Memory notecards Flashcards
What makes up a memory:
- multidimensional analysis
- visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, somatic, temporal, emotional, etc
Memory as Process:
starts with encoding/learning of info → storage and maintenance of info → retrieval of info
Memory as Storehouse:
- memory is the place where representations are stored
- not only in the brain, but in conceptual terms
- where we “look” for specific memories
Primary/ short-term memory:
the capacity to store a small amount of information in the mind and keep it readily available for a short period of time
Secondary/long term memory:
the memory process in the brain that takes information from the short-term memory store and creates long lasting memories.
Broadbent’s model
- proposed three main structures
- S-system: sensory info
- P-system; conciousness, limited capacity
- Secondary memory: everything else
- sensory info→s-system→filter →p-system→← secondary memory
stimuli are filtered, or selected to be attended to, at an early stage during processing. A filter can be regarded as the selector of relevant information based on basic features, such as color, pitch, or direction of stimuli.
Important Features of memory (broadbent)
- duel-component view of memory
- limited capacity in short term memory
- info rapidly lost from limited capacity component
- needed to maintain info via rehearsal
- unlimited capacity long-term memory
Capacity limit/span: short term memory
memory span: number of items we can recite back perfectly without error
-4-7 items
Chunking
puts little info bits into big bits and makes it meaningful chunks which helps with memorization and retaining of info
How quickly is info lost from STM after being moved by incoming info?:
- Results: as time increases → performance of recall drops
- duration of STM: is 18-20 seconds
Structural vs. processing components
- Structural components; sensory stores, STM, LTM, none of these changes
- Processing components: control processes that operate on STM
- change depending on task requirements
- rehearsal vs retrieval
Controlled processes in STM
- maintains info in the STM
- rehersal is the main one to try to hold onto in memory → the longer it is kept in your STM → the better you can place it into the LTM
- the longer in STM, the more transfer to LTM
STM
limited capacity store, short duration, 4-7 items can be held, if a item is kicked out it can last between 18-20 seconds, new info bumps out older info, need to reherse items in STM to transfer info to LTM
LTM
unlimited capacity store, durable, includes all memories: knowledge, personal info etc, info never bumped out, info forgotten via interference or search failures, info needs to be retrieved from LTM back into STM for report
Free recall
you’re free to recall in whatever order you want
- series of stimuli
- written or vocal recall
- scored as correct if correct item is recalled regardless of position
- unlike serial recall where correct only if in correct position
Serial position functions:
primacy effect where poeple are really good at remebering the first items presented and well as a recency effect as well, where middle items are not so good
Model Modal account
-sensory input -> attention -> sensory memory -> STM(rehearsal) -> encoding -> LTM
- accounts for both primacy and recency effects
Modal model account of primacy
- primacy effect due to the fact that the first few items get more rehersals than other items
- more rehearsals before bumped out of STM
- leads to better transfer to LTM
- Results: first item gets rehersed the most and then gets transfered to LTM
Modal model account of primacy
- primacy effect due to the fact that the first few items get more rehersals than other items
- more rehearsals before bumped out of STM
- leads to better transfer to LTM
- Results: first item gets rehersed the most and then gets transfered to LTM
Modal model account of recency
- recency effect fure to the fact that items presented at the end of the list are still in the STM at the time of recall
- leads to nearly perfect recall of these items
- this predicts that the last items presented should be the first recalled
- backward first and then foward
- people recall the last item first and then the second to last items
Long term recency
the end-of-list distractor task displaces items from the postulated short-term store, thereby ensuring that all items are retrieved from long-term memory
Amnesia:
- immediate memory is intact
- impairment occurs against a background of intact perceptual and intellectual functioning
Anterograde
inability to learn new info from brain trauma (future memories)
Retrograde
inability to remember info learned prior to brain trauma (past memories)
HM
had severe epilepsy
- hippocampus missing
- surrounding cortex is gone
- amygala gone
-HM had profound Anterograde Amnesia
What was okay with hm
- normal perception
- normal speech, language perception
- above average intelligent
- immediate memory
- normal digit span
- can carry on a conversation
working memory
need for things like learning, reasoning and reading/language comprehension
Working memory system:
- the system for temporary maintenance and manipulation of info, which is necessary for the performance on complex cognitive activities
- is used to put info into long term memory
Storage systems
2 storage systems
- a central executive to determine what info goes where (visual)
- phonological loop for auditory
Duel-task stuides:
- perform a primary task while simultaneously performing a secondary task which is presumed to take up stm capacity
- memorize 7 numbers → performs a reasoning task
- results: as we increase the number of diget there is an increase on time, but there is no effect on errors
- this study tells uus that system responsible for rehearsal cant be the same as the system responsible for learning/reasoning
phonological loop:
has two componenets
phonological store
holds a small amount of speech based info
Articulatory control process
- based on inner speech which then loops the information through the phonological store
- also recodes visual information and recodes it into your store
- auditory information automatically gets into this phonological loop
Evidence for phonological loop: phonological similarity effect
info that sounds the same is harder to remember than words that sound different
- phonological representations interfear with one another
Evidence for phonological loop:irrelevant speech effect:
someone talking in the background will get into the store
-unattended phonological materal can gain access ot the phonological store
Evidence for phonological loop: word-length effect
if you are asked to remember a list of long list of words it is harder than short effect
span for short words is greater than span for long words
Articulatory suppression
the process of inhibiting memory performance by speaking while being presented with an item to remember.
Phonological loops and why we have them:
- learning to read
- children with impaired memory have a reduced memory spans and have difficulty in task which require manipulation fo phonological info
- language comprehension
- TM patient: has some difficulty in comprehending complex sentences
- vocabulary acquisition
- correlation between non-word application and vocab size
STORAGE SYSTEM TWO: Visuo-spacial sketchpad
- stores and manipulates visual spacial info
- needed when info cant be recoded int phonological representation
- mental rotation
- other visual spatial info interfears with it
- verbal info does not
-verbal is faster
- verbal info does not
Central Executive
- model suggests CE coordinates the activity of the two storage systems
- other potential roles for the CE includes coordinating retrieval strats, selective attention, temporary activation of long term memory, suppression of habitual response
- thought to be associates with the frontal lobes
- least studies and understood component
Episodic buffer:
- a limited capacity temporary storage system that is capable of integrating into a variety of sources
- controlled by central executive
- feeds info into and retrieves info from LTS
- uses a common multidimensional codes
- this makes the link between working memory and LTM more explicit
Function of PFC
- the prefrontal cortex seems to be important in maintaining task relevant info over the short term
- may be particularly important to maintaining info in the presence of potent distraction and interference
- delayed response task
Functions of the prefrontal cortex with monkeys
- moneys trained over trials to perform delayed response tas k
- monkeys are lesioned in the pfc
- monkeys with pfc-lessions show decreased performance
- suggest that the pfc is involved in working memory
- after removing the prefrontal cortex to maintain info in working memory
- monkeys nuerons are holding the information, the bettwe the nuerons fire the more likely the monkeys will be about to find the food
How distraction influences the monkeys:
- monkeys with intact cortex will grab food, but monkeys without the prefrontal cortex got distracted and didnt know where the
- with turning off the light, both monkeys are good at the tasks
