Memory Flashcards
Memory
The ability to store and retrieve information over time
Three key functions of memory
Encoding, storage and retrieval
Encoding
The process by which we transform what we perceive, think or feel into an enduring memory. Memories are constructed by combining existing information with new information.
Elaborative encoding
Actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory
Visual imagery encoding
Storing new information by converting it into mental pictures. Activates visual processing regions in occipital lobe and improves recall.
What’s the mechanism of visual imagery encoding?
Relates incoming memory to knowledge already in memory and creates 2 different memory “placeholders” (visual and verbal)
Organizational encoding
The process of categorizing information according to the relationship among a series of items
Where is information stored?
Networks of association, where nodes of information are linked together. Underlies organizational encoding.
Schemas
Determine which units of information are stored together (chunked). There are schemas of the self, others and situations.
Early maladaptive schemas
A broad, pervasive pattern comprised of thoughts, memories and emotions regarding oneself or others that was formed at a young age.
Memory storage
The process of maintaining information in memory over time
What are the three kinds of memory storage?
Sensory, short term, long term
Sensory storage
Holds sensory information for a few seconds or less. Includes iconic and echoic memory.
Iconic memory
Fast decaying store of visual memory (about 1 second)
Echoic memory
Fast decaying store of auditory information (about 5 seconds)
Short term memory
Holds non-sensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute. Can hold about 7 meaningful items at once.
Rehearsal
The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it. Each repetition re-enters the information into short-term memory.
Chunking
Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks
Working memory
Active maintenance of information in short-term storage. Short-term store is not simply a place where you put information but includes operations and processes used to work with the information.
Central executive
Part of working memory that coordinates subsystems (frontal lobe).
What happens if there’s damage to the verbal component of the working memory?
Difficulty holding information in memory as well as learning new words
Long term memory
Holds information for hours, days, weeks or years. No known capacity limit.
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation.
Which region is critical for putting information into long-term store?
Hippocampal region
Consolidation
A process by which memories become stable in the brain. When memories are first formed they are easily disrupted, but consolidation protects them from disruption.
Initial consolidation
Shifts memories from short-term to long-term stores
Subsequent consolidation
Shifts memories from the hippocampus to more permanent stores in the cortex
What promotes memory consolidation?
Sleep
Reconsolidation
Consolidated memories can again become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, thus requiring them to be consolidated again
How can knowledge of reconsolidation be used to treat PTSD?
Protein synthesis inhibitors prevent consolidation of memories. Administer them after patient recalls painful memory, which leads to disruption of emotional component of memory.
Retrieval
The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
Retrieval cue
External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind. Information is sometimes available in memory even when it is momentarily inaccessible.
Encoding specificity principle
A retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded
State dependant retrieval
Recall from long-term memory that is dependent on certain cues from our physical states.
Transfer-appropriate processing
Memories are most easily retrieved when the individual is in the same state of mind as when the memory was first stored
What are some consequences of retrieval?
- The act of retrieval can strengthen a retrieved memory, making it easier to remember in the future (not by rehearsal though)
- Retrieval-induced forgetting
Retrieval-induced forgetting
RIF occurs when an individual is trying to retrieve a specific memory. Closely related words and memories ‘compete’ with the memory you are trying to remember causing a temporary forgetfulness.
Which part of the brain does trying to recall something occur?
Left frontal lobe
Which part of the brain does successfully recalling something occur?
Hippocampus
Where does recalling previously heard sounds occur?
Auditory cortex
Where does recalling pictures occur?
Occipital lobe
Explicit memory
When people consciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences. Divided further into semantic and episodic memory.
Procedural memory
Gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice , or “knowing how” to do things.
Implicit memory
When past experiences influence later behaviour and performance, even though we are not aware that we are remembering them
Semantic memory
Type of long-term memory in which we store general world knowledge like facts, ideas, words, problem solving, etc.
Episodic memory
Type of long-term, declarative memory in which we store memories of personal experiences that are tied to particular times and places.
What are the 7 sins of memory?
- Transcience
- Absent-mindedness
- Blocking
- Suggestibility
- Bias
- Persistence
- Misattribution
Transcience
Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time - occurs during the storage phase of the memory and mostly occurs soon after the event.
Retroactive interference
When a person has difficulty recalling old information because of newly learned information.
Proactive interference
Difficulty in learning new information because of already existing information.
Absentmindedness
Lapse in attention that results in memory failure. Results in decreased activity in the lower left frontal lobe as well as less hippocampal involvement during encoding.
Prospective memory
When you remember to perform an action at the appropriate time that you previously intended to accomplish.
Blocking
Failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even thought you are trying to produce it. Typically occurs with names and places, because these aren’t linked to as many pieces of information in the association networks.
Memory misattribution
Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
Source memory
Recall of when, where and how information was acquired
Destination memory
Remembering who we have told something before
Who is prone to memory misattribution?
Patients with frontal lobe damage
False recognition
Feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before
Deja vecu
Mistaken belief that one has already lived through an experience and remember the details of what happened
Suggestibility
The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections. We are vulnerable to suggestibility because we do not store all the details of memories.
Bias
The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences.
Consistency bias
The bias to reconstruct the past to fit the present
Change bias
After an investment of effort in producing change, remembering one’s past performance as consistent with the change
Egocentric bias
The tendency to exaggerate the change between present and past in order to make ourselves look good in retrospect
Persistence
The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget. Emotional experiences are better remembered than non-emotional experiences. Caused by activation of amygdala.
Flashbulb memory
The sudden onset of a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. When you are trying to remember something and then it “all of a sudden comes to you”.
