Memory- capturing the moment Flashcards
Episodic vs semantic memory
Semantic memory: context-independent fact
Episodic memory: unique event + context
What is an episodic memory made up of?
- Details about an event eg. who was there
- Contextual information: time + location, what we were thinking
- Relations (associations) of details: people + time + location
- A one-shot memory
- When these details come to mind we often have a sense of “reliving the past” = recollection
(And an event is made up of parts. In memory theory these are thought of either in terms of associations – bindings between elements of events – or in terms of items plus context. This means that if we recall part of an event we also recall the surrounding information –it’s fundamental that events have a where and a when)
Episodic memory in the lab: study phase vs test phase
Study phase: encoding (forming new memories) new ‘events’
Mini-’events’ are often as simple as an item with some kind of context, here it’s where on the screen and what colour. It’s also implicit that when memory is tested in the lab, the events in question occurred IN THIS EXPT. This too is context that is part of the memories.
Test phase: retrieving these ‘events’
Between stages there is some interval which may be long or short, but in which people are prevented from rehearsing the new information in WM.
Eg.
1) Study phase- object in a particular location and colour
2) Test phase- recognise if they have seen it before and asked where it was and what colour it was
Name the stages of memory
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
What does dividing attention during encoding cause?
Dividing attention during encoding markedly impairs memory
ie. if you do something else at the same time you will not learn much!
In the brain: attention and memory
Example of study vs test phase
Study phase: new mini events encoded eg. attend to location on others, attend to colour on some trials
Test phase: retrieved again eg. what colour?, what location?
The hippocampus:
1- what scanning is used?
2- what did attention boost?
3- when is the hippocampus activated more?
1- fMRI scanning when attending to colour or location
2- attention boosted source memory for the attended feature
3- hippocampus activated more when people encoded the attended features
The hippocampus:
1- what is it essential for?
2- known from?
3- what does it suggest about attention?
1- hippocampus essential for binding items with context to create memories
2- known from effects of amnesia (H.M)
3- Further suggests attention may modify input to hippocampus
What did the study by Uncapher & Rugg (2009) test and show?
fMRI study looking at attention effects. People on different trials been told to attend to colour sometimes to location. The brain imaging showed hippocampus only involved in encoding of attended features, whichever they were.
- what is attention import for?
- what might attention boost?
- encoding new memories
- inputs to the hippocampus
1- what is easier to remember: pictures or words?
2- what is also easier to remember?
1- Pictures often easier to remember than words (picture superiority effect)
2- Mentally imageable words and concrete words (words that refer to objects) are also easier to remember
Explain Paivio’s (1971) Dual Code Theory + limitation
Paivio’s (1971) Dual Code Theory – an image plus a verbal code (word) produces a richer memory trace (is therefore easier to remember than just verbal information)
But this theory ONLY explains the picture superiority effect (and did not predict it)
What is distinctiveness theory?
An item that pops out is going to be better remembered
What is the Von Restorff (1933) (isolation) effect?
A memory boost from processing difference in the context of similarity (Hunt 2013)
Distinctiveness and picture superiority:
What did Ensor, Suprenant & Neath (2019) do?
Abolished the picture superiority effect by making the words more distinctive using colour & fonts
Better memory for the items that were visually distinctive and colourful
Supporting the idea of superiority effects
Predictors of Memorability:
1- what made data visualisations memorable?
2- what did not do as well?
3- what is more memorable?
1- objects, colour and complexity made data visualisations memorable
2- scientific figures did not do as well as infographics
3- varying contexts: distinctive images more memorable
When are images more memorable?
Images are more memorable with people compared to natural scenes.
Images are less memorable where their concepts share more features with other concepts
Naspi et al. (2021)
What study technique was used in Naspi et al. (2021)
Model based metrics derived from feature models of semantic memory
What info is more memorable?
- Pictures and imageable verbal material
- Colourful and complex images
Distinctiveness is important
What was found when people were asked to re-draw “droodles”?
Free recall much better once the ‘story’ was known
Understanding assumed to reflect prior knowledge schemes
What did van Kesteren, Rijpkema et al. (2013) find when studying new facts within degree courses either studying facts related (existing schema) to previous year’s content or unrelated (no schema) to previous year’s content?
Memory better for course-related (schema) information 24 hours later
Van Kesteren, Rijpkema (2014) conducted an fMRI while encoding new facts, what brain regions where associated with schema-related facts?
- Activated the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) more
- Activated the medial temporal lobe (MTL) less (includes hippocampus)
- Medial PFC schema-related activation predicted Y2 course performance
In sum: mPFC= schema- unrelated, MTL= schema-related
Schema unrelated facts activated the hippocampus
Prediction error/ distinctiveness effect and schema effect
Prediction error/ distinctiveness effect – unexpected objects also better remembered than neutral
Schema effect – expected objects better remembered than neutral objects
Incoming info that relates to prior knowledge is ___________?
Better encoded
The baker baker paradox
- what is it?
- limitation
People remember more words associated with faces when these words refer to an occupation (baker) rather than to a proper name
Eg. if told someone was called baker might not remember but if you knew that was her job, you have a story and meaning so you perform better. Therefore processing for meaning often helps memory encoding.
BUT idea of ‘depth’ doesn’t tell us why or when this semantic processing will help
‘Depth’ of processing in the brain
- what brain region is activated by semantic vs. phonological processing?
- when is it also activated?
Wagner et al. (1998) and Kim (2011) meta-analysis
Brain regions like ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (A: VLPFC) are activated by semantic vs. phonological processing
Also activated when words are successfully encoded into memory
Elaboration as a processing strategy
1- what involves relating new material to your prior knowledge?
2- what does elaboration involve?
3- what boosts memory?
4- important to?
5- what are semantic encoding tasks like?
1- Any semantic processing
2- But elaboration means going further and may capitalise on other distinctive processing as well as meaning
3- Meaningful mental imagery linking unrelated pieces of information boosts memory (Reed, 1918)
4- Important to relate new to known material!
5- Effective semantic encoding tasks range from naming, through category decisions like living/ non-living, to subjective evaluations like pleasantness
What is semantic elaboration?
The processing that goes beyond simple recognition of something
- what is the bigger picture from Levels of processing?
- what does this have implications for?
- memory encoding is a by product of ongoing processing
- This has implications for active learning
What can the PFC impair?
Memory control
What is the role of Dorsolateral PFC and Ventrolateral PFC?
Dorsolateral PFC: organisation in encoding (and executive functions like information updating)
Ventrolateral PFC: semantic (‘deep’) encoding (and semantic control)
What did dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) during encoding predict later?
Semantic clustering, i.e. recall organised by meaning
The hippocampus was also more activated
Organisational memory and what did Long et al show?
Organisational memory- grouping a list of words
(this can boost memory later)
Long et al showed this in an fMRI study where they asked people to recall lists of words later, and engaging their DLPFC in the study phase helped them to do this. It also boosted the hippocampus activation.
Degrees to which people did this - predicted how people organised their information later
Distinctive processing
Carr, Engel, Knowlton (2013; see Hunt, 2013)
- what did the study involve?
- what was found?
fMRI study
Faces were more likely to be recollected if people judged their distinctiveness (taxi driver)
Compare with judging similarity (casting director)
When encoding memories, this processing for distinctiveness boosted activation of the hippocampus
As well as memorability of the material, what else is critical for forming new memories?
The way we actively process information is critical (e.g. elaboration, distinctiveness, organisation)
This involves many cortical brain regions including prefrontal cortex – as well as the hippocampus
How can we capture the moment?
‘Trying to remember’ doesn’t always help
But these active learning strategies can:
- Attending to what you want to remember
- Using mental imagery
- Processing actively for meaning
- Processing material so it is more distinctive
- Organising material mentally
An early brain imaging study showed that performing a difficult secondary task led to reduced prefrontal cortex activity during memory encoding (Shallice et al., 1994)
What is the main role of the hippocampus in episodic memory encoding?
- Binding items to context
- Associating items (or features) with each other
Give two ways that people can boost their hippocampus’ activity and therefore help to encode new information
- Attention/ paying attention
- Distinctiveness/ processing for distinctiveness
- Semantic organisation/ Organising the material by meaning
