memory and amnesia

Question 1

three main processes of memory

Answer 1

encoding
storage
retrieval

Question 2

why might our memory fail us (Rs)

Answer 2

they are represented, reconstructed, rebuilt

Question 3

the testing effect

Answer 3

a long term memory is increased if some of the learning period is spent on retrieval
big increases regardless of age / even seen in dementia patients

Question 4

how would cognitive neuroscience look at exploring memory problems

Answer 4

functional localisation - functional imaging is used to locate where specific damage is in the brain

Question 5

how would cognitive psychology look at exploring memory problems

Answer 5

how cognitive models work and how the psychological processes may be damaged

Question 6

two traditions of human neuropsychology

Answer 6

classical - group study & functional imaging

cognitive neuropsych - single case studies and WHAT the cognitive architecture is, not WHERE

Question 7

what is the modern version of phrenology

Answer 7

functional specialisation

Question 8

example of a single case study helping to falsify inductive psych claims

Answer 8

black swans

lucy – remains found of a primate who could walk upright with a SMALL brain

Question 9

double dissociation

Answer 9

when two related mental processes are shown to function independently
often found using brain damage pairs who are impaired in different tasks & diff brain areas

Question 10

case study of HM

Answer 10

had temporal lobectomy (= included hippocampus) to treat epilepsy
suffered from both anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia
semantic and episodic deficits

Question 11

anterograde amnesia

Answer 11

decreased ability to retain new information and memories

Question 12

retrograde amnesia

Answer 12

impaired ability to recall memories that happen before the amnesia

Question 13

global amnesia

Answer 13

impaired LTM but can carry out STM digit span tasks

Question 14

what is a double dissociation pair used to distinguish different STM/LTM memory impairments

Answer 14

HM & KF
HM = temporal damage, could carry out STM digit spans but not LTM
KF = parietal lobe damage, normal LTM but impaired on digit span tasks

Question 15

serial position effect

Answer 15

in free recall, items are recalled most from the start of the list (PRIMACY EFFECT) and the end of the list (RECENCY EFFECT)

Question 16

how does the double dissociation of KF and HM work with the serial position effect

Answer 16

LTM amnesiacs like HM show no primacy effect

STM amnesiacs like KF show no recency effect

Question 17

why is defining normality important for memory?

Answer 17

in order to to diagnose pathological memory deficits, we need a comparison to normality

Question 18

bartlett and memory experiment

Answer 18

one of the first psychologists to define mem as unreliable

war of the ghosts; ppts asked to recall a story – they forgot unfamiliar details and rationalised other parts

Question 19

change blindness & what this shows

Answer 19

confederate asked random ppts for directions; half way through an obstruction passes and the confederates switch actors; ppt doesnt notice change in actor
=== shows that encoding is mediated by expectations

Question 20

change blindness - eyewitness testimonies

Answer 20

loftus & palmer car accident study

• • when described as ‘smashed’, 32% falsely remembered broken glass
• • when ‘hit’, 14% remembered glass

Question 21

disneyland memory deficit

Answer 21

asked at disneyland exit if they’d shaken hands with bugs bunny; some people said yes; bugs bunny is not a disney character

Question 22

why is memory often unreliable as an organ

Answer 22

its an organ of representation; used to plan the future rather than exactly record the past

Question 23

information deficit model

Answer 23

when given myths and facts, people often forget which one was which when they are later tested as the memories merge together

Question 24

definition of forgetting

Answer 24

a normal function of memory; manifests as errors in retrieval

Question 25

two theories of forgetting

Answer 25

trace decay theory - the memory trace fades, it is no longer AVAILABLE
interference - some memory traces interfere with the retrieval of others, it is no longer ACCESSIBLE

Question 26

role of consolidation in remembering/forgetting

Answer 26

consolidation allows memories to move from STM to LTM
study; US football players with concussion could recall events clearly when asked immediately but after 20 mins had completely faded = consolidation was interrupted / impaired

Question 27

interference study

Answer 27

ppts had to recall info after an interference task or no task at all; all ppts including amnesiacs had much lower recall after interference task
= interference is an integral part of forgetting, even in pathological cases

Question 28

adaptive reasons for forgetting

Answer 28

brain cannot function without forgetting - patient S could not reason or generalise because memories were too overwhelming

Question 29

transient epileptic amnesia

Answer 29

seizures cause intense amnesia episodes, within which all other brain function is normal

Question 30

what is amnesia

Answer 30

memory omissions, intrusions, or inaccessibility

Question 31

how is alzheimers represented in a brain scan

Answer 31

deterioration of tissue in the hippocampus

Question 32

amnesia case study LC

Answer 32

intact procedural, general knowledge but severely impaired anterograde LTM - could not remember going to same cafe 3 times in a row with 1 hr between

Question 33

implicit memory

Answer 33

unconscious/automatic, learned info is retrieved and used without awareness of learning or remembering it

Question 34

explicit memory

Answer 34

conscious, intentional recollection of episodic or semantic memory

Question 35

how can the implicit memory system be tested

Answer 35

word completion - filling in gaps to form words
repetition priming - presenting ppt with a question along with a previously presented cue to evoke words related to the cue

Question 36

implicit / explicit double dissociation

Answer 36

medial temporal lobe amnesia have impaired explicit memory (can’t create new ones) and intact implicit
MS had intact explicit and impaired implicit

Question 37

what has damage to the hippocampus shown about the specific areas

Answer 37

hippocampal region = episodic mem

parahippocampal region = semantic mem

Question 38

damage/lesions to ________ causes disorganised memory

Answer 38

prefrontal cortex

Question 39

what is a key sign of disorganised memory

Answer 39

confabulation; when memory gaps are filled in with fabricated and distorted information