Midterm 2 Flashcards
Memory processing stages
Encoding, storage, retrieval
Encoding
Short term transduction of a physical stimulus into a neural code. It may be a structural change in the brain that encodes a fact or an event about the world
Storage
Retains encoded memory traces that ended up there through the process of consolidation
Retrieval
Recovery of a memory through an activation of a stored memory trace by some kind of cue
What happens if Encoding, Storage or Retrieval doesn’t work?
Memory cannot function
Capacity
Amount of information a memory system can hold
Duration
How long information remains in memory
Encoding, neural basis
A memory trace is formed as a hippocampal-cortical activity pattern
Storage, neural basis
Via consolidation, a memory is transformed into stable cortical pattern
Modal model of memory
Proposed that there are three distinct memory stores: Sensory memory, Short-term and Long-term memories
Sensory memory
Stores memory encoded by sensory organs, has extremely high capacity but very low duration. Rapidly decays within 1 second
Short-term memory
Memory selected via attention from sensory memory ends up in STM. Capable of producing behavioral output has capacity of 7 +/- 2 items that may be stored for 15-30 seconds
Maintenance rehearsal
Mental repetition of information in the STM with no elaboration. Repeating it over and over again eventually allows for an encoding of this information into LTM
Elaborative rehearsal
Information encoding technique that involves elaboration on the meaning of information. Leads to a greater encoding in long term memory
Long Term Memory
Some of the rehearsed information ends up in the LTM. Information may be retrieved from LTM back to STM to aid with a task or a behavior.
Capacity is unknown, duration may last until one’s death, with some information being lost in time
Positive afterimage
Visual memory that represents a perceived image that is no longer present
Negative afterimage
Visual memory of perceived image that is no longer present. Due to the visual receptors being overstimulated
Positive and negative afterimages are an example of…
Persistence of vision
What were the two conclusions that Sperling’s (1960) experiment led to
- Sensory memory capacity is very large, however the duration is very low
- Many items are present in the sensory memory and in order to bring them to the STM and report them, people need a cue
What is the brain region that is crucial for STM
Prefrontal Cortex
What is the average duration of a STM? What happens if it’s not rehearsed?
Average duration is 20-30 seconds, if the memory’s not rehearsed, it drops to 15
What are the upper and lower capacity limits for STM?
9 is the upper limit and 5 is the lower limit
Serial position effect
Order in which one remembers the items determines how well they’ll be remembered
Primacy effect
Items presented first in a list are usually well remembered since the brain has more time for rehearsal