Midterm 2

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, idea, and skills after the original information is no longer present.

Question 2

Modal Model of Memory

Answer 2

Atkinson and Shiffrin
Used computers as a model for human cognition.
Thought of memory as an integrated system that processes information.
-Acuire, store, and retrieve information.
-components of memory do not act in isolation
Memory has a limited space resources and time.

Question 3

Structure of Modal Memory

Answer 3

Sensory memory: All information enters into sensory memory.
Short Term Memory: Information that the individual is focusing on enters short term memory.
Longterm Memory: Memory is stored and retrieved from long term memory.

Question 4

Control processes of Modal Model

Answer 4

Active processes that can be controlled by the person.

• Rehearsal (takes place in short term memory)
• Strategies used to make a stimulus more memorable.
• Selective attention: What we focus on, enters the short term memory.
• Encoding: Information enters the long term memory.
• Retrieval: Information comes from long term memory and enters sensory memory (memories and info we are aware of)

Question 5

Persistence of Vision.

Answer 5

retention of the perception of light.

examples you can see the trail of light from a sparkler, or the frames of a film. (old flip films)

Question 6

Sperlings Partial Report Experiment

Answer 6

The topic of interest was measuring the capacity and duration of sensory memory.
-an Array of letter would flash quickly on a screen, and participants were asked to report as many as possible.
-Whole report: participants asked to report as many as they could see. (37.5% average)
-Partial report: A tone told participants when to report ANY one row of letters. (82.5% average)
-Delayed partial report: Tone was delayed for a fraction of a second after the letters where extinguished. bad performance.
This experiment demonstrated the rapid decay of sensory memory.

Question 7

Duration of Short Term Memory

Answer 7

Short term memory, when rehearsal is prevented, is about only 15-20 seconds.
Proactive interference: occurs when information learned interferes with learning new information.
This is possible the reason for the brief duration of short term memory.

Question 8

Capacity of Short Term Memory

Answer 8

Stores small amounts of information for a brief period of time.
-Digit span: how many digits a person can remember.
-Chunking: small units can be combined into larger meaningful units.
Chunking increases digit span (and any other type of information remembered)

Question 9

Coding of Short Term Memory

Answer 9

The way information is processed.
Physiological: How stimulus is represented by the firing of neurons.
Mental: how stimulus or experience is represented by the mind.
-Auditory: Errors in mixing up letters most often occurs between letters that sound similar (T and C)
-Visual: people can recreate patterns.
-Semantic: The meaning of words are used when they are being processed.

Question 10

Working Memory

Answer 10

Similar to short term memory.It is a limited capacity system for temporary storage, and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning.

Question 11

How is working memory different from Short term memory?

Answer 11

While working memory consists of multiple parts, short term memory is a single component.
Short term memory hold information for a brief period of time, while working memory is concerned with processing and manipulating information during complex cognition.

Question 12

Baddeley’s Working Memory Model

Answer 12

Consists of

• Phonological loop: verbal and auditory information.
• Central Executive
• Visuospatial Sketch Pad: visual and spacial information.

Question 13

Phonological Loop Word Length Effect

Answer 13

Memory for lists of words is better for short words than it is for long words.
It takes longer to rehearse long words and to produce them during recall.

Question 14

Phonological Loop Articulatory Suppression

Answer 14

Speaking while being presented with an item to remember.
Prevents one from rehearsing items to be remembered. Reduces memory span, eliminates word length effect. Reduces phonological similarity effect for reading words.

Question 15

Visuospatial Sketch Pad Mental Rotation

Answer 15

The brain moving an object in order to understand what it is and where is belongs.

Question 16

Pointing versus Saying

Answer 16

When the task involves the phonological loop (memorizing a sentence), the response that involves the Visuospatial Sketch pad (pointing) is easier, and visa versa.
So if the task and response draw ong the same working memory component performance is worse then if the task and response are distributed between working memory components.

Question 17

Central Executive

Answer 17

Attention controller
Focus, divide, and switch attention.
IT controls the suppression of irrelevant information.

Question 18

Episodic Buffer

Answer 18

The backup store the communicates with the longterm memory and working memory components.
Hold’s information longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad.

Question 19

Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 19

REsponsible for processing incoming visual and auditory information.
Monkeys without a prefrontal cortex have difficulty holding information in their working memory.

Question 20

Specialized Neurons

Answer 20

Neurons respons to a stimulus, and as long as the neurons continue to fire the information will remain in the neurons

Question 21

Working memory and intelligence.

Answer 21

People with a high capacity working memory are more efficient at ignoring distractors.
Is intelligence due to more focus, or more working memory space?

Question 22

Long Term Memory

Answer 22

“Archive” of information about past events and knowledge learned. It works closely with working memory. The storage stretches from a few moments ago to as far back as one can remember. More recent memories are ore detailed.

Question 23

Serial Position Curve

Answer 23

Primacy: Memory is better for stimuli presented at the beginning of the list. Because there is more time to rehearse so it is more likely to enter longterm memory.
Recency: Memory is better for stimuli presented at the end of a list. because it is still in short term memory.

Question 24

Coding in Long Term Memory

Answer 24

The predominant type of coding in lond term memory is semantic. Which is remembering meaning, not exact word.
(STM primary type is auditory, and visual)

Question 25

Patient H.M

Answer 25

He had his hippocampus removed to prevent epileptic seizures. Afterwards he had difficulty forming new long term memories. His short term memories remained intact. Suggested that hippocampus is vital for formation of new long term memory, but not necessary for recall of old long term memories. He had greater implicit (Procedural) then explicit (episodic and declarative) memory.

Question 26

Patient Clives Wearing

Answer 26

Had viral enceohalitis, and was unable to form new long term memories (anterograde amnesia.

Question 27

Neural correlates of memory.

Answer 27

Short-term memory and procedural memory are mediated by different areas of the brain than long term memory. the hippocampus is crucial in forming new long-term memories.
There is a distinction between areas of the brain that store long-term memories vs. those that form long term memories.

Question 28

Explicit Memory

Answer 28

Deliberate recall of information that one recognizes as a memory.

• episodic: memory of personal events.
• semantic: facts and knowledge

Question 29

Separation of Episodic and Semantic systems

Answer 29

Someone with episodic memory impairment, still have intact semantic memory. Episodic and semantic memories show a double dissociation. Evidence from brain imaging experiments that retrieving episodic and semantic memories activate different areas of the brain.

Question 30

Connections of Episodic and Semantic memories

Answer 30

Acquiring knowledge may start as episodic but them “fade” to semantic. Semantic can be enhances if associates with episodic (personal semantic memories). Semantic can influence what we experience (episodic) by determining what we attend to.

Question 31

Implicit memory.

Answer 31

Memory that unconsciously influenced behavior. Repetition priming, procedural memory, classical conditioning.

Question 32

Repetition Priming

Answer 32

Presentation of one stimulus affects performance on that stimulus when it is present again.

Question 33

Procedural memory

Answer 33

Skill memory: memory of action. No memory of where or when learned. Perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them. People who cannot form LTM can still learn new skills.

Question 34

Propaganda effect

Answer 34

You are more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true. This occurs even if the participants are told that the statements they are hearing are false.

Question 35

Encoding

Answer 35

Acquiring information and transformation it into memory.

Question 36

Maintenance Rehearsal

Answer 36

Maintains information but does not transfer it to LTM.

example: repeating phone number

Question 37

Elaborative Rehearsal

Answer 37

Transfers information to long term memory.

Question 38

Levels of Processing Theory

Answer 38

Memory depends on how information is encoded. the depth of processing are either shallow meaning little attention to meaning, which results in poor memory. Or deep processing, or paying close attention to meaning, and results in good memory.

Question 39

How complex sentences influence encoding

Answer 39

you will have a better memory for a word used in a complex sentence, because it involves a more detailed description of the word.

Question 40

Visual images and memory encoding

Answer 40

The better that you can visualize something the more likely you are to remember it

Question 41

Self reference effect

Answer 41

Linking words to yourself improves memory encoding.

Question 42

Generating effect

Answer 42

information is better remembered if it is generated from ones own mind.

Question 43

Organizing information

Answer 43

Things are better remembered when they are organized into categories.

Question 44

Testing

Answer 44

Information is better remembered when you test yourself on it rather than simply reading it.

Question 45

Retrieval

Answer 45

process of transferring information from LTM back into working memory. Most failure of memory are failures of retrieval.

Question 46

Cued-recall

Answer 46

cues are presented to aid recall. retrieval cues are most effective when created by the person who uses them

Question 47

Encoding Specificity

Answer 47

We learn information better with its context. the best recall occurs when encoding and retrieval occur in the same location. Diver experiment…

Question 48

State dependent Hearing

Answer 48

Learning is associated with a particular internal state. better memory if a persons mood at encoding matches mood during retrieval.

Question 49

Transfer appropriate processing.

Answer 49

Rhyming. people who used rhyming as encoding rather than meaning remember the word better. Encoding does not depend strictly on depth, but also phonologically how its processed (how it sounds rhyme)

Question 50

Elaborating

Answer 50

Highlighting is not enough, you have to use imagery stories ect. Interact with the information.

Question 51

Generate and test

Answer 51

Teach it to your friends

make up your own test.

Question 52

Organize

Answer 52

This will help reduce the load on memory. can use outlines, or brain maps or trees ext.

Question 53

Match learning and testing conditions

Answer 53

remeber encoding specificity, you cant always study in the class room, so instead you should vary you study location.

Question 54

Avoid the illusion of learning

Answer 54

familiarity does not equal comprehension.

Question 55

Long term potentiation

Answer 55

enhanced firing of neurons after repeating stimulation
structural changes and enhanced responding
Neurons that fire together wire together.

Question 56

What happens at the synapse

Answer 56

stimulus presented. As the stimulus is repeated structural changes are begining to occur. after many repetitions, more complex connections have developed between two neurons, which causes and increase in the firing rate, even though the stimulus is the same.

Question 57

Consolidation

Answer 57

Transforms new memories from fragile state to more permeant state. there are two types

• synaptic consolidation occurs at synapses, happens rapidly.
• system consolidation involves gradual reorganization of circuits in brain.

Question 58

Hippocampus in recent and remote memory

Answer 58

during system consolidation Hippocampus dependant memories (recent ones) become independent of the hippocampus over a period of weeks or years.

Question 59

Medial temporal lobe.

Answer 59

consists of perirhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus.
The hippocampus is believed to be involved in the transferring of recent memories to long term memories
the Perirhinal cortex was shown to be more active during encoding of words that where later remembered.

Question 60

Autobiographical memories

Answer 60

Recollected events that belong to a persons past. When you remember these events you experience “mental time travel”. They are multidimensional memories spatial memories sensory memories, and emotional memories.

Question 61

Photo study

Answer 61

two groups. One group took the pictures, the other did not. when shown the pictures. both types of photos activated brain structures involved in episodic memory, and processing scenes. Photos that students took them selfs activated brain structures associated with processing info about self, memory for visual spacial, and mental time travel.
Autobiographical memories are very rich.

Question 62

Memory over the lifespan

Answer 62

Well remembered events are

• significant events in a persons life
• highly emotional events
• transition points.

Question 63

Reminiscence bump

Answer 63

self image: memory is enhanced for events that occur as a persons self images or identity is being formed. many transitions occur between the ages 10-30
cognitive:encoding is better during a period of rapid change that are then followed by stability.
Cultural life script: personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script.

Question 64

Memory and emotion

Answer 64

emotional events are remebereed more easily and vividly.

Emotion improves memory, becomes greater with time. the brain activity involved is the amygdala.

Question 65

Flash bulb memories

Answer 65

memories for circumstances surrounding shocking, high charged, important events.
they are highly emotional, vivid, very detailed, and not necessarily as accurate as you think. They actually degrade the same as normal everyday memories enough though a person fully believes that their account on the event is accurate.

Question 66

Constructive nature of memories

Answer 66

War of the ghosts

participants changed their story to be more consistent with their own culture.

Question 67

Source memory

Answer 67

process of determining the origins of our memory

Question 68

Source monitoring errors

Answer 68

misidentify the source of our memories.

BEcoming famous over night

Question 69

Making inferences

Answer 69

Memory can be influenced by inferences that people make based on their experiences and knowledge. Pragmatic inferences: based on knowledge gained through experience. Bird house pounding nails said seen word hammer.

Question 70

Scripts and schemas

Answer 70

schema: knowledge about what is involved in a particular experience
script: concept of a sequence of actions that occur during a particular experience
office experiment thing can be inferred because they are expected and consistent with the schema.