Memory Flashcards
Memory
- An information processing system
* Set of processes used to encode, store and retrieve information over different different periods of time
Encoding
- Input of information into the memory system
- Upon receiving sensory information from the environment, our brains label or code it
- Organise the information with other similar information and connect new concepts to existing concepts
Automatic Processing
•Usually done without any conscious awareness
Effortful Processing
•Requires alot of work and attention on your part in order to encode the information
Semantic Encoding
•Refers to the encoding of words and their meaning; first demonstrated by William Bousfield
Visual Encoding
- Refers to the encoding of images
- Ability to recall images (mentally) more easily than words alone
- High-imagery words are encoded both visually and semantically, thus building a stronger memory
Acoustic Encoding
•Refers to the encoding of sounds, and words in particular
Self-reference Effect
•The tendency for an individual to have better memory for information that relates to oneself in comparison to material that has less personal preference
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin
•Came out with a human memory, called Atkinson-Shiffrin (A-S); based on the belief that we process memories in the same way that a computer processes information
Storage
- The creation of a permanent record of information
* 3 stages – sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory
Sensory Memory
- Storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes
- A very brief storage of up to a couple of seconds
Short-term Memory (STM)
- A temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory
- Lasts about 20 seconds
Long-term Memory (LTM)
- Continuous storage of information; storage capacity has no limits
- Divided into two terms – explicit and implicit
Explicit (declarative) Memories
Episodic (experienced events)
Semantic (knowledge and concepts)
- Explicit – memories that we consciously try to remember and recall
- Episodic – information about events we have personally experienced; involves recollection of visual imagery as well as the feeling of familiarity
- Semantic – knowledge about words, concepts, and language-based knowledge and facts
Implicit (non-declarative)
Procedural (skills and actions)
Emotional Conditioning
- Implicit – memories that are not part of our consciousness; formed from behaviors
- Procedural – it stores information about how to do things; aids the performance of particular types of tasks without conscious awareness of these previous experiences.
- Emotional Conditioning – storage of information about the emotional significance of events
Definition of Retrieval and 3 Steps to do so
•The act of getting information out of memory storage and back to conscious awareness
3 ways to retrieve information:
Recall – refers to what we most often think about when we talk about memory retrieval; access information without cues
Recognition – happens when you identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again; process of comparison
Relearning – involves learning information that you previously learned
Amygdala
- Regulates emotions, such as fear and aggression
- Plays a part in how memories are stored because storage is influenced by stress hormones
- Involved in memory consolidation – the process of transferring new learning into long-term memory
- Facilitate encoding memories at a deeper level when the event is emotional arousing
Hippocampus
- Involved in normal recognition memory as well as spatial memory
- Project information to cortical regions that give memories meaning and connect them with other connected memories
- Injury to this area will result in the inability to process new declarative memories
Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
- According to PET scans, there was much more activation in the left prefrontal cortex for the semantic tasks as compared to the perceptual task
- Encoding was associated with left frontal activity, while retrieval of information was associated with the right frontal region
Neurotransmitters
Arousal Theory
Flashbulb Memory
- Specific neurotransmitters are involved with the process of memory, such as epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and acetychlorine
- Arousal Theory – strong emotions trigger the formation of strong memories, and weaker emotional experiences form weaker memories
- Strong emotional experiences can trigger the release of neurotransmitters, as well as hormones, which strengthen memory
- Flashbulb Memory – an exceptionally clear recollection of an important event
Amnesia
•The loss of long-term memory that occurs at the result of disease, physical trauma, or psychological trauma
Anterograde Amnesia
- Inability to remember new information, although you are able to remember information and events that happened prior to your injury
- Hippocampus is usually affected – damage to the brain has resulted in the inability to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory
- Unable to forma episodic or semantic memories, but are still able to form new procedural memories
Retrograde Amnesia
- Loss of memory for events that occurred prior to the trauma
- Difficulty remembering episodic memories
Memory Construction and Reconstruction
- Construction – formation of new memories
* Reconstruction – bringing up old memories
Suggestibility
- Describes the effects of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of false memories
- We are vulnerable to the power of suggestion, simply based on something we see on the news or a suggestion that someone made
Eyewitness Misidentification
•When a crime victim or eyewitness mistakenly identifies someone as the perpetrator of a crime even though that person did not commit the crime
Causes: –Limitation in human memory –Stress and anxiety –Suggestive police behavior –Cross-race biases –Focus on weapons
Misinformation Effect, Elizabeth Loftus
- After exposure to incorrect information, a person may misremember the original event
- According to Loftus, an eyewitness’s memory of an event is very flexible due to the misinformation effect
Controversies over Repressed and Recovered Memories
False Memory Syndrome
- Researchers have described how whole events, not just words, can be falsely recalled, even when they did not happen
- False Memory Syndrome – recall of false autobiographical memories; relates to memories of events that do not have independent witnesses; only witnesses to the abuse are the perpetrator and the victim
Forgetting
•Refers to loss of information from long-term memory
Encoding Failure
- When memory loss happens before the actual memory process begins
- Often in order to remember something, we must pay attention to the details and actively work to process the information, however lots of times we don’t do this
Daniel Schacter
•Well-known memory researcher, offers seven ways our memories fail us; calls them the seven sins of memory and categorizes them into three groups – forgetting, distortion, and intrusion
Transience
- Type – Forgetting
- Description – Accessibility of memory decreases over time
- Example – Forget events that occurred long ago
Absentmindness
- Type – Forgetting
- Description – Forgetting caused by lapses in attention
- Example – Forget where your phone is
Blocking
- Type – Forgetting
- Description – Accessibility of information is temporarily blocked
- Example – Tip of the tongue
Misattribution
- Type – Distortion
- Description – Source of memory is confused
- Example – Recalling a dream memory as a waking memory
Suggestibility
- Type – Distortion
- Description – False memories
- Example – Result from leading questions
Bias
- Type – Distortion
- Description – Memories distorted by current belief system
- Example – Align memories to current beliefs
Persistence
- Type – Intrusion
- Description – Inability to forget undesirable memories
- Example – Traumatic events
Interference
•When information is stored in our memory, however for some reason it is inaccessible
Proactive Interference
•When old information hinders the recall of newly learned information
Retroactive Interference
•Happens when information learned more recently hinders the recall of older information
Memory-enhancing Strategies
- Rehearsal – conscious repetition of information to be remembered
- Chunking – organizing information into manageable bits or chunks
- Elaborative Rehearsal –a technique in which you think about the meaning of the new information and its relation to knowledge is already stored in your memory
- Mnemonic Devices (e.g. acronym) – memory aids that help us organize information for encoding; useful for recalling larger bits of information such as steps, stages, phases
- Expressive Writing – boosts short-term memory
- Saying words aloud
Neurogensis
• The growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, and area of the brain known to play a role in memory and learning
