Psych final exam Flashcards
the min amount of stimulation required to tell the difference between 2 stimuli is called the
difference threshold
according to Weber’s law, you’re more likely to detect a difference in sound between
2 and 4 decibals
Julia is holding a basket of apples that weighs 5 pounds. Sammy keeps adding more apples to Julia’s basket and asks her to tell him when she notices that the basket is heavier. Julia notices a difference when the basket’s weight reaches 6 pounds. now julia is holding a basket weighing 10 pounds. according to weber’s law, how much additional weight in apples must be added for julia to notice a difference?
2 pounds
based on what you have learned about weber’s law and just noticeable differences
it is easier to detect changes in stimulus intensity when the intensities are low
Tammy wants to attend a concert of her favorite duo. Queen Tunius and the Jake man. Unfortunately, she does not have a ticket. she has decided to sneak into the concert but is worried she might get caught because a security guard is sitting in the concert hall watching for trespassers. According to weber’s law.
tammy should wait until most of the audience is in the concert hall before she sneaks in
the ability to perceive depth
is in part learned from world experiences
the retina is a 2 D surface and therefore can represent visual stimuli in only 2D. Which 2D does the retina easily represent?
height and width
when billy flips a coin, it appears to be different shapes as it rotates in the air. Sometimes it looks like a circle, sometimes more oval, and when flat, like a thin silver. by using which perceptual rule does billy know that although his perception of the penny’s shape may change, it never actually changes shape?
constancy (Perceptual constancy is responsible for the ability to identify objects under various conditions, which seem to be “taken into account” during a process of mental reconstitution of the known image/the tendency to perceive an object you are familiar with as having a constant shape, size, and brightness despite the stimuli changes that occur.)
based on our experiences, our brain understands that objects far away
appear smaller than objects nearby
perception involves the brain
interpreting visual stimuli based on experience in the real world
what are visual illusions
physical stimuli that consistently produce errors in perception
nerve cells in the visual system, anywhere from the retina back to the occipital lobe, are known as
visual neurons
what are lateral inhibitions
surrounding regions of white in a high contrast visual scene that serve to suppress the overall output of cells that correspond to specific regions in the visual field
the information captured on our retina is
2D in nature
the brain must effectively convert 2D images into 3D percept so we can
properly interact with and navigate our environment
your best friend, Marc, leaves you a voice mail, asking if he can change the restaurant where you had agreed to meet him for dinner. Just as he mentions the new place where he wants to eat, his voice is obscured by a loud conversation going on in the background. it sounded like marc said antonio’s. a restaurant that you eat at frequently with marc. so you go to antonio and, sure enough, marc is there waiting for you. this situation illustrates
top down processing
you went to the army- navy football game to meet your friend Kurt, who attends the naval academy. finding kurt turns out to be somewhat of a prob because half of the people at the game are approximately 6 feet tall, with similar hair cut s, wearing naval academy uniforms (including hats, which are called covers at the naval academy). the difficulty you have in finding kurt occurs because you cannot use
bottom up process
a person who has lost their sense of vision can still recognize people by their voices. such a person uses
both top down and bottom up processes to recognize people
which of the following is false?
1. generally speaking, dreams are thoughts, feelings, or images that we experience as we sleep
2. sometimes dreams are charged with emotion, sometimes they are vague, and sometimes they just make no sense at all
3. there are multiple theories on why we have dreams and what they mean
4. everybody has the same type of dream
4.
according to freud, the 2 types of content that appear in dreams are
manifest content (the dream itself as it is remembered), and latent content (the hidden meaning of the dream
Lorie is seeing a psychoanalyst. During a session, she tells her analyst about a dream she had where she mailed a fish through her refrigerator to peru. Which of the following statements would be false from a psychoanalytic perspective on dreams?
1. the hidden meaning of lorie’s dream would be called latent content
2. there are 2 types of content that appear in dreams
3. mailing a fish to peru would be an example of manifest content
4. dreams have no discernible meaning
4
which of the following statements is true?
1. the psychoanalytic theory of dreams was developed by john allan hobson and robert mccarley
2. research has evolved so much since the 1990s, the psychoanalytic theory of dreams is no longer a recognized theory
3. the psychoanalytic theory is the only available theory of why we dream
4. the psychoanalytic theory has been heavily debated amongst psychologists
4
unlike freud’s theory, the activation synthesis hypothesis
considered the biological aspects of the brain
julie works at a factory that produces toy clowns. As the toy clowns come down the assembly line it is Julie’s job to add a red nose to each clown as the last step in completing each toy. For every 100 clowns Kelly competes, she receives 10 dollar, which is an
positive reinforcement
to inc productivity, the clown factory decides to have a contest. the person who completes the most clowns on monday does not have to come to work on tuesday. the factory is using
negative reinforcement
the clown factory’s bosses do not like laziness. if a worker completes fewer than 20 toys during the morning hours, they do not get to take a lunch break. this behavioural tactic is
negative punishment
the clown’s factory’s bosses also do not like mistakes. if a worker forgets to put a nose on a clown, the bosses publicly scold the worker. this behavioural tactic is
positive punishment
as you can see from the examples above, the clown factory’s bosses use _____to inc behaviours they like and ____ to dec behaviour they do not like
reinforcement, punishment
Jake is trying to teach his dog Peach how to roll over. He first gives Peach a treat whenever Peach sits. Next, he no longer rewards Peach for sitting but rather gives Peach a treat when the dog actually lies down. Finally, Jake rewards Peach only when the dog rolls over. this tactic is
shaping
A bird will learn very quickly to tap a lever if it is reinforced with birdseed for doing so. birdseed is an effective reward because it is a
primary reinforcer
if coach winner wants to use shaping successfully to teach betsy beginner how to serve a tennis ball, she should
reinforce betsy for correctly tossing the ball, then for correctly swinging her racket, the for correctly hitting the ball, and finally for aiming the ball into the correct box
Which of the following is an example of primary reinforcer?
1. allowing a teen to stay out past curfew
2. catching a fish and eating it
3. giving a child a gold star for earning an A on an exam
4. paying a worker 10 dollar for cleaning the floor
2
belinda boss rewards her telemarketers with 5 dollar every time they make an phone call. What type of reinforcement is belinda using?
continuous reinforcement
Jillian, a stay at home mother, watches a lot of daytime television. During the day, charmin toilet paper runs lots of television ads. Jilian always smiles when she sees these ads because they have so many cute babies on them. When jilian is shopping at her local market, she finds herself smiling when she is in the toilet paper section, especially when she is near the charmin toilet paper. in this example, the unconditioned stimulus is (are) the
cute babies
jilian’s smiling at the cute babies is an
unconditioned response
regression
a defense mechanism in which people seem to return to an earlier developmental stage. This tends to occur around periods of stress—for example, an overwhelmed child may revert to bedwetting or thumb-sucking. Regression may arise from a desire to reduce anxiety and feel psychologically safe.
episodic memory
Episodic memory involves the ability to learn, store, and retrieve information about unique personal experiences that occur in daily life. These memories typically include information about the time and place of an event, as well as detailed information about the event itself
Episodic memory is associated with the events that take place in the life of an individual. These memories are stored in the limbic system of the brain. Semantic memory, on the other hand, is associated with some facts and figures. It is the conceptual memory that is stored in the brain of a person.
semantic memory
Semantic memory is conscious long-term memory for meaning, understanding, and conceptual facts about the world. Semantic memory is one of the two main varieties of explicit, conscious, long-term memory, which is memory that can be retrieved into conscious awareness after a long delay (from several seconds to years).
procedural memory
Procedural memory is the process of retrieving information necessary to perform learned skills. These skills may be movement based, such as tying a shoe or riding a bicycle, or they may be perceptual in nature, such as learning to read mirror-reversed text.
working memory
Working memory is a type of short-term memory that stores information temporarily during the completion of cognitive tasks, such as comprehension, problem solving, reasoning, and learning. This temporary storage does not cause any changes in the brain, since it is short-lived and momentary.
which of the following is not a reason that forgetting occurs?
1. encoding failure
2. interference
3. decay
4. regression
regression
Ronda says that she can’t study for her classes in her dorm room because her roommates make too much noise. their talking, loud music, tv programs jumble up her brain and she can’ remember what she just read. what memory issue is Ronda describing?
interference
memory occurs through 3 important processes
encoding, storage, retrieval
A research is interested in the retention of info or experience over time. What is her area of expertise?
memory
corey is at the store with his spouse. he sees a classmate from last semester up ahead in the aisle and begins to panic because he knows that he will have to say hello and introduce his spouse to his classmate, but he can’t remember their name- although he spoke to them 3 days a week at school last term. Which of the following best explains why corey can’t remember his classmate’s name?
decay
which of the following statements about sensory memory is false?
1. the info that comes into sensory memory is retained for a very long time
2. sensory memory is rather accurate
3. sensory memory is also referred to as iconic memories
4. george sperling was a researcher whose work demonstrated the basic capacities of iconic memory
1
mitch just completed his psych HW, where he took an assignment that replicated the topic: sperling research. when he attempted the whole report, he got 4 letters correct. his results are
consistent. sperling’s subjects usually averaged around 4 or 5 correct letters when they attempted the whole report
based on sperling’s result, which of the following stat about iconic memory is false?
1. the reason why only 4 or 5 letters were recalled during the whole report must have been that our visual sensory (iconic) memory can only hold that much info
2. subjects could hold most of the info in an array of 12 letters presented in 3 rows of 4 letters each
3. using whole report, sperling could demonstrate that iconic memory fades quite quickly
4. while subjects initially saw all the letters, their icon had faded away by the time they could name 4 or 5 letters
1
you’re in an unfamiliar city. you stop by the front desk at your hotel and ask the clerk for a map with directions to the cage where you’re meeting a friend for lunch. the clerk tells you that they do not have anymore free map, but they do have a map behind their desk where they can show you the route. you watch them trace the route on the map and try to memorize the route and landmarks. which of the following stat is false?
1. individuals do not retain sensory (or iconic) memories for very long. in fact, visual(or iconic) sensory memory only lasts a small fraction of a second. it is unlikely that you’ll be able to remember the route just using your iconic memory
2. human beings store info, like the info that u saw on map, rather accurately in their sensory memories
3. most of sperling’s subject restorted to guessing when their iconic memories failed them; however, they were almost always right when they guessed because they had seen the stimulus previously. if you can’t remember the map exactly, you should just guess which way to turn on the way to lunch
4. sperling showed that even though subjects initially saw all the letters, their icon had faded away by the time they could name 4 or 5 letters. So while is unlikely that you will remember the route. it doesn’t mean that you didn’t see the entire map
3
A mental framework that develops from our experiences is known as a
schema
schema help us
determine the way info is interpreted, stored, and recalled
if an experience does not fit an existing schema, it is likely to be
filtered out
the way info is stored and recalled in memory can be influenced ____by schemas
positively and negatively
your 1st professor in college was a female history prof. the history prof gave lots of quizzes and exams, but she didn’t have any hw assignments in her class. because of your ___about college prof, you now believe that your female chemistry prof won’t be giving any hw assignments
schema
ryan was born into a family that held racist views. he now has a schema that includes racist ideas. which of the following stat is false ?
1. ryan’s schema may result in dec tolerance and acceptance from other races
2. ryan’s schema is irrelevant to his experience with new people of other races
3. ryan’s schema may promote prejudiced views about indi of other races
4. Ryan’s schema may prevent him from learning new info about other races.
2
attention is defined as
the limited capacity to process info under our conscious control
you’re having fun joking around with the new boy in your school. There are some other students talking not too far away, but you don’t even realize they are there until you hear one of them say your name. this is an example of
selective attention
you have been writing that dreaded term paper all night. it’s 3am and you are very tired. you finally decide to quit and go to bed after you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over. in this example, you have lost the ability to use which kind of attention?
sustained attention
which of the following scenarios is the best example of multitasking?
fran is eating popcorn while watching a movie
____attention is what you need when you are trying to concentrate and the people near you are being very noisy
selective
___attention is what you need most when you have long, boring chapter to read
sustained
the component of working memory that plans and controls its various subsystems is called the
central executive
when Rose meets a new person, she repeats the person’s name over and over in her head in an attempt to remember that name at a later time. which part of working memory is activated by this activity?
phonological loop
Paul is driving to his friend Peter’s house for the first time. Paul has a map, but because he is on a busy highway, he can glance at the map only few mins. Between these glances, paul keeps a picture of the map in his head by using the ____component of working memory
visuo- spatial sketchpad
sylvie asks her brother Sam if she can borrow his car. Sam says she can if she will first go to the car and retrieve his Rihanna CD from his giant CD collection. So that she won’t forget which CD sam wants. Sylvie imagines a picture of Rhianna in her head while humming the song umbrella as she walks to the car. Sylvie is relying on which component (s) of working memory to help her out?
both phonological loop and visuo- spatial sketchpad
to remember a long line of numbers
chunking
procedural memory involves
learning a skill
zachary was born with a rare visual defect. He has no cone photoreceptors in his retina, there are only rods. Assuming that all other aspects of his visual system are normal, which of the following would characterize Zachary’s vision?
- poor visual acuity
- colour blindness
critic of the trichromatic theory of colour vision have indicated that this theory has a major limitation. which of the following stat most accurately reflects this limitation?
the trichromatic theory cannot explain the phenomenon of visual after effects
Sam is preparing her boyfriend’s favorite chili, and as specified in the recipe she has used 18 grams. When her boyfriend tastes the chili, he tells sam that she needs to add more salt. according to weber’s law what is the min amount of salt that sam needs to add for her boyfriend to notice that she has added more salt ? (note: the last time that Sam made the chili, her boyfriend was able to just notice a difference in the saltiness of the chili when she inc the salt in the recipe from 9 grams to 12 grams.
6 grams
cindy has decided to consult with her optometrist because although she has no prob clearly seeing objects at a distance, she notices that when she tries to read, the print seems to blurry and out of focus. after a vision test, her optometrist tells her that the lens in her eye is weak and is focusing the image behind her retina rather than on her retina. considering these findings. cindy would most likely be considered to have
hyperopia
in signal detection theory
a miss is when the stimulus was present and the participant said absent
which of the following is not true?
1. to fully taste something, one needs the sense of smell
2. because there are taste buds on the roof and back of the mouth. a person without a tongue could still experience taste
3. the centre of the tongue is relatively insensitive area with respect to taste
4. the perception of taste results from the stimulation of a particular area on the tongue
5. a taste bud consists of more than one receptor cell
4
circadian rhythms can be described as
daily beha or physiological cycle
juan is experiencing a sleep disorder. For no reason at all, he suddenly falls into sleep whether it is day or night. if he is standing at the time, he falls down due to loss of muscle tone. EEG recording indicate that he cycles directly into REM. most likely, juan is suffering from
narcolepsy
sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night’s sleep, you might have sleep apnea.
REM sleep beha disorder
a parasomnia characterized by dream-enactment behaviors that emerge during a loss of REM sleep atonia. RBD dream enactment ranges in severity from benign hand gestures to violent thrashing, punching, and kicking.
As you go from being alert, to being relaxed, to being asleep, your EEG wave patterns progress from
beta waves to alpha waves to delta waves
sandra returns to her dorm room to find her roommate Anne taking an afternoon nap. sandra is planning to make a snack and tries to wake anne to see if she is hungry. sandra has difficulty awakening anne and has to call her name several times and touch her shoulder. anne most likely in which level of sleep?
stage 4
the cognitive theory of dreaming asserts that dreams
are used to review daily events and help us problem solve
sleepwalking takes place during
stage 3 or 4 of sleep
antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia act by binding with and blocking dopamine receptor sites, thus reducing the effects of abnormally high levels of this neurotransmitter. such medications would be classified as
antagonists
it is surprising that alcohol is technically a____since most users state that they need a few drinks to get the party started. it appears that this reaction actually results from ____the inhibitory control centres in the brain
depressant, depressing
if a drug changes a bodily function in a certain way, the brain will try to adjust by producing
opposite reactions called compensatory responses
according to research, the risk of fatal drug overdose by addicts inc
when the drug is taken in an unfamiliar setting
which of the following is tammy not likely to do under hypnosis?
1. smell or taste something that is not there
2. fail to see or hear somethign that is currently occuring
3. engage in beha that she would find morally and ethically wrong
4. become more suggestible
5. regress to an earlier stage of beha
3
dark adaption
takes longer for rods
which of the following is/are considered to be a stimulus for the perception of movement?
the absolute movement of the stimulus across the retina
the relative movement of an object in relation to its background
the area of the tongue that has the highest concentration of receptors that are maximally receptive to sweet substance is
the top of the tongue
the place theory of pitch perception proposes that
the specific point on the basilar membrane in the cochlea where the fluid wave peaks and maximally bends the hair cells is used as a frequency cue
according to the principles of the opponent process theory of colour vision, if you state at a red square for an extended period of time, and then focus on a blank white screen, you well see
an after effect of a green square
all of the following are considered to be Gestalt principles except:
1. the law of proximity
2. similarity
3. disparity
4. continuity
5. closure
3
the parts of the middle ear that amplifies the sound waves (more than 30 times) is/ are the
ossicles
the reason why we cannot see things that fall on our blind spot is because
there are no receptors in the optic disk
2 weeks of final exams filled with stress and too much caffeine has caused you to suffer from the inability to fall asleep, or
insomnia
following an intense, 4 hour exam, sleep is usually deeper and lasts somewhat longer. this supports the ____theory of sleep
restoration
circadian rhythm
the 24-hour internal clock in our brain that regulates cycles of alertness and sleepiness by responding to light changes in our environment.
peripheral feedback
Peripheral feedback specifically refers to sensory feedback that is transduced outside of the central nervous system, and provides the CPG network with neural signals encoding information relevant to behavior.
according to the division of awareness theory of hypnosis, one stream of consciousness responds to the hypnotist’s suggestions, while the other stream
monitors beha while remaining in the background
4 year old Louise injured a small puppy while she was playing with it. later on when other small children are near the puppy he becomes very upset and barks loudly. this illustrates
stimulus generalization
ralph is attempting to use classical conditioning to train his dog to salivate when he hears a click. to do this he gives the dog some food and then activates his clicker 5s later. so far ralph is disappointed because his dog is not learning to salivate at the sound of the clicker. the reason why the dog is not learning is that
the 5s delay is too long
your task is to teach a dog to ring a door bell with its nose. what is the right order / right steps?
- the dog is 5 feet from the bell button
- the dog is 1 and 1/2 feet from the bell button
- the dog is standing next to the bell button
- the dog is sniffing at the bell button
- the dog is pushing the bell button
you have just returned to the dentist to have the first of several cavities filled. as you wait, with some fear, for the dentist to begin drilling you hear a rolling stones tune come on the radio in the background. by sheer coincidence when you return to have more drilling and filling you hear the same song playing while you are in the waiting room. several days later you hear the same song playing while you are driving home and you again feel scared. what is the conditioned stimulus
the rolling stones song
george was a british helicopter pilot in iraq. his helicopter was shot down during a mission and crashed in the desert. after he recovered he developed a strong fear reaction to flying and could not approach any helicopter. his therapist attempted to treat george by extinguishing the fear reaction. this was successful and george returned to flying. but one day when he approached his helicopter, he felt the full intensity of fear once again. most likely, this reflects
spontaneous recovery
a therapist teaches a client to relax while imagining giving a speech to his managers. this is part of a tech known as
systematic desensitization
master tobacco blenders learn their job by looking at, smelling and sampling hundreds of different tobacco mixtures while trying to discern smaller and smaller differences in their appearance, flavours and aromas. this is an example of
discrimination training
a lawyer escapes an unhappy family situation by going a tavern. soon she is stopping by the tavern on her way home from work everyday. avoiding her family by going to the tavern is an example of beha maintained by
negative reinforcement
sarah discovers that reading her text over the course of several evenings prior to a test in her chemistry class is a very effective study strategy. she decides to try the same tactic in preparing for her psych exam. her study beha has
generalized
dr rashinji investigates the strategies students use to solve complex physics prob. he is especially interested in what students are thinking at various stages in reaching a solution. Dr rashinji is studying
cognitive learning
a gov bureaucrat is paid a weekly salary of 2800.00. this is a
fixed interval reinforcement schedule
zack and his mom are baking cookies together for the first time. the first time the oven timer goes off, zack shows no particular response. then zack gets to eat one of the cookies from the cookie tray that his mom pulls out of the oven, causing his mouth to water. from then on, every time zack hears the oven timer, zack’s mouth begins to water. this is best described as
classical conditioning, with the sound of the oven as the conditioned stimulus
a child doesn’t hesistate to run into a room whenever he smells the perfume his mom wears, but not when he smells other perfumes. this phenomenon would be considered an example of
stimulus discrimination
whenever your sister plays her drums, you bag on the wall between your and her room to get her to stop. given the fact that she stops playing her drums, which makes you likely to bang on the wall the next time she plays, your beha is under the influence of
negative reinforcement
I tell you 3 numbers and then ask you to count backwards by 4s before asking you to recall 3 numbers. what am i trying to demonstrate?
retroactive interference
proactive interference
the interference effect of previously learned materials on the acquisition and retrieval of newer materials. An example of proactive interference in everyday life would be a difficulty in remembering a friend’s new phone number after having previously learned the old number.
iconic interference
the disruption or decay of iconic memory, which is a type of visual sensory memory that briefly holds a mental representation of visual stimuli. This interference can occur due to new incoming visual information replacing or disrupting the memory trace of the previous stimuli held in iconic memory. Essentially, it’s the fading or disruption of the fleeting visual memory trace due to new visual input.
release from interference
a phenomenon where a person’s ability to remember or recall information improves when there is a change in the characteristics of stimuli. When the context or the features of the stimuli change, it can reduce the interference caused by similarity between items in memory, leading to better recall or discrimination between items. This change helps in overcoming or reducing interference, thereby improving memory or performance in tasks requiring differentiation between similar items or stimuli.
limitations of LTM
Long-term memory (LTM) is an incredible storage system for retaining vast amounts of information over extended periods. However, it also comes with its limitations:
Memory Distortion: Memories stored in long-term memory can be prone to distortion or alteration over time. They may be influenced by various factors such as emotions, biases, or post-event information, leading to inaccuracies or false memories.
Retrieval Challenges: Although information is stored in LTM, retrieving specific details can sometimes be difficult. This phenomenon is known as the tip-of-the-tongue effect, where you know you have certain information but struggle to retrieve it momentarily.
Forgetting: Despite its large capacity, long-term memory isn’t entirely immune to forgetting. Memories can fade or become inaccessible due to interference from other memories or lack of retrieval cues.
Selective Memory: Our long-term memory isn’t always comprehensive. We tend to remember some information better than others based on factors like relevance, emotional significance, or repetition.
Limited Encoding: Not all information is encoded into long-term memory. Factors like attention, motivation, and the depth of processing influence what gets stored and what doesn’t.
Memory Disorders: Various conditions, such as amnesia or neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, can severely impair the functioning of long-term memory, affecting the retention and retrieval of information.
john was told to study the following words: book, chair, calendar, alarm, phone, lamp, pencil, and desk. later jon recalled book, chair, pencil, desk. This explains
the serial position effect
in a task where participants were to decide if a string of letters was a real word or if it was a non word, they found it was easier to decide that nurse was a real word if it was preceded by doctor than if it was preceded by yacht. this is an example of
priming (.the activation or facilitation of amental representation or concept by a stimulus, which then influences the perception, memory, or response to subsequent stimuli. Essentially, exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus, often without conscious awareness.
For instance, if someone is exposed to a word related to the concept of “ocean” (like “beach” or “waves”), they might then respond more quickly or positively to related words or images, even if they are presented subliminally or briefly afterward. This effect showcases how the initial exposure “primes” the individual’s cognitive system, affecting their subsequent thoughts or behaviors.
mnemonics
one of many memory aids that is used to create associations among facts that make it easier to remember these facts. Popular mnemonic techniques include mind mapping and peg lists. These techniques make use of the power of the visual cortex to simplify the complexity of memories.
the short term memory span of 7 plus or minus 2 refers to
the number of items that can be passed from iconic memory to STM
all things being equal, we would predict that you should do better on this exam if you’re writing in the same room where you studied and listened to the lectures. this is due to
context dependent memory
flashbulb memory
A flashbulb memory is a vivid memory about an emotionally significant event, usually a historic or other notable event. People often experience these memories in photographic detail, and can recall aspects like what they were doing when the event occurred or how they learned about what happened
retrieval congruence
a phenomenon in memory where the effectiveness of memory retrieval is influenced by the similarity between the context or conditions during encoding (when the information was initially learned) and the context or conditions during retrieval (when attempting to recall the information).
When the retrieval context matches or is congruent with the encoding context, it often leads to improved memory recall. For example, if you study in a quiet room and then take an exam in the same quiet environment, the congruence between the study environment and the exam environment can enhance your ability to remember the studied material.
Contextual cues, such as physical environment, emotional state, or surrounding stimuli, can serve as retrieval cues. When these cues are consistent or congruent with the conditions during encoding, they can trigger associations and facilitate easier retrieval of memories encoded in that particular context.
state dependent memory
a phenomenon in which memory retrieval is influenced or facilitated by a person’s internal state or condition during encoding (when the information was learned) being similar or congruent with their state during retrieval (when trying to recall the information).
prospective memory
a form of memory that involves remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time. Prospective memory tasks are common in daily life and range from the relatively simple to extreme life-or-death situations.
after 75 years of age lisa is trying very hard to recall the events of a family trip that occured when she was 2 but is only able to remember that the family took a trip and cannot recall any of the details. she is experiencing
infantile amnesia ( the phenomenon where adults have limited or no recollection of events that occurred during early childhood, typically before the age of three or four. Despite forming memories during infancy and early childhood, these memories often fade or become inaccessible as individuals grow older.)
all other kinds of amnesia
- Retrograde Amnesia: This type of amnesia refers to the inability to recall memories or events that occurred before a specific incident, such as a brain injury or trauma. Typically, individuals with retrograde amnesia have difficulty remembering events, facts, or experiences that occurred before the onset of amnesia. The extent and duration of memory loss can vary based on the cause and severity of the injury.
Anterograde Amnesia: In contrast to retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia involves the inability to form new memories after a specific event, injury, or onset of the condition. People experiencing anterograde amnesia may have intact memories of the past but struggle to create new memories or retain new information after the onset of the condition.
Global Amnesia: Global amnesia is a more extensive form of amnesia that affects both retrograde and anterograde memory. It results in a profound loss of memory, impacting the ability to recall past events (retrograde amnesia) as well as form new memories (anterograde amnesia). This type of amnesia can be caused by severe brain trauma, stroke, or certain neurological conditions.
Alzheimer’s Disease: Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. While it primarily manifests as a type of dementia, it involves both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. In the early stages, individuals may experience difficulty forming new memories (anterograde amnesia), and as the disease progresses, it often leads to the loss of previously formed memories (retrograde amnesia) and other cognitive impairments.
