Memory II Class Notes

Question 1

Short-term memory:

Answer 1

a storage capacity just after sensory memory

•Short duration: seconds to minutes

Question 2

Short-term memory Limited capacity:

Answer 2

7 ± 2 items – Miller’s digit test

Question 3

Working memory has many definitions, but all will involve…

Answer 3

the ongoing maintenance of information

Question 4

Working memory example

Answer 4

a group of components that hold in mind a limited amount of information
temporarily in a heightened state of availability for use in ongoing information
processing

Question 5

Testing STM / WM:

Answer 5

Forward span test: repeat back 5 7 9 4 2 6 (STM)

Backward span test: repeat that list backwards (WM)

Question 6

Neural basis of working memory

Question 7

Deficits of STM/WM

Answer 7

Usually tied to information-processing system

Question 8

Episodic memory (Tulving, 1972):

Answer 8

Contains information specific to the time and place of acquisition

Long term memory

Question 9

Semantic memory (Tulving, 1972):

Answer 9

Facts we know about the world without contextual information

Long term memory

Question 10

Neural basis of encoding

Subsequent memory effect:

Answer 10

items that are remembered during recall are associated with more activity at encoding

Question 11

With Subsequent memory effect ___ is involved in successful encoding

Answer 11

Medial temporal lobe (MTL)

Question 12

Remember/know paradigm

Answer 12

Test whether someone has an episodic memory or general ‘feelings of familiarity (or semantic memory) for some information
•“I remember when” vs. “I know that”:
•Remember – can remember personal episode related to the subject
•Know – have knowledge of what subject is but no specific episodes

Question 13

Recollection vs familiarity

Answer 13

Is this something you can recall the moment when you first saw it, or you just
have a sense that it was previously presented?
•Increased activity seen in hippocampus for something that was recollected, but not something that was deemed familiar

Question 14

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 14

unable to remember before the injury

Question 15

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 15

a person is unable to create new memories after an amnesia-inducing event.

Question 16

Consolidation hypothesis (Squire):

Answer 16

•When just encoded, memories are dependent on the hippocampus for retrieval
•After a while, they become ‘consolidated’ or independent of the MTL, instead
dependent on cortex
•This explains commonly observed temporal gradients: information not yet
consolidated cannot be retrieved once the hippocampus is damaged

Question 17

Multiple trace theory / Transformation hypothesis (Nadel and Moscovitch):

Answer 17

• Hippocampus important in the retrieval of truly episodic memories
• Explains flat retrograde amnesia

Question 18

How can Multiple trace theory/Transformation hypothesis explain commonly observed temporal gradient?

Answer 18

Older episodic memories become ‘semanticized’ and no longer need the
hippocampus for retrieval

Question 19

Memory can be divided according to the (3)

Answer 19

length of time post-acquisition
the ability to declare the knowledge
the content of learning

Question 20

Short-term and working memory rely on __ and ___ regions for
manipulation and maintenance

Answer 20

frontal

parietal

Question 21

The ___ is important for various aspects of long-term memory encoding and retrieval

Answer 21

medial temporal lobe

Question 22

Theories differ as to the role of the ___ in episodic memory formation and maintenance

Answer 22

hippocampus