Memory And Forgetting

Question 1

What are the three main elements of memory?

Answer 1

The 3 main elements of memory are :

• sensory stores
• short term store
• long term store

Question 2

Discuss sensory stores?

Answer 2

Sensory memory hold sensory information for less then one second after the item is perceived.

Question 3

Discuss short term store?

Answer 3

Short term memory you only remember for a short amount of time without rehearsal.

Question 4

Discuss long term store?

Answer 4

Long term memory can store much larger quantities of information for a potential unlimited duration

Question 5

What is somatic encoding?

Answer 5

Semantic encoding is thinking about the meaning of a word, and thinking about how the word fits into a sentence that makes you remember, it can also involve physical and acoustic features to help you remember

Question 6

How is semantic encoding beneficial?

Answer 6

Semantic encoding reduces interferences and makes memories more distinctive.

Question 7

What is context dependency(memory storage) ?

Answer 7

The environmental conditions where you learn make a difference to how well you remember it.

Question 8

What are the different processes of memory storage?

Answer 8

Long- term for encoding in long term Emory we must think about things very deeply. (- Semantic encoding )

• Context Dependancy
• internal state
• Mood-Dependency
• State Dependancy
• Sleep and Consolidation

Question 9

What is state dependency ( memory storage )

Answer 9

State Dependancy is more about being able to recall information better when you feel the same as you did when it was learnt.

Question 10

What is Mood Dependancy(memory storage)

Answer 10

Your more likely to recall unhappy information that’s been encoded in a sad mood when your sad.

Question 11

What is sleep and consolidation (memory storage)?

Answer 11

Slow-wake sleep is important for memory consolidation.

Question 12

What are the two long-term memory store locations?

Answer 12

Hippocampus-Unique experiences of people/places/objects in events (i.e., episodic memory)

Anterior temporal lobe -Similarities between experiences to create concepts (i.e., semantic memory)

Question 13

How does hippocampus encode information? ( multi-store elements of an episode)

Answer 13

The hippocampus forms links between elements (people, place and objects) of an episode.
Neurones in the hippocampus binds together things in a memory to reinstate the full picture.

Question 14

Where in the hippocampus is each memory encoded before being bound?

Answer 14

Place- Parahippocampal
Object- Inferior temporal lobe
People- Anterior temporal lobe

Question 15

How is memory retrieved in the hippocampus?

Answer 15

One element of the story is a cue. This cue then brings back the whole experience.

Question 16

Why do we forget in short term memory?

Answer 16

Things are forgotten when we become distracted

Question 17

Why may things be forgotten in long term memory?

Answer 17

• failure to encode it deeply
• ineffective cues that prevent access to the memory
• interference from similar memories

Question 18

What is amnesia?

Answer 18

Amnesia is failure to form new long term memories due to damage to the medial temporal lobes.

Question 19

What are the temporal gradients of amnesia?

Answer 19

Retrograde= birth to injury

Anterograde= injury to present

Question 20

What are the two forms of information/ memory forms preserved in amnesia and what does this suggest?

Answer 20

Non-declarative memory: people with amnesia still have good motor memory. This shows that hippocampus is not required in non-conscious learning.

Semantic information : theres normal retention of factual knowledge. They are able to do tests such as providing definitions, naming pictures and understanding sentences.
This shows that the hippocampus is not the only place of memory storage.

Question 21

What are the common causes of amnesia?

Answer 21

• Head injury
• Alzheimer’s disease
• viral infection ( especially herpes simplex encephalitis )
• long term alcoholism (Korsakoff’s syndrome)
• head injury
• anoxia- cells of the hippocampus not getting enough oxygen

Question 22

During amnesia not all episodes are lost why?

Answer 22

Through a process of consolidation memories may loose their reliance on the hippocampus. Over time links form with the neocortex what directly associates elements ( place, people and object). So information can be retrieved without going to the hippocampus. Therefore childhood memories are preserved in the neocortex.

Question 23

Which part of declarative long term memory is preserved in amnesia?

Answer 23

Episodic memories ( events that happened to us)- are impaired, so theres inability to form memories

Semantic memories - these are spared as they involve factual knowledge - also the lateral part of the inferior temporal lobe

Question 24

What i semantic dementia?

Answer 24

Semantic dementia is caused by damage to the neocortical store. It’s a subtype of frontotemporal dementia. Damage in the medial aspects of the temporal lobe. They have bilateral astrophy( astrophy is the degeneration or shrinkage of muscle or nerve tissue )

Question 25

What are the symptoms of semantic Demetria?

Answer 25

• progressive loss of conceptual knowledge across modalities. You can’t recognise objects.

Question 26

What things remain intact during semantic Demetria ?

Answer 26

Memory of recent events
Visual-spatial skills
Non-verbal reasoning
Visual spatial kills

Question 27

During semantic dementia what type of declarative functions are loss?

Answer 27

Episodic memories are spared as both temporal lobes need to be damaged but in semantic Demetria they are not.

Semantic memories are lost.