PSYC*2650 Chapter 7: The Types of Memory Flashcards
What is context-dependent learning?
A pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are well remembered when a person returns to that setting, but less remembered in other settings
What is context reinstatement?
A procedure in a which a person recreates the same mental and emotional state they were in during learning
T or F: What matters more for context reinstatement is the physical environment, not the mental context.
False
What is encoding specificity?
The tendency, when memorizing, to place in memory, both the materials to be learned and some of the context in which they were learned
What is the main consequence of encoding specificity?
Materials will only be recognized as familiar later if they appear again in similar context
What is a node within the mental network?
An individual unit of information
What are associative links/associations within the mental network?
Functional connections hypothesized to link nodes together
What is spreading activation?
A process through which activation travels from one node to another via associative links
What is the response threshold in the mental network?
The activation level for a node needed to make it fire
What is the subactivation threshold in the mental network?
Activation levels below the response threshold
In terms of the mental network, what is summation?
The accumulation of several subthreshold activation inputs that bring a node to threshold
How do retrieval cues affect the mental network?
They stimulate nodes from an additional source, and may be enough to lift activation to threshold levels
What is a lexical decision task?
A test in which participants are shown strings of letters and must indicate as quickly as possible whether the string is an actual word in their language
What does response speed in a lexical decision task indicate?
How quickly a word can be located in memory
What is semantic priming?
A process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other ideas that are related
How does semantic priming affect response speed in a lexical decision task?
If the first word being shown is semantically related to the next (it’s primed), responses are faster
What is the difference between recall and recognition?
- Recall: Desired materials must be remembered in response to a cue/prompt
- Recognition: Items to be remembered are presented, and the person must decide if the item was previously encountered
T or F: Familiarity is an objective fact, in addition to a subjective feeling.
True
What is source memory?
A form of memory enabling a person to recollect where and how they have previously encountered a particular stimulus
How are familiarity and source memory distinct?
It’s possible for an event to be familiar without any source memory and to have source memory without familiarity
What is attribution?
The step of explaining a feeling or event
Which brain area is attributed to source memory?
The hippocampus
Which brain area is attributed to familiarity?
The parahippocampus
What are the two types of long-term memory?
- Implicit/non-declarative memory
- Explicit/declarative memory
What is the difference between implicit and explicit memory?
- Implicit: Unconscious and unable to vocalize
- Explicit: Conscious and able to vocalize
How is implicit memory revealed?
By indirect memory testing
What is indirect memory testing?
A form of memory testing in which participants are not told that their memories are being tested
What is involved in the word-stem completion task?
Participants are given the beginning of a word and must provide a word that corresponds to those letters
T or F: Priming can be observed in a word-stem completion task even if participants show no conscious memory of the word when tested directly.
True
What is the illusion of truth effect?
An effect of implicit memory, in which claims that are more familiar seem more plausible
What is source confusion?
A memory error in which one misremembers when a particular piece of information was learned or where it was last remembered
What is a processing pathway?
The sequence of nodes and connections through which activation flows when recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea
What is processing fluency?
The speed or ease with which the processing pathway will carry activation
Is familiarity more like a conclusion being drawn, or a feeling triggered by a stimulus?
A conclusion being drawn
T or F: If processing is unexpectedly fluent, people may seek an attribution for this fluency and may be fooled into thinking something is familiar when it’s not
True
How is explicit memory revealed?
Through direct memory testing
What is direct memory testing?
A form of memory testing in which people are asked explicitly to remember a previous event
What are the four main categories of implicit memory?
- Procedural memory
- Priming
- Perceptual learning
- Classical conditioning
What is procedural memory?
Knowing how to do something
What is priming?
Changes in perception and belief caused by previous experience
What are the two main divisions of explicit/declarative memory?
- Episodic
- Semantic
What is the difference between episodic and semantic memory?
- Episodic: Memories for a specific event
- Semantic: More general knowledge
What is the difference between retrograde and anterograde amnesia?
- Retrograde: An inability to remember experiences that occurred before the event that triggered the memory disruption
- Anterograde: An inability to remember experiences that occurred after the event that triggered the memory disruption
What type of amnesia did H.M suffer from?
Anterograde
What is Korsakoff’s Syndrome?
A clinical syndrome characterized primarily by dense anterograde amnesia
Do Korsakoff’s patients demonstrate explicit or implicit memory?
When tested indirectly, they show implicit memory
Would a person with damage to the hippocampus, but not amygdala, have disrupted implicit or explicit memory?
Explicit
Would a person with damage to the amygdala, but not the hippocampus, have disrupted explicit or implicit memory?
Implicit
