robbins & Weiskrantz (1996)
memory processes: encoding
information going into memory put into a form that the system can use i.e. coded
Memory codes are mental representations of physical stimuli
acoustic codes -represent information as sounds visual codes -represent information as pictures semantic codes -represent experience by its meaning
memory processes: storage
maintaining information over a period of time i
memory processes: retrieval
information in memory being brought into consciouusness
encoding
ainly acoustic code in STM – can store for short time in visual or semantic code
Mainly semantic code in LTM - but can also be stored in acoustic/ visual
storage
Dependent on store – amount stored/ retention period
•Maintenance rehearsal
•Elaborative rehearsa
memory capacity
STM – information held for a few seconds/ up to 2 minutes sometimes
•To estimate capacity of STM – serial position curve
•LTM capacity limitless?
serial position curve
shows how well information is remembered
primary effect and recency effect shows inormation in lists are better remembere dat the start of the list and end of the list
models of emory: levels of processing
amount of encoding/processing determines how well something is remembered
e.g. REHEARSAL
This model argues that memory enhancement due to
elaborative rehearsal occurs because of depth of processing i.e. the more thought/organisation/relating done, the deeper the processing and better the memory
Continuum, not separate stores
Ref:Craik & Lockhart (1972) Craik & Tulving(1975)
models of memory: transfer apppropriate information
suggests that what is critical in memory is how the encoding matches what is retrieved
ASSOCIATIVE NETWORKS
New experiences don’t just lead to new facts being stored which can later be retrieved individually. They also change overall knowledge a person has. Each unit of knowledge is linked to every other unit. Connections strengthen as their joint experience increases. We can therefore draw inferences and
conclusions.
Ref:Collins & Quillian (1969)
typed of memory: explicit
trying deliberately to remember something
typed of memory: implicit
unintentional recollection/influence of prior experience (automatic - no conscious effort required)dev
declarative memory
episodic/semantic
episodic memory
memory for spacific event at which you were present
semantic memory
generallised knowledge of the world excluding that relatedto a spacific event
procedural memory
memory for how to do things
prospectibe memory
remembering to do things in the future
retrospective memory
rememberin events in the past
habitual tasks
are more easly rremembered
its important to attatch cues to a task
to be better remembered
age and prospective memory
older people flind prospective memory more difficult
memoryand the brain
different types of memories stored in many locations
Simultaneous processing
Biochemical changes involved in memory - neurotransmitters
Neural networks formed
Structure of neurons and LTM
Hormone changes also affect memory storage Ref:
brain area function in memory
Areas of the brain interact in memory
•Sensory areas of cortex involved initially
•WM – brain network/frontal lobes involved •Consolidation of LTM – hippocampus
•Cerebral cortex storage of declarative memories •Amygdala – encoding of events (emotional) •Cerebellum – procedural memories
•Thalamus – damage leads to Amnesia
memonics
MNEMONICS Techniques for improving memory 2 ‘ingredients’ – Good recoding technique (leads to strong memory trace) They provide effective retrieval cues Link method Peg method Method of loci Acronyms/acrostics chunking hierarchies
forgetting
has to do with problems in encoding
storage
recall
first person to study it was Ebbinghaus (1885)
measures of forgetting
recall
recognition
relearning
causes of forgetting: problems with encoding
information may not have been encoded or have been encoded either ineffectively or inappropriately
causes of forgetting: problems with storage
memory trace may fade with time (decay) Problems with storage – decay/ interference Brown-Peterson paradigm Retroactive interference (after information to be remembered) Proactive interference (before information to be remembered)
brown petersen paradigm explained
Subjects recall string of 3 letters (trigrams) – consonants only e.g. KBF
• Intervals of 3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds after last letter presented
• After each trigram subjects count backwards in threes from a 3 digit number to prevent rehearsal during the retention interval
causes of forgetting: retrieval errors
information recalled when previously it was not remembered – information may be in memory but can’t be easily accessed
childhood amnesia
CHILDHOOD AMNESIA: inability to recall events in very early years of life
•Difference in how young children encode?/Self concept?/Biological development?/Cognitive factors
Amnesia
Anterograde
retrograde
•H.M. – brain damaged patient anterograde and retrograde amnesia due to brain surgery to correct epileptic seizures
anterograde amnesia
inability to remember everyday events and to acquire new information
retrograde amnesia
inability to remember events before injury/ disease
Altzeimers
- Memory disorder – most common form of dementia •UK 1:20 aged 70-80, 1:5 over 80
- Progressive loss of memory, especially semantic •Recall and recognition affected
- PM reveals brain changes – cerebral cortex shrinkage, neurofibrilliary tangles, amyloid plaques
korsakoffs syndrome
Alcohol damage to brain as well as other organs •Can be accompanied by anterograde and retrograde amnesia
•Extensive damage to thalamus and hypothalamus – shows that these areas are involved in LTM
Evidence is therefore available over a range of disorders showing that specific regions and systems in the brain are involved in the transfer of information from STM to LTM
effortful processing
making a conscious effort to encode information
auromatic processing
information with little attention is unintentionally encoded
ways the brain is studied int terms of memory
by studying people with brain damage
through imaging
through studying laboratory animals
memory construction
piecing together pieces of stored information to complete a sketchy or incomplete memory
young children a eyewitnesses
found children are moree susceptible to suggestion and influence than other children
suggestive questioning can influence children
professionals hace diddiculty discriminating between true and false reports
emory
processes that allow us to record store and later retrieve informaiton
how information is retrieved
informaiton is activated by a retrieval cue accompanied b the process of spread actiavation
long term potentiation
the enduring increase in synaptic strength
neural network
name given to a mathematical model of a collection of artificial neutrons that mimic some aspect of learning
millers magic number
it refers to the capacity limit of the shrt term memory
it is set as seven plus or minus two
a schema
is an organised pattern of thought about some aspect of the world that can influence encoding
the better we encore iformation
the EASIER it will be to retrieve
the relation between confidence in ones memory and its accuracy…
are weakly related
state dependantmemory
describe how the quality of memory version is determined by the state the subject is in when creating the memory hence low quality of memory in a drugged state
the enactment effect
appears to work through motor feedback
flashbulb memory
a memory that is so clear it seems like a snapshot of the actual moment
motivated forgetting
repression
supression
it is a psychodynamic concept
it is controvercial
