Memory and Learning Flashcards
Define memory?
Persistence of learning in a state that can revealed at a later time
Define learning?
The process of acquiring new information
Define encoding?
Processing of incoming information to be stored
Define storage?
The result of acquisition and consolidation; creation and maintenance of a permanent record
Define retrieval?
Utilisation of stored information to create a conscious representation or to execute a learned behaviour
What does memory split into?
Short term/working memory and long term
Hat does long term memory further divide into?
Declarative and non-declarative
What are the two divisions of declarative, long-term memory which mean a) events and b) facts?
Episodic and semantic
What are the subdivisions of non-declarative, long-term memory?
Priming, skills/habits, associate conditioning which is split into skeletal musculature and emotional response.
Give the three memory mechanisms?
Sensory, long-term and short-term
Give an example of a sensory memory mechanism?
Recalling a sentence you are not paying attention to listening
What is a) visual and b) echoic memory in the sensory memory mechanism?
Visual-iconic and audition- echoic
Which memory mechanism is the quickest?
Sensory, then short then long
Give and example of a short term memory mechanism?
Remembering a phone number given by a friend before trying to dial it
-around a 7 item digit span
Give an example of a long term memory mechanism?
Recalling an event from childhood
How is short term memory made to last longer?
Through rehearsal
What is the process of changing short to long and long to short?
Short to long is encoding and long to short is retrieval
What is the capacity of the short term memory?
Limited.
5-9 item span.
What is a memorist?
An individual with a remarkable memory. Most commonly for numbers. They use locational digit matching and visual imagery techniques to remember.
What is a working memory model?
A central executive mechanism which controls 2 subcoordinate systems in rehearsal
What is central executive?
Command and control centre
What is the phonological loop?
Mechanism for acoustically coding information in working memory.
What is a visual spatial sketch pad?
Information storage in visual or visual spatial codes
What are the two subcoordinate systems involved in rehearsal?
Phonological loop and visual partial sketch pad
What part of the brain effects visuospatial performance?
The parieto-occipital regions of both hemispheres
What part of the brain effects the phonological loop?
The left supra-marginal gyrus and left promoter region
What is another term for long term memory?
Explicit memory.
How is long term memory recalled?
By conscious effort
What is a recollection of an emotionally charged event?
A flashbulb memory.
Usually vivid, a form of long term memory, high confidence of the more but not necessarily very accurate
Where are long term memory brain systems formed?
Hippocampus, mammillary body, dorsal thalamus and rhinal cortex
Where is long term memory brain systems stored?
In the neocortex and the frontal vortices on the dorsolateral and anteriolateral aspects.
What are the four curiosities of memory?.
Olfaction, music, memory training, age
What do certain smells do?
Invoke memories from years ago as the olfactory cortex is linked to the hippocampus and amygdala
What is thought to improve memory?
Musical training, or listening to music
Research is ongoing into daily memory training and synaptic plasticity, give examples of daily memory training activities?
Sudoku, crosswords, scrabble etc
Does memory improve or decline with age?
Decline
Why does memory differ with age?
There’s a decrease in the number of synapses
What is another way to say non-declarative long term memory?
Procedural or implicit memory
How are skills and associations acquired in non-declarative memory?
Mainly at an unconscious level
Name the 2 non-declarative memory systems?
Non-associative and associative
What is the non-associative non-declarative memory system?
A change in motor response after repeated presentation to a stimuli
What are the two subgroups of the non-associative, non-declarative memory system?
Habituation and sensitisation. Habituation is a decrease in response and sensitisation is an increase.
What are the two subgroups of the associative, non-declarative memory system?
Classical conditioning- a change in passive motor response after a learned association between two stimuli.
Instrumental or operant conditioning- change in active motor response after association between motor action and reward
What are the brain system underlying procedural long term memory?
Basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, sensory association cortex and the cerebellum
What is amnesia?
The pathological process of forgetting
What are the two types of amnesia?
Anterograde- inability to establish new memories
Retrograde- difficulty in retrieving memories
What can synaptic plasticity do?
Enhance or decrease the strength of a synapse
What causes synaptic plasticity?
Long term potention or depression in CA1
