Memory & The Human Lifespan Flashcards
Where are the cortical regions of the brain? (cortex?)
Higher and more outward parts of brain
What is the corpus callosum?
Connecting fibers between 2 hemispheres of the brain
What does the cortex control?
Higher brain functions
What are the 4 lobes of the cortex?
- Parietal
- Temporal
- Occipital
- Frontal
What 3 lobes analyze signals coming Into the brain?
- Parietal
- Temporal
- Occipital
What does the parietal lobe analyze?
Signals from seeing & touch
What does the temporal lobe analyze?
Signals from hearing
What does the occipital lobe analyze?
Signals from seeing
Where is the hippocampus located?
Medial temporal lobe
What does the hippocampus do?
Help form new memories
Where are the sub-cortical regions of the brain?
Lower more inward parts of the brain
What is episodic memory?
Memories of events from our own lives we remember as an episode we see playing
Episodic memory is sometimes also known by what name?
Autobiographical memory
Where is the cerebellum?
Back of the brain
What is semantic memory?
Facts learned in the past, the answer just seems to appear
What causes information to go from episodic memory to semantic memory?
Repeated exposure in different contexts
What is procedural memory?
Controls fine motor skills
What other name is procedural memory known by?
Muscle memory
What is sensory memory?
Fading copies of some stimulus
What is echoic memory?
Audio memory held onto for 3-5 seconds
Echoic memory is 1 type of _______memory.
Sensory
How does lack of sleep affect working memory?
Able to hold onto less things at one time
What is method of loci?
A way of learning something by associating with something already known, for example a morning routine.
What is the lesson of mnemonics?
It’s not enough to just listen, you need to encode information deeply.
What are 3 things to do while encoding to strengthen memory?
- Organization
- Association
- Dual coding
What is the dual coding hypothesis?
We will remember things better if we are able to store copies in different parts of the brain, for example by turning words into pictures and storing both.
How are mnemonic strategies & rote memorization almost opposite?
Mnemonic strategies require a lot of work up front, whereas rote memorization requires little effort at one time; but mnemonic strategies require less repetition to recall, while rote memorization requires a lot of repetition.
What happens if you hear the same claim over & over?
It becomes part of semantic memory & you forget where you learned it.
Why do politicians use the same talking points?
If people hear the same thing multiple times from multiple people, eventually it will make it into their semantic memory and they will believe it is fact even though they don’t remember who said it and it might not be true.
What are 3 reasons we forget?
- Failure to encode
- Interference theory - previous or subsequent experiences can interfere with the ability to remember another experience
- Retrieval failure - if we encode something but don’t review it, it becomes buried under so much new encoding that without some kind of retrieval cue we are unlikely to be able to retrieve it
