Memory Flashcards
Neonatal hippocampal lesions with rhesus monkeys.
Monitoring information is damaged (paying attention to multiple items)
Maintenance is spared (remembering the most recent item)
Infant amnesia
We dont remember early childhood.
A link between:
High levels of neurogenesis in hippocampus Inability to form lasting memories
The decline of postnatal neurogenesis levels in hippocampus results in better ability to form lasting memories
• This is a CORRELATIONAL observation
Early memories
Age 3 is earliest memory usually, certain exceptions
3 big clusters of exceptions: birth of a sibling, hospitalization, moving. Traumatic for child.
Is human memory different from other species?
Young children memory is tightly linked to other species. Survival skills. When we age we get a different kind of memory. Children remember which things are poisonous, where predators are, where is your clan/ mother…, strategies to evade predators. When adults we have memories about memories, don’t need to be in danger to remember things.
What do the authors mean when they say “memory is not a unitary construct”?
♣ Different types. Declarative, non declarative. Short term, long term, last a few seconds… different aspects of memory. Memory for facts and events vs memory for experiences.
Declarative memory - knowledge of facts and events
episodic memory - knowledge of events in our lives.
semantic memory - knowledge of facts about the external world
Procedural memory - knowledge of how to perform skills. Feed yourself, tying your shoelaces, toilet trained, brushing teeth, walking. How to use a spoon, how to talk.
What can we conclude from the correlation between age and extended recall intervals?
♣ As infants increase, their extended recall increases as well. As you get older you can remember things for a longer period of time. A 3 year old can remember what happened a month ago, a 5 year old can remember what happened a year ago.
What can we conclude from the change in the exposure of stimuli in novelty preference tasks?
♣ As infants get older their response to novelty stimuli change. If shown novel object they focus on novel object. 6 month olds will focus on familiar object instead of novel object bc they are trying to reinforce their decaying memory. Familiarity. 6 month olds don’t need to be exposed to new stimuli for as long (30 seconds vs 15 seconds). Later related to intelligence.
What can we learn from conjugate reinforcement tasks?
♣ Tying string to baby’s leg. Measure baseline kicks before and after tied to mobile. The more the baby kicks the more the mobile moves and they learn that. Then they tie up baby again but this time their kicking doesn’t move mobile.
♣ Speed of learning and length of retention increase as child ages
How is imitation related to memory?
♣ It is a nonverbal tool. It’s a tool to study memory. Also helps study older people’s memory. Great way to study memory without language.
Do you think encoding and consolidation strategies change as children develop?
♣ Yes. As children develop they can learn faster and as language progresses they encode things differently that they did before. Spoken and written language. Symbolic system.
Do different cultures remember things similarly or differently?
♣ Yes. Effects how we remember things
♣ Eastern vs western, individualistic vs collectivist cultures
o Compared east and west cultures’ autobiographical memory
♣ Idea of self is different!!
♣ Found that six parameters affect the function and the content of autobiographical memory. We will focus on two:
• Self-views
Autonomous vs. Relational Self
Hypothesis: “Relative to a relational self-view, an autonomous self-view provides a stronger motivation for individuals to attend to, encode, think about, and discuss personal experiences that are significant for the development and maintenance of a unique self-identity.”
Supporting Evidence:
Adults: 5 min to recall personal events that occurred before they were 5
U.S. > British > Chinese
o In collectivist cultures, highlighting individual success is not okay. Seen as bragging.
• Socialization.
Parent-child conversations
Hypothesis: “Western parents encourage their children’s active participation in the conversations by asking children what they think and how they feel. Such questions highlight children’s autonomy and distinctive characteristics. In contrast, East Asian mothers are more likely to tell children what they should think or feel rather than ask what they do think or feel.” This should lead differences in memory.
Supporting Evidence:
Preschool and grade-school children: Independent reports
European American: detailed accounts of their personal experiences
East Asian: Children typically provide less detailed accounts of the past, speak
frequently of significant others and social interactions
Are the predictors of dementia the same for different SES groups?
No Low Education: Four instrumental activities of daily living (4-IADL) - Telephone - Medication - Budget - Transportation
High Education
Subjective Memory Complaints Memory and Executive Function Tests
