Memory (Module 3 Ch 7) Flashcards
Memorize by 10/29
Memory
The ability to take in, solidify, store, and use information
What are the 3 steps of forming memory?
Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval
Encoding
Taking external stimuli and turning it into internal memory
Engram
The mythical place in your brain where each memory is located (does not exist)
Automatic vs Effortful Processing
Encoding info with little effort or conscious attention to the task vs Encoding with careful attention and effort
Storage
Takes the encoding and puts it on hold until you’re ready to use that info again
Hierarchies
Organizing related things from their most specific features to their most general ones
Retrieval
Bringing something from your memory to your current mind for use
What are the 4 different levels of processing?
Structural, Phonemic, Semantic, and Organizational
Structural Processing
Focused on the visual components of information (occipital lobe)
Weakest kind of processing
Phonemic Processing
Focused on the sounds of a memory (temporal lobe)
Semantic Processing
Focused on the meaning of the information (frontal lobe)
Organizational Processing
Fitting new information with info that’s already in your brain (frontal lobe)
Craik & Tilving Study
Went through a list of words and asked either “Is it capitalized?”, “Does it have the “th” sound in it?”, or “Is this thing alive?”
Demonstrated that semantic processing is the most effective way to memorize
What are the 9 different ways of improving encoding?
Encoding Specificity Principle, Elaboration, Dual-Coding Theory, Self-Referent Encoding, Motivation to Remember, Pegwords, Method of Loci, Chunking, and Spacing Effect
Encoding Specificity Principle
It’s best to encode info using the same type of processing that you’ll use to retrieve it
Ex: if you’ll retrieve it visually, it’s best to use structural
Elaboration
Adding info to the stimuli that you want to encode, giving you more info to pull from in your memory
Dual-Coding Theory
It’s best to encode info using multiple levels of processing or sensory information
Self-Referent Encoding
It’s easier to remember information that’s related to ourselves
Cocktail Party Phenomenon
Even in a loud environment, we’re always looking out for our names
Demonstrates self-referent encoding
Motivation to Remember
You’re more likely to remember something if you’re worried about remembering it
Pegwords
Creating a rhyming word so that it’s easier to remember the info
Mnemonic Device
A scheme that helps us remember info, such as rhyming, chunking, and acronyms
Method of Loci
Take an environment that you know really well; create a mental path through that place; along the path, place items or memories that you need to recall
Chunking
Breaking down or sorting lists of information into sets of info with more meaning
Spacing/Testing Effect
If you space out your encoding and test between those spaces, it’ll lead to better memory
What are the 3 different kinds of memory in the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model?
Sensory, Short-term, and Long-term
Sensory Memory
Holds info for an extremely short period of time, but has a fairly large capacity (as shown by Sperling study)
Short Term Memory
Lasts longer than sensory memory, but still only a short duration
Also has a small capacity
Miller 7 +/- 2 Rule
Most people can store between 5 and 9 pieces of information within their short term memory
Long Term Memory
Long duration and large capacity
Procedural Memory
Long-term muscle memory
Your memory for actions, including automatic processes like walking
Declarative Memory
Long-term memory of factual information, including semantic and episodic
Semantic vs Episodic Memory
Memory for raw facts like trivia vs Memory for events that you’ve experienced
Autobiographical Memory
Memory that has to do with you, including things you’ve experienced (episodic) and facts about yourself (semantic)
HSAM
People with extremely superior episodic memory
Prospective Memory
Remembering to do something in the future
Human are TERRIBLE at this
Retrospective Memory
Remembering things that have happened in the past
Vast majority of memories
Flashbulb Memory
A vivid recollection of what you were doing when you first heard about a major or emotionally charged event (ex: 9/11)
Working Memory
Concept coined by Alan Baddeley
Keeping information in short term memory
AKA Maintenance Rehearsal
Elaborative Rehearsal
Elaborating on information by either connecting it to previous knowledge (like organizational processing) or adding new info to it (like elaboration)
Rehearsal
Repeatedly practicing material or information, so that it can be consolidated and enter into long-term memory
What are the 4 parts of working memory?
Visuospatial Sketchpad, Phonological Loop, Central Executive, and Episodic Buffer
Visuospatial Sketchpad vs Phonological Loop
Related to visual and spatial info vs Related to auditory or language info
Episodic Buffer
Keeping things in sequence or chronological order (ex: directions + numbers)
Also deals with specific events or experiences
Central Executive
The boss of working memory
Decides where to allocate resources and attention (either visual or sound)
What are the benefits to having higher working memory?
Better logic, problem-solving skills, and/or intelligence
Consolidation
Turning short term memory into long term memory
The process between encoding and storage
What two things are essential to proper consolidation?
The hippocampus
REM sleep
Reconsolidation
When memory moves from short term to long term several times (consciously recalling info then putting it back into subconscious long term memory), it’s open to change
Long-term Potentiation and Cell Assemblies
When neurons repeatedly fire and excite other neurons in the area (continuous stimulation), they begin to form a network/cluster of neurons that will fire together
These long term bonds are consolidated into memory
Implicit vs Explicit (Long-Term) Memory
Not actively searching for information but still accessing it
(Ex: automatic processes like walking; random memories popping into your head)
VS
Actively searching for or trying to recall a memory
What structures are important to implicit memory? Explicit memory?
Implicit = Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia
Explicit = Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex
State Dependent Retrieval
It’s easier to retrieve info or memories that match your current emotional state
Ex: if someone is annoying you, you think about other times in which they annoyed you
Associative Networks
Activation of one piece of info (or node) leads to the activation of closely related nodes
Schemas
Clusters of knowledge about an object, event, or experience
Built from experience
Fills in blanks in your memory
Priming
Retrieval is improved by prior exposure to the same or similar stimuli
What are 3 ways of testing memory?
Recall: w/o specific cues (ex: essay exam)
Recognition: w/ cues that guide you to specific memories (ex: multiple choice)
Relearning: usually for skills rather than info
Retrograde Amnesia
Forgetting everything prior to the event that caused amnesia (problem with retrieval)
Anterograde Amnesia
Forgetting everything new that happens after the event that caused amnesia
Unable to make new memories (problem with consolidation)
Processing Errors
Errors in cognition that occur when creating a memory, leading to inaccurate memories
Ineffective Encoding
If you fail to encode something correctly, you won’t have accurate memory
Includes anterograde amnesia
Serial Positioning Effect
More likely to remember items that are at the beginning (primacy) or end (recency) of a list
What was the Simons & Chabris study?
Someone in a gorilla costume danced in the middle of a group of people playing basketball, then walked out
A lot of people didn’t notice the gorilla because they were too focused on the basketball players
Selective Attention
We can only remember information that we pay attention to (proven by the Simons & Chabris study)
Who were Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton?
Jenn identified Ronald as her rapist and he was convicted to 16 years of prison. He was eventually found not guilty after a DNA test
Bias
We remember information that fits with our expectations, while forgetting information that disagrees with us
Own Race Bias
People are better at picking out facial details of people of their own race than the faces of other races
Demonstrated by the Thompson & Cotton case
Source Monitoring
Remembering where you hear information from
Cryptoamnesia (aka accidental plagiarism)
When you can’t remember the source of your information, so you assume it was your own original thought
Tip-of-the-Tongue
When you know that you know a piece of information, but you can’t recall it in that instance
Decay (aka Transience)
Information fades away across time if you don’t use it
“Hebb’s Law” = use it or lose it
If cell assemblies are not stimulated repeatedly, they lose their connections
Retrieval Failure
Memory is effectively encoded and consolidated, but you fail to retrieve it
Includes tip-of-the-tongue
Interference
You can’t recall information because some other piece of info is getting in the way
Proactive vs Retroactive Interference
Original info interferes with ability to recall new info
VS
New info interferes with ability to recall old info
Repression
The unconscious act of keeping threatening thoughts, feelings, or impulses out of consciousness
Forgetting Curve
With each passing day, we remember less, but the rate of decline slows
Absent-mindedness
A form of forgetfulness that results from not paying attention or dividing our attention
Recovered Memory
Memory of an event that was encoded and stored, but not retrieved or made conscious for a long period of time
Suggestibility
Changing memory based off of external information
Ex: what other people tell you happened influences how you remember the situation
Persistence
Excessively recalling (and thus reconsolidating) a memory makes it more susceptible to changes
Ex: this occurs in PTSD
False Memories
Memories for events that never happened, but were suggested by someone
Developing a memory based off false information
Misinformation Effect
When false or misleading information that was learned after the original event gets incorporated into the memory as true
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Using a weak electrical charge to stimulate specific areas of the brain, enhancing memory and learning
