Memory Flashcards
Memory is the ability to…
encode, store and retrieve information and experiences over time.
Memory is essential to…
survival and sense of personal identity
‘Without memory, our awareness would be confined to an eternal present and our lives would be virtually devoid of meaning’
Who said this??
Schacter & Scarry, 2000, p. 1
Name 5 different components and processes in the memory system
Structure of memory processes of memory encoding storage retrieval
Structure of memory:
Memory stores distinguished by the capacity and duration of holding information.
Processes of memory:
Involved in encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
Encoding:
is the process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory: putting information into memory
Storage:
is the process of maintaining information in memory over time: retaining information over time in memory
Retrieval:
is the process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored: getting information out of memory.
who made the Modal Model?
Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968
The Modal Model has a flow of info through three stages, what are they?
Unattended info is lost
Sensory
Capacity - large
Duration - short
Unrehearsed information is lost
Short-term
Capacity - small
Duration - short
some info may be lost over time.
Long-term
Capacity - large
Duration - long
Sensory information is kept for a few hours or less.
true or false?
false
it is kept for a few seconds or less
Iconic memory:
Fast decaying storage of visual information.
Experiment found that iconic memories decay in about 1 seconds or less
Short term memory (STM):
Nonsensory information is processed and stored but easily forgotten if not rehearsed.
Peterson and Peterson (1959) examined how long information could be stored in…
STM when rehearsal is prevented.
how long can info in STM be held for?
15 - 20 secs
to keep it longer, info must be rehearsed.
Rehearsal is the process of…
keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.
Rehearsal puts the information back into the STM, and over time to LTM.
Serial position effect:
the enhanced memory for events presented at the beginning and end of a learning episode (Glanzer & Cunitz, 1966).
Primacy effect:
superior recall for items at the beginning of a list. Early words can be rehearsed more often and more time for deeper encoding.
Recency effect:
superior recall for items at the end of a list. Last items are still in memory.
Working memory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974):
Working memory is a dynamic system with short term stores and a control system that enables active maintenance and manipulation of information.
Working memory model (Baddeley & Hitch,1974)
4 components
Visiospatial sketchpad
Briefly stores visual and spatial information
Phonological loop
- phonological store: briefly stores auditory information.
- articulatory rehearsal: mental rehearsal of auditory information.
Episodic buffer
integrates information in working memory with long-term memory
Central executive
Attentional system that coordinates and controls information
Phonological loop:
Corresponds to the earlier idea of STM
Phonological storage and articulatory rehearsal are subserved by functionally independent systems.
Phonological similarity effect:
when items simultaneously stored in working memory have to be serially recalled, performance is significantly worse when the items to be maintained are phonologically similar (sounding the same) (Conrad & Hull, 1964).
Word-length effect:
Performance on a recall task is worse when the items to be maintained are long words (e.g., university) than short words (e.g., item) (Baddeley et al., 1975).
Visuospatial sketchpad is critical in developing, inspecting, and navigating through a…
mental image.
visuospatial sketchpad
Two sorts of information is processed:
Spatial and visual.
central executive
The central executive component does 4 things…
Determines when information is deposited in the storage buffers.
Determines which buffer (phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad) is selected for storage.
Integrates and coordinates information between the two buffers.
Provides the mechanisms to inspect and manipulate the information held in the buffers.
LTM vs STM: Capacity and duration
STM: 7 plus or minus 2, less than a min
LTM: No known limit to capacity and information can be held for years
The forms of long term memory model Implicit (Nonconscious recollection) and Explicit (Conscious recollection)
Explicit (declarative) memory
-> semantic memory (Facts and general knowledge)
or episodic memory (Personally experienced events)
Implicit (non-declarative) memory -> Procedual memory (Motor and cognitive skills) or Priming (Enhanced identification of objects or words)
Explicit (declarative) memory:
Consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences or knowledge.
Semantic memory:
General knowledge, fact and concepts (e.g., the prime minister of the UK, planets in the solar system).
Episodic memory:
The conscious knowledge of temporally dated, spatially located, and personally experienced events or episodes (Tulving, 1972) (e.g., Your first day at the university or your holiday 3 years ago).
Autobiographical memory:
Significant events in one’s life (wedding, births of children) that are associated with strong emotions (Conway & Robin, 1993).
Flashbulb memories:
Detailed recollection of what and where we heard of shocking events.
Implicit (nondeclarative) memory:
nonconscious forms of long-term memory that are expressed as a change in behavior without any conscious recollection.
Procedural memory:
Knowing how to do things, the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice (e.g., riding a bike, playing an instrument).
Priming:
Recent exposure to a stimulus (e.g., word, face, object) can alter the response or processing of a subsequent stimulus (Tulving & Schacter, 1990).
Tulving et al. (1982) study, what was the learning phase? Test phase 1 and 2?
Participants were presented with a long list of words and asked to learn them (e.g., mystery, climate, octopus, assassin). Test phase (I): Word-fragment completion test: an_ _ _ _pe Test phase (II): Recognition test: Participants were presented with a list of words (original and new) and asked to indicate whether each was present in the study list. Tests I&II were done 1 hour and 7 days after learning.
Tulving et al. (1982): Results
Priming effect: More words accurately completed among the studied words than among the non-studied words.
Priming effect remained unchanged from 1 hour to 1 week.
Recognition performance declined after 1 week.
Evidence for the priming effect and the distinction between implicit and explicit memory.
Encoding is the process by which information is…
transferred into a memory representation.
A number of factors can influence encoding:
Attention
Levels-of-processing and elaboration: interpreting information and connecting it with other information.
Conscious retrieval and ‘generation’ of the information.
Practice that is spaced out in time.
The importance of attention:
Failure to attend to information can impair encoding.
Levels-of-processing theory (Craik & Tulving, 1975):
Different aspects of stimulus processing correspond to different levels of analysis, ranging from a “shallow” level of perceptual analysis to a “deep” level of semantic analysis.
Shallow processing:
Processing of physical/perceptual characteristics.
Deep processing (elaborative):
Processing of related semantic information.
Levels-of-processing theory (Craik & Tulving, 1975)
Ribbon components
Perceptual:
How many vowels does the word contain?
(shallow end on processing ribbon)
Phonemic:
Does the word rhyme with ‘cotton’?
(middle of ribbon)
Semantic:
Is the object used for decoration?
(deep end of ribbon)
Perceptual judgments:
think about the appearance of the words
“Is CLOCK written uppercase or lowercase?”
Rhyme judgments:
think about the sound of the word
“Does cheat rhyme with sheet?”
Semantic judgments:
think about the meaning
“Is hat a type of clothing?”
Limitations of the Levels-of-processing theory:
Unclear if it reflects the strength of encoding or the correspondence between processes involved at encoding and retrieval.
The generation effect:
The act of retrieving or generating (active production) information from memory can enhance encoding (e.g., flashcards).
Participants learned the word pairs in one of two ways:
Read: participants decided whether the second word was a synonym of the first (UNHAPPY–SAD) or a rhyme of it (PAD–SAD).
Generate: participants were to generate a synonym (e.g., UNHAPPY–S_____) or a rhyme (e.g., PAD–S_____).
Encoding:The spacing effect
Massed practice:
many trials with the same stimulus are undertaken without interruption.
Encoding:The spacing effect
the trials with the same stimulus are separated by other stimuli.
Encoding:The spacing effect:
“with any considerable number of repetitions a suitable distribution of them over a space of time is decidedly more advantageous than the massing of them at a single time” (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1964).
Amnesia:
severe memory loss typically associated with brain injury or illness.
Anterograde amnesia:
Inability to transform new information from STM to LTM.
Retrograde amnesia:
Inability to recall information acquired before a particular date (injury or operation)
Amnesia
H.M. could acquire new motor skills at a normal rate, such as…
mirror tracing (Milner, 1962).
Memory errors can be due to…
bias, misattribution, and suggestion (Buckner & Schacter, 2005).
Bias:
cultural experience and other background knowledge can influence memories for stimuli and events.
Consistency bias:
belief that one’s attitudes are stable over time.
Misattribution:
ascribing a recollection to an incorrect time, place, person, or source (Schacter, 2001).
Suggestion:
False or misleading information is introduced after the event or is elicited through the use of leading questions (Schacter, 2001; Loftus, 2005).
Misinformation effect:
recollection of an event becomes less accurate due to post-event information.
