memory part 2 Flashcards
working memory
- limited capacity and duration
- incoming information is able to relate to prior knowledge and be manipulated
- where information enters consciousness and awareness
- critical for long term memory formation
working memory model
memory model made up of a bunch of different components linked together by a central executive
what are two effects that support the theory that deep encoding is more useful for memory?
self reference effect - tying ideas to ourselves tends to lead to better memory
generation effect - generating ideas actively (ex. generating words, filling in blanks, etc) leads to better memory
encoding specificity hypothesis
memory retrieval is better when there is overlap with encoding context - bc context can act as a retrieval cue
- context can be an internal state or an environment
evidence for state dependent learning
alcohol dependent learning
- tested peoples memory in four different encoding/retrieval conditions:
sober/sober, sober/drunk, drunk/sober, drunk/drunk
found that when people’s internal states in encoding and retrieval contexts matched, memory was better (sober/sober or drunk/drunk)
evidence for environment dependent learning
had deep sea divers encode/retrieve info in different contexts
on land/on land
underwater/underwater
on land/underwater
underwater/on land
found that recall was better when the environments matched
episodic memory: brain structures
hippocampus - children with hippocampal damage as evidence
tested them in copying images after a delay
- couldn’t do it - suggests that episodic memory is dependent on the hippocampus
they also still had normal factual knowledge suggesting that semantic memory was preserved
semantic dementia
dementia that targets areas that support semantic memory
- people with this form of demential tend to have impaired semantic memory - bad at word naming and picture matching tasks but are relatively spared at episode memory tasks
this suggests that episodic memory and semantic memory are different
what are the three types of consciousness in long term memory
anoetic consciousness:
implicit memory
no awareness or personal engagement
noetic consciousness:
semantic memory
awareness but no personal engagement
autonoetic consciousness:
episodic memory
awareness and personal engagment
‘mental time travel’
personal semantics
an intermediary between semantic and episodic memory
- contains autobiographical facts and repeated events
people with impaired episodic memory can often remember some personal semantics that are similar to episodic memory
neural bases of episodic and semantic memory: same or different?
a lot of neural overlap - led researchers to think that the two types of memory lie on a continuum rather than existing as two separate systems
the reappearance hypothesis
somewhat outdated memory hypothesis that proposes that an episodic memory trace is recalled the same way at each retrieval - reproduced, not reconstructed
theory is based on clinical observations that recurrent memories are unchanged from original events - cases like PTSD
although not the case for highly emotional memories = development of other theories
flashbulb memories
vivid memories of significant events that are:
- emotionally arousing or shocking
- linked to specific details about the time and place when you heard about the event
- more likely to have a flashbulb memory if you were close to the event
people tend to be very confident about the accuracy of flashbulb memories, even though research has shown that memory for flashbulb events is not any better than normal memory - change over time, get distorted, reconstructed, etc
memory consolidation
experiences are encoded and then consolidated into a long term memory trace - over time turns into a stable cortical representation
memory reconsolidation
when a trace representation becomes activated, it becomes de stable
cortical connections can be strengthened and modified during this time, which alters how the memory trace is reconsolidated
means that retrieval changes a memory traces
memory reconstruction
reconstructing memories at retrieval open them up to distortion
we infer the way things “must have been” in a recalled memory based on our schemas
leads us to add new and false information to the underlying memory trace
evidence for schemas and distorted memories
bartlett (1932) war of ghosts experiments
- ps reading an unfamiliar native American fold story that didn’t match western folk story structure changed the story to match western story schemas with repeated retrievals - remembered the story differently
semantic memory influence on episodic memory
participants tend to falsely remember semantically related lure words more than unrelated words
misattribution effect
retrieving familiar information from the wrong source - due to a failure in source monitoring (not remembering the where or when accurately)
the misinformation effect
leading questions can cause false memory formation - car crash experiment
wording affected speed estimates from ps viewing the same car crash video
“contacted” vs “smashed”
implanting memories
can also develop new fake memories
overnight hospital stay study
- ps recalled childhood experiences recounted by their parents over three experimental sessions - false memory added to the list (experimenters asked lots of questions abt this)
20% of people had a false memory of this event by the end of the third session
virtues of reconstructive memory
the same processes that help us construct the past help us imagine the future and plan for our lives - processes of the hippocampal episodic memory system
