Memory

Question 1

When I was younger I
thought the Christmas
concerts my elementary
school hosted were stupid.
Now I remember it as being
fun. What made this memory
change?

Answer 1

Rosy view

phenomenon

Question 2

What happened

to Clive Wearing?

Answer 2

-An expert musician contracted encephalitis that
damaged his left and right temporal lobes, and left
frontal lobe. Temporal lobes contain the
hippocampus which was destroyed in both parts of
his brain (main reason why he suffers memory
impairment). He repeats himself a lot and shows
highly emotional behavior due to damage to frontal
lobe

-suffers from anterograde and retrograde amnesia

-able to play piano, suggesting areas of the brain
related to procedural memory (cerebellum) are
unharmed

Question 3

4 reasons why

we forget

Answer 3

1. ) Insufficient retrieval cues
   - if you learn something in one way, you can remember them with the right cues
2. ) Interference
   - even if you get right cue, cue is loaded with a bunch of potential

-Proactive (PI)=earlier learning interferes with new material you are
learning

-Retroactive (RI)=later learning interferes with previously learned
material

3.) Disrupted consolidation
-When you learn something and engage in something new involving
hippocampus, it overrides what you previously learned. That’s why you
need spaces between classes so your brain has time to process info!

4.) Reconsolidation
-whenever we relearn something we make it vulnerable for modification.
Memory is being constantly reshaped based on current biases and knowledge

Question 4

6 ways to effectively

process information

Answer 4

1.) Imagery= imagine something to remember it better

2.) Levels of processing=process info deeply instead of
surface

3.) Elaboration= What does it mean? What are it’s
implications?

4.) Distinctiveness= you can process something by
learning it in a distinct way

5.) Integration= connect it

6.) Connect to existing knowledge (schemas)=put things in
a context you already know

Question 5

What are the 4

memory trade-offs?

Answer 5

1.) Speed vs. Thoroughness
-we need memories fast! The more thorough the slower. We need
to come to a compromise

2.) New learning vs. Retention of old learning
-by learning something new, you are making it more difficult to
remember older stuff

3. ) Detail vs. Gist
   - we do not need to remember every specific detail. Just need gist.

4.) Accuracy vs. Flexibility
-memory is about reconstructing what has happened. We cannot
be accurate all the time, but we are able to create and imagine
using memory