PSYCH Exam #5

Question 1

What is memory

Answer 1

The mental processes that enable you to encode, retain, and retrieve information over time.

Question 1

Encoding

Answer 1

-The process of transforming info into a form that can be retained as memory
-to memorize key terms you must visually encode the patterns of lines and dots of meaningful words

Question 2

Storage

Answer 2

-the process of retaining memory to be used at a later time
-meeting a celebrity will be stored as episodic memory in the brain

Question 3

Retrieval

Answer 3

-the process of recovering information stored in memory so that we are consciously aware of it
-A smell can act as a reminder of a favourite childhood meal; a song on the radio can trigger a memory from a special occasion

Question 4

How does the stage model of memory explain memory process?

Answer 4

-Explains the basic workings of memory. Based on the idea info is transferred from one stage to another
-Sensory memory->short term->long term

Question 5

How does Atticison Schiffrin’s Adapted 3-stage model of memory explain the memory process?

Answer 5

AKA working memory uses tools from long-term unconscious processing to bypass the stage model
-working memory - Unlike short-term memory, which passively holds information for a brief period, working memory allows us to actively manipulate and process information for a short duration (typically seconds). emphasized by rehearsal

Question 6

How does Alan Baddley’s Expanded Model model of memory explain the memory process?

Answer 6

How it Works:

1. Information enters through our senses or is retrieved from long-term memory.
2. Central Executive allocates attention to relevant information.
   Information is processed within the slave systems:
3. Verbal information goes to the phonological loop for rehearsal.
   Visual and spatial information are handled by the visuospatial sketchpad.
4. Central Executive integrates information from the slave systems and long-term memory through the episodic buffer (if included in the model).
5. Manipulated information is used for various cognitive tasks like reasoning, problem-solving, and following instructions.
6. Information not actively maintained fades away or is potentially transferred to long-term memory through encoding processes.

Question 7

How does the Single Connection model of memory explain the memory process?

Answer 7

The Single Connection Model proposes that memories are formed through a single connection between specific neurons. The strength of this connection determines the memory’s strength and the likelihood of recall.

Question 8

How does McLelland’s theory of Parallel Distributed Processing explain the memory process?

Answer 8

Explains how memories can be interconnected and influence each other.

Accounts for how partial cues or similar experiences can trigger memory retrieval.

Simulates some aspects of human memory, like forgetting due to weakened connections or interference from similar memories due to overlapping activation patterns

Question 9

What are the differences between recognition and recall?

Answer 9

Recognition: Involves identifying something familiar from among multiple choices.
Recall: Involves retrieving information from memory without any prompts or cues.

Question 10

What are retrieval cues and how do they work?

Answer 10

A clue or prompt that helps trigger a recall of info in LTM.

Question 11

How retrieval is tested and what is the serial position effect?

Answer 11

Recall is used to test retrieval of LTM without the aid of retrieval cues(free recall). Cued Recall is also used via fill-in-the-blank or mtp choice (recognition).
-The serial position effect is the tendency to retrieve info from the start or end of a list. The primary effect allows recollection of start data while recency effects the end.

Question 12

How can mood and context affect retrieval?

Answer 12

-env cues in a specific context smells, sights, and sounds become encoded as part of specific memories. Context effect recovering info easier when retrieval occurs in the same setting as og learning setting.
-mood congruence is an encoding specificity phenomenon allowing specific moods to evoke memories consistent with that mood

Question 13

Be able to explain and identify examples of encoding specificity principle.

Answer 13

-the principle that retrieval is more likely to be successful when conditions of retrieval and encoding are similar
-flashbulb memories, context effect,mood congruence

Question 14

What discoveries were made by Hermann Ebbinghaus?

Answer 14

-The forgetting curve which showed the relation between time and forgetting. The memory not forgotten remains stable but most info is lost in a matter of minutes based on how much rehearsal occurred.

Question 15

How do encoding failure, interference, and decay contribute to forgetting?

Answer 15

-encoding failure is the inability to recall specific info because of insufficient encoding of the specific info into LTM. (pennies)
-Decay theory forgetting is a normal brain process, opposed by the forgetting curve where LTM doesn’t decay over time.
-interference theory competing similar memory takes over another. Retroactive(new) vs Proactive(old)

Question 16

What is prospective memory and how can it be improved?

Answer 16

Remembering to do something in the future, when rather than WHAT. Improved by retrieval cues such as smartphone apps

Question 17

What is the difference between repression and suppression and how does each work?

Answer 17

-suppression is motivated forgetting that occurs consciously, a deliberate attempt to not think about or remember specific info
-repression is motivated forgetting that occurs unconsciously, blocked or unavailable.

Question 18

What is the misinformation effect?

Answer 18

memory distortion where existing memories are altered when exposed to misinformation

Question 19

What is source confusion and how can it distort memories?

Answer 19

occurs when the true source of a memory cant be remembered

Question 20

What are schemas and scripts, and how can they contribute to memory distortions?

Answer 20

schema: organized clusters of information about particular topics
scripts:Scripts are specific types of schemas that represent a sequence of events in a familiar situation. They act like mental scripts that guide our expectations about how things will unfold.

Both schemas and scripts can contribute to memory distortions in a few ways:

Confirmation Bias: We tend to remember information that confirms our existing schemas and scripts, while forgetting or downplaying contradictory information.
Filling in the Gaps: Schemas can prompt us to fill in missing details in memories, potentially creating false memories.
Telescoping: Scripts can lead to compressing memories from similar events, blurring the lines between specific instances.

Question 21

How are memories both localized and distributed in the brain?

Answer 21

memories arent localized, though Karl Lashleys research over 30 years removed parts of rat’s cortexes but could still run a maze. years later proved half wrong through bunny they can both be localized and distributed based on the complexity of the memory

Question 22

Eric kandel

Answer 22

Focus: Cellular mechanisms of memory in Aplysia californica (sea slug).
Experiments: Studied changes in gill withdrawal reflex of the sea slug after sensitization (repeated stimulation).
Key Discovery: Identified specific changes in protein synthesis and gene expression within neurons that underlie memory formation.
Contribution: Pioneered the study of memory at the cellular and molecular level, demonstrating the biological basis of memory.

Question 23

Karl Lashley

Answer 23

Focus: Neural basis of memory in rats.
Experiments: Conducted lesion studies, removing various brain areas in rats and testing their ability to learn and retain maze tasks.
Key Finding: Found no clear localization of memory in the brain. Memory wasn’t stored in a specific brain region but seemed to be distributed.
Contribution: Discredited the idea of a single “memory center” in the brain. His work highlighted the distributed nature of memory storage.

Question 24

Richard Thompson

Answer 24

Focus: Classical conditioning and memory in rabbits.
Experiments: Developed the Rabbit Eyelid Conditioning paradigm, where rabbits learn to blink in response to a tone paired with an air puff to the eye.
Key Discovery: Demonstrated different memory systems. Hippocampus was crucial for explicit or declarative memory (conscious recollection of the conditioning), while the cerebellum played a role in implicit or non-declarative memory (unconscious expression of the conditioned response).
Contribution: Provided evidence for multiple memory systems with distinct functions in the brain.

Question 25

Who was H.M. and what did his case reveal about normal memory processes?

Answer 25

HM suffered seizures so severe pieces of his temporal lobe, hippocampus, and amygdala was removed. While reducing the seizures he could no longer form new memories.
-suggesting that hippo was not involved because he could recall info if it was rehearsed but involved in LTM in encoding, and transferring from STM to LTM

Question 26

What brain structures are involved in normal memory?

Answer 26

Cerebellum: classical conditioning, simple reflexes, procedural/ motor memories
Hippocampus: encodes and transfers new explicit memory to LTM
Amygdala: encodes and stores emotional aspects of memory
prefrontal cortex: aids in working memory by focusing on relevant info
Medial temporal lobe: encodes complex memories by forming links among info in multiple brain regions

Question 27

What are dementia and Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 27

Dementia is a progressive deterioration and impairment of memory, reasoning, language and other cognitive functioning as a result of result of disease, injury or substance abuse
Alzheimers Disease: a progressive disease that destroys the brains neurons, gradually impairing memory, thinking, language. Most common cause of dimentia.

Question 28

What are some of the basic characteristics of mental images?

Answer 28

representation of objects or events that are physically present. manipulation and memory.

Question 29

How do we manipulate mental images?

Answer 29

physical manipulation like rotation. They are similar to memory which are subject to error

Question 30

Nancy Kanwisher

Answer 30

Focus: Neural correlates of object recognition in the human brain using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging).
Key Finding: Identified the fusiform gyrus, a region in the temporal lobe, as crucial for object recognition. This brain area becomes

more active when people see objects or perceive them mentally.

Contribution: Advanced our understanding of the neural basis of visual perception and its connection to mental imagery. Kanwisher’s work suggests that mental imagery activates similar brain regions as real visual perception.

Question 31

Stephen Kosslyn

Answer 31

Focus: Mental imagery and its role in visual perception, cognition, and memory.
Development of Mental Imagery Scanning Techniques: Kosslyn proposed methods like mental scanning, where participants scan a mental image as if moving their attention across it. He argued that these techniques could provide insights into the processes underlying mental imagery.
Contribution: Provided evidence for the overlap between visual processing and mental imagery. Kosslyn’s work helped establish mental imagery as a valuable tool for cognitive research.
-The results supported Kosslyn’s hypothesis. Participants took longer to mentally “scan” across longer distances within their visualized images than shorter distances, suggesting that mental imagery is spatially organized and operates in a similar manner to seeing actual spatial distances.

Question 32

Beatrice & Daniel Wohlschläger:

Answer 32

Focus: Mental rotation, a specific type of mental imagery manipulation where participants imagine an object rotating in their mind.
Experiments: Used reaction time and brain imaging techniques to study mental rotation. Their work suggests that mental rotation involves spatial processing mechanisms in the parietal lobe of the brain.
Contribution: Provided insights into the cognitive processes underlying mental imagery manipulation. Their research on mental rotation demonstrates how we can manipulate specific aspects of mental images.

Question 33

What are concepts and how are they formed? What are the different types of concepts?

Answer 33

mental catagory of objects or ideas based on properties they share. By learning the rule or feature that defines a concept that are logical but rigid (define attributes)

Question 34

What are prototypes and exemplars and how are they used?

Answer 34

prototype: the most typical instance of a particular concept
exemplars: individual instances of a concept or category held in memory
-How We Use Them: When encountering a new object, we compare it to the exemplars we have stored in memory. If the new object shares enough features with a stored exemplar, we categorize it within that category.

Question 35

ADV and DISADV of each problem solving strat

Answer 35

trial and error: useful for limited solution issues like developing a curry recipe
Algorithm: usually math formula. takes sometimes very long to reach a solution but always produces one.
Heuristic: uses the rule of thumb to find a solution, reduces the number of possible solutions. No guarentee

Question 36

How can functional fixedness and mental set interfere with problem solving?

Answer 36

functional fixedness: TENDENCY TO ONLY VEIW objects in their visual customary way. Prevents from seeing full range of ways an object can be used.
Mental Set: tendency to persist with solutions that have worked in the past. Will not see other possible solutions. Blocks insight in already knowledgeable areas.

Question 37

Be able to determine if availability or representative heuristic is being used in a situation.

Answer 37

Availability Heuristic
Definition: Estimates the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of that event come to mind. If we can think of many examples of something happening, we judge it to be more common than it actually is.
Example: You might think that shark attacks are a more common cause of death than car accidents because you hear more about shark attacks in the news, even though car accidents are statistically much more frequent.

Representativeness Heuristic:

Definition: Estimates the probability of an event by comparing it to a stereotype or prototype. We judge how likely something is based on how well it matches our existing mental image of a particular category.
Example: You meet someone new who is a lawyer. Because you have a stereotype of lawyers as being wealthy and arrogant, you might assume this person is wealthy and arrogant as well, even though this stereotype isn’t always accurate.

Question 38

Be able to identify the obstacles identified in this section as they relate to maintaining unwanted beliefs.

Answer 38

Belief Bias Effects: people only accept evidence that conforms to their beliefs
Confirmation Bias: the tendency to seek evidence that confirms existing beliefs and ignore contradicting evidence
The fallacy of positive instances: tendency to remember uncommon events that seem to confirm our beliefs and forget events that disprove
The overestimation effect: tendency to overestimate the rarity of events

Question 39

how does syntax play a part in determining how we use language?

Answer 39

Syntax, the set of rules governing sentence structure, plays a crucial role in how we use language. It’s the invisible grammar scaffolding that allows us to create meaningful sentences and express ourselves clearly.

Question 40

The Whorfian Hypothesis

Answer 40

the idea that the language a person speaks influences their worldview or cognition, and therefore their perceptions of the world.

Question 41

Linguistic Relativity Principle

Answer 41

the particular language we speak influences the way we think about reality

Question 42

Why arent Ben Whorf’s ideas not supported today?

Answer 42

Limited evidence: Some studies haven’t found a strong causal link between language structure and thought patterns. People seem to be able to think outside the constraints of their language.
Reverse causality: It’s possible that the way people perceive the world influences the development of their language, rather than the other way around.
Oversimplification: The relationship between language and thought is likely more complex than a simple cause-and-effect scenario. Cultural factors and personal experiences also play a role in shaping cognition.

Question 43

What has research found out about the cognitive abilities of nonhuman animals?

Answer 43

Research has found that nonhuman animals, including chimpanzees, bonobos, dolphins, honeyguides, Western scrub jays, owls, pigeons, and dogs, possess a variety of cognitive abilities. These include the ability to communicate complex information, remember past events, plan for the future, and understand language-like systems. While they may not exhibit all aspects of human-like cognition, such as understanding of human emergencies, they demonstrate impressive cognitive skills that challenge the notion of human exceptionalism.