Memory Building and Retention

Question 1

Why do we need to have memory?

Answer 1

To retain useful skills (eg. language), knowledge (eg. ppl, places, culture), and expertise
To build a sense of self that endures: what do I believe, value, remember, and understand?
To go beyond conditioning in learning from personal and observed experiences

Question 2

Memory

Answer 2

The persistence of learning over time thru the storage and retrieval of info and skills
Three behaviors show that it functions: recall, recognition, and relearning

Question 3

Recall

Answer 3

One of three behaviors that show that memory is functioning

Analogous to “fill in the blanks”

Question 4

Recognition

Answer 4

One of three behaviors that show that memory is functioning

Form of “multiple choice”

Question 5

Relearning

Answer 5

One of three behaviors that show that memory is functioning

Measure of how much less work it takes to relearn info regardless of having a recollection of seeing the info before

Question 6

Information Processing Pathway (Simplified)

Answer 6

1. Encoding: the info gets stored into our brains
2. Storage: the info is retained in a way that allows it to later be retrieved
3. Retrieval: the info is reactivated / recalled, produced in a form similar to how it was when it was encoded

Question 7

Memory Formation Pathway (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model)

Answer 7

1. Stimuli are recorded by our sense and held briefly in sensory memory
2. Certain details of this info is processed into short-term memory and encoded via rehearsal
3. Info then moves into long-term memory where it can be retrieved later

Question 8

Working Memory / Short-term Memory

Answer 8

Short-term memory system that actively holds multiple pieces of transitory info to rehearse and process them; can integrate new info into pre-existing long-term memory
Mechanisms include rehearsal, focus, analysis, linking, and other processing methods

Question 9

Auditory Rehearsal

Answer 9

Mechanism of working memory
Rehearsing / processing info aurally in order to process it into long-term memory
eg. repeating a password to memorize it

Question 10

Visospatial Sketchpadding

Answer 10

Mechanism of working memory
Rehearsing / processing info visually / spatially in order to process it into long-term memory
eg. rearranging furniture in your mind
eg. doing a math problem in your head

Question 11

Explicit / Declarative Memories

Answer 11

Facts / experiences that we can consciously know and recall

Acquired thru effortful processing / Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

Question 12

Effortful Processing

Answer 12

Studying, rehearsing, thinking, processing, and then storing info into long-term memory
Includes all of the working memory methods / Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

Question 13

Implicit Memories

Answer 13

Memories that we do not consciously know and thus cannot “declare” or talk about
Acquired through automatic processing
Include skills, procedures, conditioned association
Eg. muscle memory, riding a bike

Question 14

Automatic Processing

Answer 14

Processing of a fact / experience into our implicit memory w/out the use of effortful processing / working memory
Mechanisms include: procedural memory, conditioned associations, spatial information, temporal information, and frequency information

Question 15

Procedural Memory

Answer 15

Mechanism of automatic processing
Memory for performance of particular types of actions, often those that involve both cognitive and motor skills
eg. riding a bike, word meanings, tying a shoe

Question 16

Conditioned Associations

Answer 16

Mechanism of automatic processing
Conditioning of the mind to retrieve a specific memory associated with a stimulus
eg. smell that triggers a specific place

Question 17

Spatial Information in Automatic Processing

Answer 17

Aspect of automatic processing
Information about the general layout of a certain space is recorded into implicit memory
eg. ability to walk to bathroom during the night

Question 18

Temporal Information in Automatic Processing

Answer 18

Aspect of automatic processing
Information about general time lapses are recorded into implicit memory
eg. ability to recall generally how much time has passed since event X

Question 19

Frequency Information in Automatic Processing

Answer 19

Aspect of automatic processing
Information about the frequency of a specific event is recorded into our implicit memory
eg. ability to know generally how many swipes has been spent in one day

Question 20

Sensory Memory

Answer 20

First phase of encoding and processing
The immediate, brief recording of sensory information before it is processed into short-term / long-term memory
Analogous to an echo / image of all the sensation we take in

Question 21

Auditory Sensory Memory

Answer 21

Type of sensory memory

Ability to recall generally the last 8 words of the last sentence we were not consciously paying attention to

Question 22

Visual Sensory (Iconic) Memory

Answer 22

Type of sensory memory
Result of George Sperling’s Experiments
Ppl were exposed to a grid of letter for 0.05sec followed by a signal that told them which letter to pull from iconic memory

Question 23

Capacity of Short-Term / Working Memory

Answer 23

Ppl can generally hold about 7 digits, 6 letters, 5 words

Question 24

Duration of Short-Term Memory

Answer 24

Tested by Lloyd and Margaret Peterson
Ppl were given triplets of consonants and then given a distracting task to prevent rehearsing
After about 12sec, <10% of ppl could recall the consonants

Question 25

Effortful Processing Strategy

Answer 25

Aka “studying”
Way to encode information into memory to keep it from decaying and make it easier to retrieve
eg. chunking, mneumonics, categorizing, rehearsal, deep / semantic processing, assigning meaning to info

Question 26

Chunking

Answer 26

Effortful processing strategy
Organizing data into manageable units
Works even better in tandem with assigning meaning to chunks / groups

Question 27

Mneumonics

Answer 27

Effortful processing strategy
Memory trick that connects info to existing memory strengths such as imagery or structure
Peg word system: technique of visually associating new words w/ an existing list that is already memorized along w/ numbers
eg. one-gun, two-zoo, three-free, four-door

Question 28

Hierarchies / Categories

Answer 28

Effortful processing strategy
A branching / nested set of categories and sub-categories
eg. Encoding / effortful processing branches out into (1) sensory memory, (2) capacity for stm / wm, (3) effortful processing strategies, which branches further into (3a) chunking, (3b) mneumonics, (3c) hierarchies

Question 29

Rehearsal / Distributed Practice

Answer 29

Effortful processing strategy

Consistent / frequent practice or rehearsal of information

Question 30

Massed Practice

Answer 30

Cramming information all at once

Ineffective

Question 31

Spacing Effect

Answer 31

Noted by Hermann Ebbinghaus

Better info retention / recall comes from short, consistent intervals of study time spaced over many sessions

Question 32

Testing Effect

Answer 32

Noted by Henry Roediger

Practice that includes testing leads to better retention / recall than simple rereading would

Question 33

Deep / Semantic Processing

Answer 33

Effortful processing strategy
Focusing on the semantics (meanings) of the words
eg. analyzing the meaning, sound, and structure of a word

Question 34

Making Information Personally Meaningful

Answer 34

Effortful processing strategy
Assigning / decoding meaning to info
Less effortful than memorizing nonsense syllables
eg. memorizing lines based on feelings / meanings behind the words, so that one line flows naturally to the next

Question 35

Self-Reference Effect

Answer 35

Relating a piece of information to oneself

Aids encoding and retention

Question 36

Memory Storage: Capacity and Location

Answer 36

Memories are in overlapping neural networks
Brain’s long-term memory is constantly getting rewired / interconnected; parts of each memory are distributed in different areas of the brain

Question 37

Explicit / Declarative Memory Processing

Answer 37

1. Retrieval / use of working memory directed by frontal lobes
2. Encoding / storage of explicit memory facilitated by hippocampus; events / facts are held here before they are consolidated to long-term storage

Question 38

Cerebellum in Implicit Memory Processing

Answer 38

Cerebellum forms / stores conditioned responses; phobic responses can be stored even if the cause of the fear cannot be recalled

Question 39

Basal Ganglia in Implicit Memory Processing

Answer 39

Basal Ganglia controls movement, and forms / stores procedural memory and motor skills

Question 40

Infantile Amnesia

Answer 40

Explicit memories goes back to as early as 3 years old
Implicit memories are almost always retained
Occurs b/c:
1. Hippocampus is one of the last brain areas to develop
2. Adult mind has trouble accessing preverbal memories as declarative memories

Question 41

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 41

Emotionally intense events that become “burned in” as a vivid-seeming memory including both emotional and sensual aspects

Question 42

How does intense emotion cause the brain to form intense memories

Answer 42

1. Emotions cause a trigger in stress hormone rise
2. Hormones trigger activity in amygdala
3. Amygdala increases memory-forming activity and engages the frontal lobes and basal ganglia to “tag” the memo as important
4. Memories are stored w/ more sensory and emotional detail

Question 43

Long-Term Potentiation

Answer 43

Process in which signals at a synapse are transferred more efficiently than before; result of repetition of a memory recall
Synaptic changes include reduction in the signal prompting requirement, and increase in neurotransmitter receptor sites
Prevention disrupts learning; boosting helps learning