Psych U3 AOS2 Flashcards

Question

Sensory memory

Answer 1

Briefly store raw info detected by senses Capacity - unlimited storage Duration - 0.2 – 4 seconds Sub types - Iconic memory (visual memory, 0.2 - 0.4 second duration, allows us to perceive the world as continuous) - Echoic memory (auditory information, 3 – 4 seconds, allows us to get meaning from sounds) - Haptic memory (info specific to physical touch, <2 seconds)

Answer 2

Function - Actively work on and manipulate information, encode info to LTM (manipulating ca involve updating, adding, changing info) - Holds a limited amount of info that is consciously attended to and actively manipulated Capacity - 7 ± 2 (5 – 9) - Displacement  when STM is full, new items are added by ‘pushing’ old items - Chunking  grouping bits of separate info into larger parts Duration - 18 – 30 seconds - By about 18 sec, almost all of the info disappears if it has not been renewed - If after 30 sec, info no manipulated will be permanently lost (decay) - Decay is prevented by rehearsal

Answer 3

Function - Stores potentially unlimited amount of info (capacity) for a possibly permanent time (duration) - Memories encoded from STM that exist in useable form - Info can be retrieved from LTM and brought back to STM when needed - Forgetting: unable to retrieve info from LTM store Capacity - Potentially unlimited Duration - Possibly permanent

Answer 4

Strengths - Distinguishes between different stores involved in memory - Outlines that each memory store has different capacity and duration - Provides understanding of the structure and process of memory - Other memory studies support the distinction of STM and LTM  explains why amnesia patients struggle to retrieve memories from LTM/encoding info from STM to LTM Weaknesses - May be oversimplified - STM is more complex than model suggests, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) propose that STM is not just a singular store but has different components within it - Ignores factors like motivation and strategy, that facilitate learning and assist in encoding info from STM to LTM - Model proposed that rehearsal was necessary for info to be transferred to LTM, studies now show that this can occur without rehearsal

Answer 5

primarily involved in encoding the emotional components of memories - ‘fear centre’ of brain - Detects emotionally arousing experience, signals to hippocampus that it is meaningful; enhances strength of memory

Answer 6

stores explicit memories

Answer 7

involved in encoding and storing implicit memories, specifically those related to habit formation, procedural sequences of movement and reward pathways. - Encodes and stores memories that are unconsciously retrieved (habits) - Encodes and stores memories related to reward processing, supporting learning that is driven by feedback - Encodes and stores procedural memories related to motor skills and sequential movements through its connection with the cerebellum (Radhakrishnan et al, 2023)

Answer 8

encodes and stores implicit memories, specifically those related to unconscious habits, simple reflexes or procedural sequences or precise movements - brain structure that encodes and temporarily stores implicit procedural memories - enables precise fine motor movements (balance and posture) - encodes and stores memories of behavioural responses that have been acquired through classical conditioning (Thompson & Steinmetz, 2009)

Answer 9

hypothetical situations or experiences that an individual can create and conceptualise in their mind

Answer 10

fMRI studies found damaged hippocampus affects memory of past events and imagining futures

Answer 11

neurodegenerative disease characterised by the progressive loss of neurons in the brain, resulting in memory decline

Answer 12

- Decreased cognitive function - Personality change - Mood changes - Confusion/disorientation - Early symptoms include anterograde amnesia - inability to encode and store new explicit memories - Later symptoms include retrograde amnesia – inability to retrieve previously stored long term explicit memories

Answer 13

accumulation of tiny fragments of the protein beta-amyloid which form insoluble plaques in the synapse (outside of neurons) which inhibits neural communication

Answer 14

abnormal build of tau protein which creates insoluble tangles that inhibits transportation of essential substances, leading to the death of neurons

Answer 15

low levels lead to memory impairment and cognitive deficiencies

Answer 16

neurons become damaged (from plaques and tangles) and brain tissue shrinks and eventually dies

Answer 17

- fMRI, CT or MRI show loss of brain mass, particularly in hippocampus at first - PET scans provide images of brain activity based on blood flow by injecting a dye into the bloodstream, oxygen consumption or glucose use which reveal neural abnormalities (plaques and tangles) - These scans can’t show microscopic lesions

Answer 18

phenomenon in which individuals lack the capacity to generate mental imagery - affects 2-5% of the population - No known cause - Congenital (can be born with it) / Acquired - No ‘mind’s eye’

Answer 19

- Visual imagery involves network of brain activity spanning from visual cortex areas at the back of brain, to cortex areas involved in attention and decision making - fMRIs show connection between these areas is weaker - Suggested visual cortex may be underactive - Zeman, et al 2021 found aphantasia patients had less vivid and detailed autobiographical memories - suggests autobiographical memory retrieval is dependent on vividness of mental imagery

Answer 20

techniques used to assist the encoding, storage and retrieval of long-term explicit memories - Require individuals to consciously organise and link new explicit info to fit in with existing info in LTM - enhances organisation in long term memories

Answer 21

items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific positions or locations

Answer 22

1. Visualise familiar route 2. Select several memorable places (landmarks) on the route 3. Create visual imagery for each item needing remembering. Creating funny/bizarre imagery strengthens likelihood of the item being remembered (Varilias, 2019) 4. Link each item to one of the identifiable memorable landmarks 5. Imagine walking the familiar route and retrieving each item by observing the items at each landmark

Answer 23

stories that share important cultural, ecological and survival information through use of singing, harmony and rhythm - Performed in ritualistic way, shares important cultural elements  moral teachings, law land use, astronomical, navigational and survival info - Enhances encoding, transferring and retrieval of vital cultural information

Answer 24

sequence of short sung narratives associated with specific locations that are linked by a physical or imagined walk through country - knowledge is patterned on country - Landscapes and portable objects act as retrieval cues for the songline, enabling sufficient encoding and retrieval of vital cultural knowledge from LTM, as well as the direction to travel - Singing info in songs focuses its meaning and provides vivid descriptions which is more memorable than a list of isolated factors

Answer 25

Similarities - both create associations between conceptual knowledge and spatial locations - both use locations along a travelled route as a 'spatial scaffold' for encoding and retrieval of sequences of info both excellent for retaining info about an order or sequence Differences - songlines encode info intimately related to landscape loci involves arbitrary relationships between places and knowledge - songlines encode through kinship networks - loci involves encoding for the individual