memory part 1 lecture Flashcards
encoding
creating separate memory traces to represent experiences
storage
retaining encoded memory traces
retrieval
a memory is recovered when a cue activates part of a stored memory trace
brain structures - memory
hippocampus encodes cortical pattern of activity corresponding to a memory - over time, pattern becomes independent of hippocampus and turns into a stable cortical pattern
when a cue pops up that triggers the memory, pattern completion is triggered
what are the three types of sensory memory
iconic: millisecond visual memory - ‘persistence of vision’
echoic: sound memory - sound bytes held for about 3 second
haptic memory - brief touch memory
what are the two types of long term memory
implicit: non declarative, non conscious
explicit: declarative, conscious memory
what are the two types of implicit memory
procedural and priming
what are the two types of explicit memory
episodic and semantic
what are the two types of iconic memory
afterimages:
positive afterimage
- visual memory that represents the perceived image
negative afterimage
- visual memory that is the inverse of the perceived image
what area of the brain corresponds to short term memory
prefrontal cortex
capacity and duration of short term memory
magical number seven plus or minus two
20 to 30 seconds time capacity
primacy effects
we remember the first things in a list better - because they get rehearsed more so end up in long term memory
recency effects
we also have better memory for the last things in a list
not due to long term memory - can tell because is the study recall duration is longer than 30seconds the effect is eliminated
chunking
grouping items together in a meaningful way so more information can be represented at one time
increases with knowledge
evidence for separate short term memory stores
neuroimaging studies
- different areas of the brain are active for visual and verbal short term memory tasks
double dissociation in neuropsychological cases
- ex. patient eld has problems recalling visual spatial but not verbal material in the short term
(can be vice versa for other patients)
phonological store
passive store for verbal information (“the inner ear”)
articulatory control loop
active rehearsal of verbal information
- “the inner voice”
- used to convert written material into sounds (reading) - specialized role in language
what are the two elements of the phonological loop
phonological store and articulatory control loop
what are the two elements of the visuospatial sketchpad
the visual cache - information about visual features
the inner scribe
- information about spatial location, movement and sequences
episodic buffer
additional element of the working memory that integrates information from short and long term memory
Hermann Ebbinghaus
tested how encoded nonsense syllables were retained and forgotten from memory over time - on himself! created the forgetting curve
the forgetting curve
forgetting is exponential - memory loss is largest early on and slows down
the spacing effect
memory is better when the same amount of learning is spread out over time - and if it alternates in type and duration
what are the two theories of forgetting
decay theory (forgetting from time) and interference theory (forgetting from interfering information)
what are the two types of interference identified by interference theory
retroactive interference - newly learned information interferes with old information - ex. trouble remembering you old phone number after you’ve gotten a new one
proactive interference - previously learned material interferes with new information - ex. trouble learning a new phone number because you keep thinking of your old phone number
what determines the strength of a memory
the depth of processing - memories can be processed at different levels
shallow - focus on sensory information
deep - integrate higher level knowledge = best memory retention
deep and shallow encoding of faces
memory test:
had people look at faces and identify:
upright/inverted (shallow processing)
or
actor/politician (deep processing)
then tested memory for faces
- memory was better in the deep processing condition
mnemonics
organizational strategies that help encode to be remembered information
often involves chunking
examples:
naming mnemonic - BEDMAS
story mnemonic
method of loci - associate pieces of information with a location of a visual image
method of loci in non experts
three groups
- mnemonic (loci)
- active control
- passive control
found that people in the mnemonic training had better memory after 20 minutes, 24 hours, and 4 months
