PSY1020 Memory Flashcards
Year 1, Semester 2 - A
What is Memory
Memory is the process by which we take something we have observed (encountered) and convert it into a form we can store, retreive and use
3 processes of memory
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
What are mental representations
A mental model of a stimulus or category of stimuli
Types of Mental Representations
- Sensory (eg: visual or sound)
- Verbal (information stored in words)
- Motoric (motor actions, eg: swinging a tennis racket)
The Mind as a computer model
- sensory registers (limited duration, potentially unlimited capacity)
- Short term memory
- Long term memory
Sensory Registers
Hold information about perceived stimulus for a fraction of a second after the stimulus disappears.
One sensory register for every sensory system
-Iconic storage: momentary storage of visual info
-Echoic storage: momentary storage of auditory info
Short Term Memory
limited capacity (7 chunks plus or minus 2) limited duration (20-30 seconds) in theory info can be kept for an infinite amount of time by repeatedly rehearsing (until interrupted) - verbalising or thinking about the info
Long Term Memory
The representation of facts, images, actions and skills that may persist over a lifetime
- potentially limitless in duration and capacity
- LTM deficit: person shows normal working memory but can not transfer info to LTM
Retrieval
extracting information from the Long Term Memory
Serial Position Curve
supports existence of STM vs LTM
- Primacy effect reflects LTM
- Recency effect reflects STM
Evolution of Memory Model
Mind as Brain
- no longer thought of in terms or serial processing model
- no longer thought of in terms of processing like a computer
- now thought to be comprised of a number of modules which are discrete and interdependent (parallel processing)
- recognised remembering is not always conscious or retroactive
Working Memory
a component of STM
- temporary storage & processing of info used to:
1. solve problems
2. respond to environmental demands
3. achieve goals - Deficit: person has memory span of 2 digits, but normal LTM
3 memory systems of Working Memory (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974)
- Central Executive - flow and processing of info, limited capacity, rehersal, reasoning, multitasking
- Visual Memory Store (or Visuospatial Sketchpad) temporary image, 20-30 seconds, as well as info about location and nature of object (eg: mentally rearranging furniture)
- Verbal Memory Store (or phonological loop) verbalising items, limited capacity (represents ALL of STM in the original model, active when using rehearsal to temporarily hold onto information)
Episodic buffer
temporary limited capacity store allows various components of working memory to integrate information
-interface between working memory and long term memory
Working Memory
- thought to be directed by the Pre-frontal cortex
- easily accessed, but limited in capacity
Verbal and Visual Working Memory
activate different cortical regions of the brain - demonstrating the interdependence of different components of working memory
Chunking
the use of knowledge from LTM to group info into larger units to increase the capacity of working memory
LTM Storage Overview
2 types - Declarative (facts and events) and Procedural (for the ‘how to’ of skills and procedures
LTM Declarative memory - 2 forms of storage
- Semantic: general world knowledge or facts
- Episodic: memories of specific events which is autobiographical in nature
LTM Expression Overview - 2 forms
- Explicit Memory: expressed through conscious recollection (eg: phone numbers)
- Implicit Memory: expressed in behaviour but does not require conscious recollection (eg: driving a car)
LTM Explicit Memory - 2 forms
- Recall: spontaneous conscious recollection of information from LTM (eg: responding to open ended question in an exam)
- Recognition: identification of something previous seen or learned (eg: responding to multiple choice question in exam)
Memory consolidation
much of the process of storing memory happens in the medial temporal lobe
Encoding in LTM
storage of info requires encoding
the type and level of encoding influences accessibility:
1. Shallow: focuses on physical characteristics
2. Deep: focuses on the meaning of the stimulus
Context and Retrieval
Context and Mood provide retrieval cues
Spacing
superiority of memory for information rehearsed over longer periods
Mnemonic devices
systematic strategies for retrieval and to enhance memory, eg:
- Method of Loci - visual imagery tool
- SQ4R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review, Write
How LTM is organised
- organised in clusters of info related in meaning
- semantic networks of association
- nodes may contain thoughts, images, smells, emotions or any other info
- mnemonic devices allow one to add concepts to existing networks
Hierarchical storage
like a filing cabinet - important things at the front
Schemas
organised clusters of knowledge extracted from previous events
Daniel Schacter - 7 sins of memory
- Transience - fade with time
- Absent-mindedness - need to pay attention to remember
- Misattribution - source amnesia
- Suggestability - thinking we remember
- Bias - distortions in recall
- Persistence - recurring memories
- Forgetting - inability to remember
Accuracy of long-term memory
Memory is subject to errors and biases
-memory can be primed
-memory is altered by emotional factors
Eyewitness testimony can be manipulated by leading questions
Flashbulb memory
- vivid memories of exciting or highly consequential events
- dependent on adrenaline
- rarely 100% accurate
- degree of accuracy decreases and time increases
Theories of forgetting
usually occurs due to deficits in encoding and retrieving
- pseudo forgetting - encoding never occured
- ineffective encoding - shallow (phonemic rather than semantic level)
Decay theory - theory of forgetting
fading neural trace weakened with disuse
Interference theory - theory of forgetting
conflict between new and old memories
-Proactive - old interferes with new
-Retroactive - new interferes with old
stronger theory than decay theory
Motivated forgetting - theory of forgetting
implies forgetting can avoid painful memories
Amnesia
- Retrograde - losing memories prior to damage
- Anterograde - losing memories after damage
Memory Summary
- Memory initially conceived of as STM and LTM - now recognised as comprising of multiple types of memory
- Rehearsal, maintenance or elaborative helps transfer info from STM to LTM stores
- memory is a reconstructive process that mingles representations of actual experience with general knowledge
