Memory part 1 Flashcards
Clive Wearing’s _______ memory was impaired but other types of memory intact
Episodic
Clive Wearing symptoms
- Memory that lasts only a few seconds
- Deficit in forming new episodic memories
Three stages of memory
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
Encoding
Learning new information; forming a new “memory trace”
Pattern separation during encoding
The new memory trace is a distinct representation of an event that does not overlap with other memories
Storage
- Maintaining a neural code encoded as a memory trace
- Stabilizing the memory trace or pattern in our brain
Retrieval
Activating a memory trace via a cue (probe for that memory) for a purpose
We store different _______ that represent a memory in our brain
Patterns
Encoding in terms of patterns
You need to store the memory by breaking it apart to form separate patterns that will be used to form a memory trace/single pattern
Storing in terms of patterns
Details of the memory (patterns) are stored all across the brain
Retrieval in terms of patterns
One of the units of the pattern will trigger you to remember the full memory : complete the full pattern
Remembering different aspects of a memory engages different …
brain parts
The _______ glues together all the components of a memory as a pattern
Hippocampus
Encoding in terms of brain activity
A memory trace is formed as a hippocampal-cortical activity pattern
Retrieval in terms of brain activity
When a cue triggers pattern completion of the brain pattern
Consolidation
- When a memory is transformed into a stable cortical pattern
- Independent of the hippocampus over time
Memories get transformed into a stable pattern in the _______
Cortex
Consolidation in the cortex is why someone with _______ memory loss can still remember facts
Hippocampus
Information in the sensory memory lasts for …
just seconds
f you rehearse information from the sensory memory, it gets transferred to …
short-term memory
If you rehearse information from the short-term memory, it gets into …
Long-term memory
When we retrieve a memory, a cue in our _______ memory store helps us access that memory
Short term
2 types of long term memory
- Implicit (subconscious, primed)
- Explicit (semantic memory)
Short term memory includes _______ control
Attentional
Sensory memory
Automatic reflections of a sense, information in its most unprocessed form
Sensory memory storages
- Gustatory memory
- Olfactory memory
- Echoic memory
4.Haptic memory - Iconic memory
Echoic memory
Sound-byte held for ~ 3 seconds, important tp quickly distinguish between speakers and follow a conversation
Haptic memory
Very brief memory of a touch, about 2 seconds.
Iconic memory
Millisecond visual memory, very short
* ‘Persistence of vision’ : when there is an afterimage (image persists after whatever you perceived is gone)
Positive afterimage
- A visual memory that represents the perceived image in the same colors
- Helpful for seeing things smoothly
Why do we see movies smoothly ?
We see 75 frames/second while movies are 24 frames/second
However, the afterimage is filling in gaps
Negative afterimage
A visual memory is the (color) inverse of the perceived image
* Slightly longer than positive afterimage (few seconds), more reliant on visual processing system (You overstimulate photoreceptors leading to opposite color representation in sensory memory)
What were the results of this study ?
* Sperling (1960) study
Participants briefly (.05 seconds) viewed a visual display (3*4 letters)
* Recalled the letter
Whole report: participants reported letters from the whole display after seeing it for .05 seconds
Partial report: participants saw same display for .05 seconds, and heard a random beep that told them to report only one row of letters at a time over 3 different trials
Whole report : people remembered 4-5 items
Partial report : people remembered more when we sum up across the 3 conditions
Delay effect :
- When you put a delay between beep and display, sensory memory gets worse
Sensory memory can hold lot of information for only less than a second
Short term memory is stored in the …
Prefrontal cortex
How long does short term memory last ?
~ 20 to 30 seconds
How many items can be stored in short term memory ?
7+-2
Serial position effects
- Primacy effects
First items in a list are better remembered - Recency effects
Last items of a list are better remembered
Why does a delay of more than 30 seconds makes the recency effects disappear ?
The recency effect depends entirely on short term memory.
The primacy effect depends on long term memory (first in a list= more reharsal = transferred to long term memory)
Overcoming short term memory limits : Chunking strategy
Grouping items together in a meaningful way so they become units
the more you ____ about the thing you want to encode in short term memory, the more effective the chunking strategy
Know
Chunking strategy : chess example
When chess pieces are placed in a game position on a board : expert chess players recall more pieces on a chess board than new chess players
* This effect is not present if the pieces are on the board randomly
* Experts use knowledge of game moves to ‘chunk’ pieces together
Work memory
Retention and manipulation of information that is not in our environment, in the short term
- Essential for many cognitive functions (language, learning, planning, reasoning)
4 components of work memory
- Phonological loop
- Central executive
- Visuospatial sketchpad
- Episodic buffer
Central executive
Conscious awareness of information, lets us manipulate information
Phonological loop
-
Phonological store: Passive store for verbal information
- “The inner ear” -
Articulatory control loop: Active rehearsal of verbal information
* “The inner voice”
* used for reading (from writing to sound)
Visuospatial sketchpad
- We store verbal versus visual information separately in the brain
1. The visual cache - Information about visual features (color, form)
2. The inner scribe - Information about spatial location, movement and sequences
Neuroimaging evidence for separate short term memory stores
Different areas of the brain are active for visual and verbal working memory tasks
People with strong sketchpad abilities could be better at tasks that require…
Mental imagery
Double dissociation in neuropsychological cases : evidence for separate short term memory stores
- Patient ELD has problems recalling visual-spatial but not verbal material in the short term
- Patient PV has problems recalling verbal but not visual material in the short term
People with strong phonological abilities could be better at tasks that require…
Remembering sequences, music
Episodic buffer
- Integrates information from short- and long-term memory (different storehouses)
- Integrates information from phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
Retention interval
Time for short term stores to get transferred to long term memory, making it ready for retrieval
- Where the memory gets stabilized
Ebbinghaus memory curve
Learned nonsense CVC syllables, tested memory at various intervals, and examined what was retained (forgotten)
Result :
The forgetting curve is exponential
* Rate of memory loss is largest early on and slows down
The spacing effect
Forgetting is reduced when learning is spread over time
Active rehearsal and the testing effect
Participants studied a text passage
- A group studied more; another took a practice test
* Both groups took final test
Results : students that studied text more recalled far fewer facts than those that tested themselves
The strength of a memory (and potential for forgetting) depends on processes engaged at ________
Encoding
Levels of processing theory
Shallow: Focus on sensory information
* Deep: integrate higher-level knowledge (things we know) with learned information; more complex memory trace
What were the results of this study on recalling memorized adjectives ?
4 conditions
1. Structural condition: asked to judge whether the adjective words were in upper or lower case
2. Phonemic : think of the sounds
3. Semantic condition : asked if the adjective was a synonym of another word
4. Self reference condition : asked if those adjectives describe themselves or not.
When asked to recall adjectives later on, people that encoded them with self-reference remembered them way more.
- Memory is better when we process information in relation to the self
Generation effect (active rehearsal)
- Read pairs of words: king – crown; horse - saddle
- Generate the word: K___g – crown; H___e-saddle
Condition 2 led to better memory than the first (Norman et al., 1978)
- Actively generating or filing in the blanks makes you remember better.
Method of Loci and Memory Palace
Choose a familiar location
* Imagine yourself moving through the space
* Associate items you want to remember within places in the space
* Creating a “map” of new information
_______ information is stored a bit stronger in memory
Emotional
