Midterm #2 Flashcards
What does memory do?
Routines and habits. The sense of self. Social functions. Solving problems.
Three stages of memory
Encoding –> Memory Consolidation –> Storage –> Retrieval
Memory encoding
Learning new info, processing info to form a memory, forming new “memory trace” as a neural code.
Memory storage
Retaining encoded memory trace/neural code. Consolidating memory. Takes time.
Memory Retrieval
Activating a memory trace via a cue (probe for that memory) for a purpose.
Encoding a memory in the brain
Encoding: When a memory trace is formed as a hippocampal-cortical activity pattern.
Memory storage in the brain
Consolidation: memory is transformed into a stable cortical pattern.
Memory retrieval in the brain
When a cue (part of a memory trace) triggers pattern completion of the brain pattern.
The multi-store model: Memory as systems
Sensory input –> Sensory memory (information not transferred is lost) –> Short-term memory - rehearsal (Information not transferred is lost) –> Long-term memory –> Short-term memory
Sensory memory
Info that is present in the most unprocessed form. Automatic reflections of a sense. Lasts a very short time. Processed differently in each sense (gustatory, olfactory). Echoic memory, Haptic memory, Iconic memory.
Echoic memory
Brief memory of sounds, help us separate streams of sound quickly. Sound-byte held for around 3 seconds.
Haptic memory
Very brief memory of touch
Iconic memory
Holds visual info for short period, right after you perceive it. Millisecond visual memory. A ‘persistence of vision’.
Iconic memory: Afterimages
Positive afterimage: A visual memory that represents the perceived image in the same colours. Helpful for seeing things smoothly. Exactly what you saw before you looked away.
Negative afterimage: A visual memory is the inverse of the perceived image. Colour is not the same was what you originally perceived, it is the complimentary colours. Slightly longer than the positive afterimage.
Short term memory
Attended information moves from sensory to short term memory. Lasts longer than sensory memory. Also has limited capacity. Prefrontal cortex.
Primacy effect
Remember things you see first (supported by short term and long term).
Recency effect
Remember things you saw most recently (supported only be short term memory).
Chunking strategy
Helps to overcome short term memory limits. Grouping items together in a meaningful way so more information to be represented at one time.
The chunking effect.
Chunking increases with knowledge. Expert chess players recall more pieces on a chess board than new chess players: experts use knowledge of moves to ‘chunk’ prices together. This effect is not present if the pieces are on the board randomly.
Working memory
Retention and manipulation of information not in our environment in conscious awareness. Guides behaviour. Essential for many cognitive functions.
Working memory model
Central executive: moving things around with short term memory stores. Two memory stores: verbal and visual. The phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop
Store for verbal information
1. Phonological store: Passive store for verbal information Holding onto verbal info. “The inner ear”.
2. Articulatory control loop: Active rehearsal of verbal information. “The inner Voice”. Used to convert written material into sounds (reading).
Visuospatial sketchpad
- The visual cache: information about visual features.
- The inner scribe: Information about spatial location, movement and sequences.
Neuroimaging evidence for short term memory stores
Different areas of the brain are active for visual and verbal short term memory tasks.