Module 5 Flashcards
Long term memeory
Unknown duration or capacity. Contains everything we know. Stored semantically (based on meaning)
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve
Recall rates for new information drops rapidly for first two days, then plateaus for the rest of time. At any given time you can remember 30% of info about a prompt
Serial position curve
Objects in the middle of a set are remembered less than those at the beginning or end. Supports STM and LTM systems being separate since effects are dissociable
Primacy effect
Early items are remembered, rehearsal transfers them to long term memory; can be reduced by stopping repetition (do a task between every word and effect goes away)
Recency effect
Last items are remembered, they are still in short term/working memory; can be reduced by preventing rehearsal in some way (count during rehearsal period, effect goes away)
Retroactive interference
New info overwrites old info
Proactive interference
Old info disrupts coding of new info
Decay
Forgetting information over time
Squire’s LTM Model
Proposed explicit and implicit memory systems
Declarative/explicit memory
Holds semantic and episodic memory; information we can verbally describe (different brain areas activated for diff memory systems)
Semantic memory
Knowledge about facts; recall does not involve sensory experience
Episodic memory
Knowledge about past events that happened to us; recall involves sensory experience
Nondeclarative/implicit memory
Holds procedural memory, classical conditioning, nonassociative learning, and priming, prejudice
Procedural memory
How to do physical actions
Non-associative learning
Learning that needs to conditioning, like habituations
Priming
One stimulus facilitates processing of another (word completion tasks like hangman style, incomplete pictures tasks)
Explicit tasks
Recognition and recall
Free recall: any order
Serial recall: given order
Cued recall: hint given
Implicit tasks
Procedural and priming
Procedural = do people get better at doing tasks over time/with training
Repetition = exact same stimulus more than once
Semantic pairing = items presented are semantically similar
Anterograde amnesia
Loss of memory AFTER brain damage occurs. Problem with encoding new information.
Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory BEFORE brain damage. Loss is largest closer to the time of damage. Can recover from farthest memory forwards.
Patient HM
Evidence for implicit and explicit memory systems being separate. Had part of his brain removed. Kept STM, WM, and implicit memory, but could not form new explicit memories. Could complete priming and procedural tasks despite not remembering any previous training in those tasks.
Consolidation
Forming new memories
Synaptic consolidation
Fast-acting, neuronal level, always happening, structural changes to the brain
Systems consolidation
Multiple brain structures cooperating to encode new info, takes a long time, involved the medial temporal lobe and the hippocampus
Reconsolidation
Reactivation of memory over short time periods
Standard model of consolidation
Hippocampal dependent for encoding, retrieval is not dependent. Hippocampus is needed for encoding but not for storage
Multiple-trace theory (MTT)
Argues Hippocampus is needed for encoding of semantic and episodic, but also needed for retrieval of episodic. Hippocampus acts as index to all episodic memory and tells which trace to pull when remembering
Levels of Processing Theory
Proposed by Craig and Lockhart. Deep levels of processing are better for encoding memory. Spurred ideas of elaboration and distinctiveness
Issues: Cannot make predictions and relies on circular logic
Craig and Lockhart experiment
Pair target words with three types of questions. Font, rhyme, and similar meaning. Surprise recall task found memory was best for the similar meaning paired words. Concluded deeper encoding causes better retrieval
Maintenance rehearsal
Repeating information to keep it active in working memory
Elaborative rehearsal
Links info from STM to info that is already in LTM; attach meaning to new info and make it easier to retrieve
Distinctiveness
Distinct items are easier to remember (aka isolation or con Restorff effect); Tulving and Pearlstone proved with the ‘red e in chisel’ recall test
Forgetting
Failures in retrieval. The memory is still stored, it is just inaccessible
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Knowing that you know something but not being able to retrieve it
Encoding specificity theory
Memory is better when the context of encoding matches the context of retrieval (Tulving and Thomson task)
Tulving and Thomson experiment
Participants given words paired with other given words, then asked to self-generate words that went with the target words. Given recognition task and cued recall task. Assumed elaboration would lead to better memory, but found the opposite. Problematic for levels of processing, supports encoding specificity
Context-dependent learning
Anything in the environment should match from encoding to retrieval
Transfer appropriate
Cognitive process matches during encoding to retrieval
State dependent specificity
internal environment (mood, pain, etc) matches at encoding and retrieval
Godden and Baddeley experiment
Learned words either underwater or on land. Took recall test either underwater or on land. When encoding environment matched test environment recall improved. Supports encoding specificity
How to improve long term memory
Engage in deep processing, organize knowledge, generate info yourself, make info personally relevant, use imagery (dual code theory), create interactive images, distribute recall practice (more elaboration, more possible cues, sleep aids consolidation)
Self generation effect
Better memory for things you have created or generated yourself
Propaganda effect
People were more likely to rate argumentative statements as true if they had encountered them before
