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Psychology > Memory > Flashcards

Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

Case study of HM

A
  • Had no recollection of doing the new task everyday (tracing the outline of a star)
  • Still got better at the task each time
  • Evidence of memory formation although it was not conscious
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2
Q

Memory Definition

A

Ability to store and use information

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3
Q

Explicit memory

A
  • Conscious recall of facts and events

- sometimes called declarative memory because it refers to memories that can be deliberately accessed or declared

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4
Q

Implicit memory

A
  • not being consciously aware that we know or remember something
  • non-declarative memory
  • not easily described using words
  • can perform automatic skills but cannot remember how or when we acquired this memory
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5
Q

Sensory memory

A

-a part of memory that holds information in its original sensory form for a very brief period of time

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6
Q

Iconic memory

A

-brief record of visual scene

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7
Q

Echoic memory

A

Short-term retention of sounds

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8
Q

3 stage model

A
  • sensory>short-term>long-term
    1. Attention to sensory information to send to short-term
    2. Rehearsal of short-term to send to long term
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9
Q

Short-term

A
  • temporarily stores a limited amount of information before it is transferred to long term or forgotten.
  • generally lasts 2-30 seconds
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10
Q

Long-term memory

A
  • capacity to store a vast amount of information

- 30 seconds to a lifetime

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11
Q

Rehearsal

A

Process of reciting or practising material repeatedly to send to long-term memory

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12
Q

Encoding

A

-process by which we attend to, take in, and process new information

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13
Q

Retrieval

A

-recovery of information stored in memory

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14
Q

Short-term memory capacity

A
  • number of items that can be held in short term memory

- between 4-9 units of letters, digits, or chunks of information

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15
Q

Experiment by Peterson

A
  • showing participants list of 3-letter combinations and were asked to recall the items after different delay periods.
  • participants prevented from rehearsing combinations by doing basic arithmetic during delay
  • delay greater than 6 sec - participants recalled only half of the items
  • delay greater than 18 sec - remembered only 10%
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16
Q

Working memory

A
  • part of memory required to attend to and solve a problem at hand.
  • the function of short-term memory
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17
Q

Chunking

A

-best way to overcome limits of working memory capacity is to transform what you want to remember into smaller sets of meaningful units or chunks

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18
Q

Baddeleys Model of Working memory

A
  • made up of 3 temporary storage units:
    1. Phonological (sounds and language)
    2. Visuospatial (images and spatial relation)
    3. Episodic buffer (connects 2 storage systems, interacts with long term memory, and provides temporary storage for specific events)
  • managed by an attention all control system called CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
    • focuses, divides, and shifts attention and communicated with long term memory systems
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19
Q

Central executive

A
  • attentional control system that manages 3 stores of working memory.
  • focuses, divides and shifts attention and communicated with long term memory systems
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20
Q

Phonological

A

-working memory store for sounds and language

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21
Q

Visuospatial

A

-working memory store for images and spatial relation

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22
Q

Episodic buffer

A
  • connects visuospatial and phonological stores
  • interacts with long term memory
  • provides temporary storage for specific events
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23
Q

Baddeley process of working memory

A
  • 3 distinct processes
    1. attending to stimulus
    2. storing information about stimulus
    3. rehearsing stored information to help solve a problem
  • first process carried out by central executive
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24
Q

Serial position effect

A
  • when learning a list of items, people are better able to recall items at the beginning and end of the list
  • tend to forget the items in the middle
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25
Q

Primacy effect

A

The tendency to preferentially recall items at the beginning of a list
-items at beginning of list are quickly rehearsed and transferred into long term memory

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26
Q

Recency effect

A

Tendency to recall items at the end of a list

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27
Q

Procedural memory (type of implicit memory)

A

-knowledge we hold for almost any behaviour or physical skill we learn

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28
Q

Priming (type of implicit memory)

A
  • occurs when recall is improved by prior exposure to the same or similar stimuli
  • eg. Using amnesia group and controlled group. Giving list of words to recall. Both groups performed the same when they were given the first three letters of the words as a prime or memory aid
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29
Q

Semantic memory (type of explicit memory)

A

-our memory for facts and knowledge

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30
Q

Episodic memory (type of explicit memory)

A
  • memory for experiences we’ve encountered

- more personal than semantic memories

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31
Q

Consolidation

A

-events that happen after encoding of information

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32
Q

Mnemonic device

A
  • a scheme to help people remember information
  • rhyming, chunking, and rehearsal are types of mnemonics
  • common way to encode information deeply
  • others include imagery or acronyms
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33
Q

Dual coding theory

A

-visual and verbal information are processed and stored independently by the brain, and therefore using both systems essentially brings two minds to the memory task

34
Q

Consolidation

A
  • the process of establishing, stabilizing, or solidifying a memory
  • a consolidated memory is resistant to distraction, interference, or decay
  • sleep plays role in consolidation
  • new learning is associated with an increase in REM sleep, and blocking REM inhibits performance on certain types of memory tasks
35
Q

Storage

A
  • retention of memory over time
  • 3rd stage of long term memory formation
  • occurs after memories have been encoded and consolidated
  • store and organize memories in 3 distinct ways:
    1. hierarchies
    2. schemas
    3. networks
36
Q

Hierarchy storage

A
  • use to organize relation information from the most general feature they have in common to the most specific
  • eg with song titles
37
Q

Schemas

A

-mental frameworks based upon our experiences with particular objects or events, and like hierarchies, they help us organize information and improve memory

38
Q

Association

A
  • the psychological process that binds concepts together

- linked together in networks by their degree of closeness and relatedness

39
Q

Associative network

A
  • chain of associations between related concepts
  • each concept in a network is referred to as a node
  • links between nodes are associations
  • when people think of a concept and its node is activated, they are more likely to make an association to a nearby concept or node.
40
Q

Neural networks

A
  • computer models that imitate the way neurons talk to each other
  • their nodes are information-processing units
  • nodes in a network of neurons are single cells that can process information
    • the more nodes in a neural network communicate with each other, the stronger the link between nodes.
    • repeated connections between neurons leads to stronger connection and stronger memories and learning
41
Q

Automatic processing

A
  • occurs with litter effort or conscious attention to the task
  • episodic memory involves this kind of processing
42
Q

Effortful processing

A
  • occurs when we carefully attend to and put conscious effort into remembering information
  • basis of semantic memory
  • usually involves rehearsal of information to go from working to long term memory
43
Q

Levels of processing

A
  • the more deeply people encode information, the better they will recall it.
  • 3 different levels of processing:
    1. Structural
    2. Phonemic
    3. Semantic
44
Q

Structural processing

A
  • shallowest level

- focus on the structure of the item to remember

45
Q

Phonemic processing

A
  • mid level processing
  • focus on the sound of the (word) or item to remember
  • ie. does the word rhyme with…?
46
Q

Semantic processing

A
  • deepest level of processing

- think about meaning or word or item to remember

47
Q

Encoding specificity

A
  • memory for stored information is strongest when the conditions at retrieval match those that were present during encoding of the original information
  • similarity between encoding and retrieval environments
  • reminder cues don’t have to be connected to the information to be remembered
48
Q

Transfer appropriate processing

A
  • recall is best if the cognitive processes used during encoding are the same as those for retrieval
  • similarity of though processes
49
Q

Context dependent specificity

A

-the context in which the information is presented can support encoding specificity

50
Q

Emotional memory

A
  • emotional memories are easier to recall than factual ones since emotions help us encode memories and retrieve memories without effortful processing
  • when emotions occur, attention is focused and details are noted because emotions are usually connected with events that have important implications for the individual
51
Q

Flashbulb memory

A
  • refers to a vivid memory for an emotionally charged event, usually for something that is unexpected and of great consequence.
  • tend to be associated with negative events
  • can actually impair memory of specific event
52
Q

Forgetting

A

-weakening or loss of memories over time

53
Q

Interference

A
  • occurs when other information competes with the information we are trying to recall
  • one reason we forget
  • interference can happen in 2 ways:
    1. retroactive interference
    2. proactive interference
54
Q

Retroactive interference

A
  • occurs when our new experiences or information causes people to forget previously learned experiences or information
  • memory’s vulnerability to interference from information that follow immediately after an event has profound applications in the real work
  • eg. Recall of a crime by an eyewitness will be distorted by events that occur between the time it happens and the recall
55
Q

Proactive interference

A
  • occurs when previously learned information interferes with the learning of new information
  • perhaps the serial position effect occurs because the process of remembering the first words interferes proactively with the recall of the middle words
56
Q

Seven sins of memories

A
  • consists of 2 categories:
    1. Errors of omissions
    2. errors of commission
57
Q

Transience (1st sin of omission)

A
  • loss of information over time due to the fleeting nature of some memories
  • most common
  • memories fading over time: decay
58
Q

Forgetting curve

A
  • recall showing steady decline over time
  • Ebbinghause forgetting curve
  • decline was the same between groups who had one learning trial vs three
59
Q

Absent Mindedness (2nd sin of omission)

A

-form of forgetfulness that stems from not paying adequate attention or dividing our attention

60
Q

Blocking (3rd sin of omission)

A
  • inability to retrieve some information that we once stored
  • wont resurface despite our efforts
  • tip of the tongue phenomenon
  • repression: retrieval of memories that have been encoded and stored are actively inhibited (eg. Traumatic experience)
61
Q

Sins of commission

A

-consists of distorting, reconstructing, or falsely remembering

62
Q

Misattribution (1st sin of commission)

A
  • occurs when we wrongly believe the memory came from one source, when it came from another
  • cryptomnesia: when a person unintentionally plagiarizes someone else’s ideas, believing that it is their own (unconscious)
63
Q

Consistency bias (2nd sin of commission)

A
  • selective recall of past events to fit our current beliefs

- edit or rewrite memories of past events based on what we now know or believe

64
Q

Persistence (3rd sin of commission)

A
  • repeated recall of plea sent or unpleasant experiences even when we actively try to forget them
  • explain how some of the effects of emotion on memory work
65
Q

Suggestibility (4th sin of commission)

A
  • occurs when memories are altered or implanted in our minds based on leading questions, comments or suggestions from someone else.
  • unconscious effect
66
Q

False memories

A
  • memories or events that never happened but were suggested by someone or something
  • person develops an actual memory, sometimes very elaborate and detailed based on false information.
  • vulnerability to false memories is stronger when using emotionally negative images compared to positive ones
  • visual images boost likelihood of false memories
67
Q

Misinformation effect

A

-alteration of memory by misleading information presented between encoding and recall

68
Q

Recovered memory

A
  • one that was encoded and stored, though not retrieved for a long period of time
  • later retrieved after some event bring it suddenly to consciousness.
  • controversy of real vs false recovered memories by psychotherapists
69
Q

Hebb’s theory of memory

A
  1. When one neuron repeatedly fires and excited another neuron, there is a temporary memory trace that reverberates across the synapse for a short time
  2. If this memory trace persists, it is followed by a permanent change in the receiving neuron, the excitatory neuron or both, which strengthens the synaptic connection
    - repeated stimulation of a group of neurons in this way leads to formation of cell assemblies; networks of neurons that persist even after stimulation has stopped
    - the more time synapses in these assembles fire together, the stronger the network becomes, increasing the likelihood that they will fire together again
    - “neurons that fire together, wire together.”
70
Q

Long term potentiation

A
  • repeatedly stimulating a neural pathway leading to the hippocampus, they could produce long-lasting activity in the postsynaptic target neurons
  • this activity trace can persist for days, long after the stimulation is over
  • this strengthening of a synaptic connection when one neuron repeatedly fires and excited another became known as long-term potentiation
71
Q

Aplysia

A
  • sea slugs have far fewer neurons than humans and their neurons are large enough to see with a naked eye
  • capable of simple behavioural referred controlled by simple neuronal circuits
  • able to retain long term memory of shock
72
Q

Biological effects of repeated stimulation

A
  • repeated stimulation of a neurons actually sends signals to the nucleus of the cell where its DNA is stores.
  • signals trigger production of CREB, a protein that switches on genes responsible for developments of new synapses
  • repetition brings about growth of new synapses that stabilize a new memory
73
Q

How memories stick

A
  • synapses fire repeated neural impulses as to say “this is important; remember this”
    1. These repeated neural firing in turn strengthen the synapse by activating a protein called CREB
    2. CREB then turns on certain genes that set into motion a process the builds other proteins that strengthen the synaptic connection
    3. This process makes memories last in our minds, tattooing the event in our brains
74
Q

Prefrontal cortex + working memory

A
  • prefrontal cortex is this front most region of the frontal lobes and plays a crucial role in working memory
  • determines what information in the environment is worth of our attention
  • when we speak, read, solve problems, we rely on the prefrontal cortex to keep the crucial information accessible
75
Q

Encoding stage: prefrontal cortex + hippocampus

A
  • encoding stage of memory formation activates the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus where memory is consolidated through rehearsal and repetition
  • repeated firing of neural impulses necessary to convert short term to long term memory occurs mostly in hippocampus
  • memory consolidation may take hours, days, week before transferred back to cortex for storage
76
Q

Working memory + rehearsal

A
  • auditory input is processed and rehearsed via phonological loop from the prefrontal cortex to the language and comprehension centre (wernicks region)
  • processing pathway for visual information from visuospatial sketch pad goes to the prefrontal cortex to the temporal lobe (for spatial info) and then to the occipital lobes (for visual)
77
Q

Long term memory storage in the brain

A
  • store different types of long term memory in different places in the brain
  • explicit long term memories are stored in the cortex, specifically wherever the original sensation was processed
  • when we actively try to recall information from long term memory, we use the prefrontal cortex
  • implicit memories are mainly stored in structures in the subcortex, specifically in the striatum (part of basal ganglia), amygdala, and cerebellum,
  • priming occurs mostly in the cortex while procedural memories involve the striatum
78
Q

Amygdala in memory

A
  • crucial for associating particular events with emotional responses such as happiness or fear
  • involved in memories with emotional content
79
Q

Amnesia

A
  • forgetting due to injury or disease to the brain
  • 2 types of amnesia associated with organic injury or disease:
    1. anterograde amnesia
    2. retrograde amnesia.
80
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A
  • inability to remember events and experiences that occur after an injury or onset of a disease.
  • fail to make new long term memories
81
Q

Retrograde amnesia

A
  • inability to recall events or experiences that happened before the onset of the disease or injury
  • memory lose might involve only the incident that preceded it or might include years of memories
82
Q

Alzheimer’s disease

A
  • progressive memory loss, ending with complete memory loss
  • transience and absentmindedness occurs
  • abnormal accumulation of protein called beta-amyloid which is thought to be toxic to certain populations of neurons that contain acetylcholine
  • these cholinergic neurons send their exon terminals to memory regions such as the hippocampus and cortex

Psychology (9 decks)

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