Quiz 5 Flashcards
Longterm memory
The system that is responsible for storing information for long periods of time.
Two types of memory:
- Explicit
- Implicit
Explicit memory
Declarative knowledge
- Facts and events
Measure: Conscious recollection
Implicit memory
Includes procedural knowledge
- How to - process
Includes unconscious learning
- Classical and operant conditioning
Includes unconscious influence of learning
- Priming
Measure: unconscious
Types of explicit memory
- Episodic memory
- Semantic memory
Types of implicit memory
- Procedural memory
- Priming
- Classical conditioning
How can you test explicit memory?
- Recall
- Recognition
Semantic memories
Memory for facts, accessing knowledge about the world without personal experience
“Know”
Episodic memories
Memory for specific experiences in the past, mental time travel - or self-knowing and remembering
“Remember”
Knowing who is the queen of England. What type of memory is that?
Semantic
Knowing that 2+2 = 4. What type of memory is that?
Semantic
Recalling your vacation to California last summer. What type of memory is that?
Episodic
Knowing how to use chopsticks. What type of memory is that?
Implicit
Procedural memory
Memory for doing things that usually involve learned skills
Strategies to create strong encoding - Elaborative rehearsal
- Personalization (self-reference effect and enactment effect)
- Self-generation (enactment effect)
- Make it visual
- Emotional arousal
- Organizing structure
Strategies to improve retrieval
- Context cues
- Encoding specificity
- State-dependent learning
- Transfer-appropriate processing
Encoding
The process of acquiring information and transferring into LTM
Storage
The act of maintaining information in our LTM
Retrieval
Accessing and transferring information from LTM to WM
The encoding and the retrieval process are key inflection points for…
influencing whether you remember something
Does simple repetition work in LTM?
No
Elaborative repetition
Repeating info and elaborating on it
Levels of processing experiment
Shown info and then asked was it written in capital letters?
Then asked to recall the words that were seen
- Memory worst when asked about visual info rather than meaning
Conclusion: different levels of recall for different levels of encoding info
Maintenance rehearsal
Repetition without any meaning/connections
(Stays while rehearsing but doesn’t typically stick)
Elaborative rehearsal
Rehearsal which involves meaning construction
(Stays while rehearsing and sticks)
Self reference effect
People remember information that they relate to themselves better than information they don’t
Personalized/Self-reference effect study
Whether a word described you or not - People remembered these words better than those in other conditions (even better than meaning)
Enactment effect
When you do something with an object, you remember it
- When you do it you remember
- Engaging with material
Self-generated effect study
People remembered better words that they generated (fill in the blank) rather than just read
Self generation effect
People remember information they generate better than information they passively consume
Imagery experiment
Presented with nouns like boat and tree
- In one condition they were asked to form a mental picture of the two images interacting
- People who formed image performed better than people who just rehearsed words
Emotions and memory
Emotions can be associated with better memory, but it depends on the specific situation and what we mean by “better”
Emotion study
People are asked to remember different sorts of info
- When info is emotional it is recalled better right after and even a year later
Organization and memory
People remember more information if it is presented/studied in an organized format
Organization study
People given a text to read without a title or explanation of what it is. They recalled less about the text when they did not know what it was about
Most of our failures of memory are…
failures to retrieve
Cued recall
- Cue presented to aid recall
- Increased performance over free recall
- Retrieval cues most effective when created by the person who uses them
Encoding specificity
We encode information along with its context
Encoding specificity study
- Studying under water better recall under water
- Studying in land better recall in land
State-dependent learning
Memory will be better when a person’s internal state during retrieval matches their mood during encoding
State-dependent learning study mood
- Studying sad and taking a test while sad better retrieval
- Studying happy and taking the test happy better retrieval
State-dependent learning study state
- If you study high or smoke a cigarette while studying you will perform better if you’re high or smoking a cigarette
Transfer-appropriate processing
Participants performance is better when the retrieval tasks matches the encoding tasks - and specifically if the same type of processing is used at retrieval as at encoding
Transfer-appropriate processing study
- Rhyming-based encoding and rhyming-based retrieval better performance
- Rhyming-based encoding and meaning-based encoding worse performance
Rereading vs testing study (testing improves memory)
Participants were asked to read a passage and solve math problems
1. Testing + testing
2. Rereading passage + testing
- Testing group did better 2 days after and a week after
Conclusion: retrieving makes the remembered info more retrievable
Why does testing improve memory
- Generation effect
- Personalization
- Simulation (and enactment effect)
- Encoding specificity
- Transfer-appropriate processing
- Creates loss aversion
- Reduces overconfidence
Illusion of knowing/illusions of learning
- Some study techniques appear more effective than they actually are
Rereading and reviewing highlights produces fluency and familiarity but not understanding
Study of other studying misconceptions
- Retrieval practice will help you remember more words than restudying
- Spaced studying over days will help you remember better than massed (and interleaved)
Network of learned associations (Encoding)
- Things that fire together, wire together
- The more often it fires, the stronger the link
- The stronger the link, the more defining the feature
Hebbian Principle
Things that fire together, wire together
Synaptic change
The more often it fires, the stronger the link
- Structural changes at the synapse occurring due to repeated activation
Synaptic consolidation
Learning and memory in the brain occur due to physiological changes in the synapse. New memories are formed not by formation of new cells but by strengthening of connections between already existing neurons.
Retrieving network
- Concept is activated
- Activation spreads
- Spreads to strongest links
Implication of retrieving network
When you activate one concept it activates others that are most closely linked in the network. These then come to mind as well.
What determines what comes to mind when retrieving information?
- Strength of link
(stronger associations) - Breadth of cues
(lots of activated connections = lots of retrieval cues) - Recency of activation
(the more recent the activation, the more residual activation remains, the easier to re-activate, even if not the strongest association)
Forgetting curve
Learned non-sense syllables to perfection
- Within and hour more than half forgotten
- Within a month only remembered 20%
What do we remember?
- We remember important details
Rating importance of ideas
- Most important = remembered best
Children do this without being able to identify most important ideas
- So this is automatic
Galileo study
Participants were asked to read a paragraph. At a certain point they would be stopped and asked a question. Then they were asked to identify whether they had read that sentence before stopping.
- Identical (no difference)
- Semantic difference (different meaning, words similar)
- Syntactic difference (same meaning, different words)
- Word order difference (mean same word order differ)
- Immediately after very accurate
- After delay, semantic stayed the same, syntactic, order and identical got worse
Galileo study conclusions
- Vebatim (word for word) info is there early but fades quickly
- Better memory for semantic information than for syntactic information
Good at identifying main ideas (meaning)
Study on filling in missing information
(logical inference)
You read a passage and then you have to say whether you read that sentence or not.
- Box and chair
Conclusion: we use logical inference to fill in the gap
Logical inference
Conclusion that has to be true based on the information you have been given.
Study on filling in missing information (pragmatic inference)
Given 2 versions of sentence (one in each condition) - nail and hammer
- People in condition 1 made more mistakes
We draw a conclusion that could be true but is not necessarily
Pragmatic inference
Inference where most of the time you’ll be correct based on real world knowledge, but it is not always true.
What do we remember/forget?
- We forget a lot of info
- Forgetting curve - Trends in what we remember/forget
- Main details (not peripheral)
- Syntactic info - Must fill in missing details
- Logical inference
- Pragmatic inference
Is the hard drive (long-term memory) a high-fidelity device? Why or why not?
No, because it is a (re)constructive process
The DRM paradigm study - list of words
List of words including fumes, pollution, cigar.
- Participants asked “Did the list contain the word smell?”
Around half said yes (but it was not)
DRM paradigm design
Participants read a list of words and immediately after write down as many words as possible from the list they read. Typically, people include a critical lure in their list
- Meaning a word that isn’t there but that is highly similar or associated with another word on the list.
Activation processes seem to be mediated by structures in…
the medial temporal lobe
Monitoring processes are controlled by…
the frontal lobe
Activation processes
the mental activation of memory traces and associated processes
Controlled monitoring processes
related to memory decision processes that assess the value and origins of the activation
Von Restorff effect scripts/schemas
Viewed an office and then asked whether certain things were there or not.
- Remembered things consistent with experience (ex. desk)
- Remembered unexpected things
- Memory not as good if no expectations (not expected or unexpected)
- False memory for things that weren’t there but are expected to be there (ex.book)
Von Restorff effect meaning
When an item that stands out from a group is more likely to be remembered than the other items
Von Restorff’s results show that memory can be influenced by…
- Existing knowledge
- Schemas
- Script (set up expectations)
Why does the Von Restorff effect happen and why do we remember info that isn’t there?
- Activation spreads across the network
- The info that comes to mind the easiest is typically what gets sent to WM. But sometimes info can be active without being accurate simply because it is activated by neighboring concepts.
Script and schema definition
- Script: a person’s conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience
- Schema: a person’s knowledge about some aspect of the environment
Explicit memory can be changed
- Encoding: can be biased by information/context at the time we store the info
- Storage: can be biased by all of our other experiences
- Retrieval: can be biased by information/context at the time we retrieve the info
Evidence you can manipulate memory
- Study of US military; prisoner of war, 30 minute interrogation, misidentify interrogator
- Lost in shopping mall (implanted in 25% of participants)
- Attacked by a vicious dog (implanted in 50%)
Memory can be manipulated - car crash study
How fast were the cars going when they hit/smashed?
A week after
- “Did you see broken glass?”
- When using smashed more people thought they saw broken glass
Memory can be manipulated - car crash study CONCLUSION
- Memory is “constructive” and can be manipulated
- What happens when we code memories affects how we later recall them
In the car crash study about memory, there is noise in the …. process
encoding
War of Ghosts study
British students read a Native American story “War of Ghosts”. Then later asked to recall the story.
- Their memory of facts was distorted to more “British concepts”
- Over time, memory became more distorted more similar to semantics of someone who is British
War of Ghosts study CONCLUSION
- Stored memories become distorted over time based on our own experiences
- New memories are ‘filed’ and ‘kept’ in the old network which influences this storage
In the War of the Ghosts study about memory, there is noise in the ….
maintenance of memories
Memory formation in the brain
New memories are fragile. When we encode a memory, we are creating connections between the cortex and the hippocampus. These connections need to be reinforced otherwise they are weakened and eventually vanished. That is why we need consolidation.
Consolidation
The process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state, in which they are resistant to disruption
Muller and Pilzecker study (nonsense syllables)
- Immediate group learned one list and immediately learned second list of nonsense syllables.
- Delay group learned first and waited six minutes before learning 2nd.
Participants in delay group remembered more.
- Presenting another list to group 1 immediately after interrupted the forming of a stable memory in the first list.
Reactivation (in consolidation)
A process in which the hippocampus ‘replays’ the neural activity associated with a memory.
- Occurs outside of consciousness and long after the event/object is gone
How consolidation creates stable memories
- When you encode a memory, you are creating connections between the cortex and the hippocampus
- As time passes, activity occurs between hippocampus and cortex (reactivation)
- Over time, connections are formed between the cortical areas and the connections between the hippocampus and the cortex are weakened/vanished
Gais study about memory consolidation and sleep
Had to learn pairs of words
- Sleep group
- Awake group
Sleep group performed better
Gais study about memory consolidation and sleep CONCLUSION (explanation)
Memory consolidation appears to be enhanced during sleep
- Sleeping stops interference from environmental stimulus
Some memories are consolidated more than others
- Memory for tasks was stronger when participants expected to be tested after awaking
- Sleep selectively rehearses ‘important’ information
Hellen Keller study - retrieval
Read a passage about a young girl who had behavioral problems.
After reading
- Told it was about Helen Keller
- Told it was about Carol Harris
“Did the passage say the girl was deaf, blind and mute?”
- 50% of those who were told the passage was about Helen Keller said yes
Reconsolidation
Mechanism for updating memories.
- When a memory is retrieved, it becomes fragile again, like when it was originally former. When in this fragile state, it needs to be consolidated again. It is in this fragile, active stage that the retrieved memory can be changed, strengthened or erased.
At what point of memory retrieval can memory be changed, strengthened or erased?
When a memory is retrieved before reconsolidation
Weaknesses of explicit memory
- Memory is for gist
- Memory is (re)constructed
- Memory is not reality
Can memory be changed at encoding, storage and retrieval? Or only in encoding and retrieval?
Encoding, storage and retrieval
Wells et al - eyewitness case
Woman who was raped and blamed the wrong man. Reconstruction of memory.
Reasons for misidentifications in Eye witness testimonies
- Attention gets hijacked (weapon focus)
- Misinformation is introduced
- Feelings of familiarity (bystander could be mistakenly identified as perpetrator because of familiarity from other context)
Solutions to misidentifications in eye witness
- Let the witness tell the story without interruption
- Reinstate conditions: place back at crime scene (encoding specificity)
- Use reverse order
What returns memories to their fragile condition?
retrieval
Solutions for line-ups
- Use double-blind procedures
- Care in composing line-up (blend of similar characteristics)
- Wording
(may or may not contain suspect)
(yes, no, not sure) - Successive presentations, not simultaneous
Is hypnosis a good technique to remember events accurately?
No
- Generate lots of info even if it’s not accurate
- Don’t weed things out that are wrong
- Misinformation effects
Brain fingerprinting
Using ERP to see brain activity in response to knowledge that only the person that committed the crime should have - “Mermer”
Farwell’s guilty knowledge test
Only criminals have memories from crime. Measure brain activity when displayed with information and look for mermer.
Psychogenic amnesia
Relatively rare in the real world
- Due to psychological, not physical trauma
- Loss of episodic/biographical information (retrograde)
Organic amnesia
Due to physical trauma in the brain
- Accidents or surgery
Hippocampal amnesia
Diseases and damage that affect the hippocampus will produce anterograde amnesia
What are the 2 types of organic amnesia?
- Anterograde amnesia
- Retrograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to learn new explicit information after trauma
- After
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve explicit information from prior to trauma
- Usually temporally-graded
- Pure form is rare
Korsakoff syndrome
A chronic memory disorder caused by severe deficiency of thiamine
- Produces profound anterograde amnesia but can also produce retrograde
- Most commonly caused by alcohol misuse
Clive Wearing
Contracted herpes
- Anterograde and retrograde amnesia (total amnesia)
Unable to store new memories, associate memories and control his emotions
Herpes encephalitis
A cause of amnesia.
- Neurological disorder characterised by inflammation of the brain
Clive Wearing is an example of intact WM and impaired LTM (single dissociation)
Intact WM
- Understand language and responds appropriately
- Can remember what she just said
Some LTM okay
- Plays piano
- Remembers wife
- Remembers some historical references
- Doorbell rings he opens door
Impaired LTM
- Doesn’t know current events
- Doesn’t know most family members
- Lives in the moment with no idea what just happened
Patient KF is an example of …
Impaired WM
- Tiny STM
LTM intact
- His LTM system was unaffected as shown by tests
Clive Wearing is an example of …
intact WM and impaired LTM
Clive Wearing and KF show a …
double dissociation of WM and LTM
Patient HM and Parkinson’s patients show a …
double dissociation of WM and LTM
Parkinson’s
- Intact LTM
- Impaired WM
What is behavioral evidence of separate systems of WM and LTM?
Serial position curve
Serial position effect (WM and LTM)
Serial position (best memory for beginning and end words)
- Primacy: LTM
- Recency: WM
Getting rid of recency
- Delay
Change in rate (faster)
- Reduces primacy effect
Clive Wearing also shows differences in implicit and explicit
Implicit intact
- Piano
- Doorbell rings
Explicit before (mostly intact)
- Remembers wife
- Remembers some historical info
Explicit after (impaired)
- Doesn’t know fam ily or current events
H.M impaired vs unimpaired performance
Impaired
- No new facts
- Doesn’t remember learning behaviors
Unimpaired
- Remembers info before accident
- Rememeber how to do things
- Learn new behaviors
Mirror reading - amnesic performance (clinical evidence)
- New words
- About same performance
(implicit) - Old words
- Control better than amnesic (implicit + explicit)
Tower of Hanoi - Amnesic performance
- Implicit memory
(Number of moves to solution - making the tower)
Both amnesiacs and controls show similar rates of improvement but amnesiacs don’t recall doing the test from one testing session to the next
Priming study part 2 - word fragment completion
- View list of words
- Complete fragments
Recall: what words did you see previously?
Priming: complete fragments with first word that comes to mind
Result: amnesiacs show normal priming but poor recall memory
Lexical decision task
Participants presented with words. Some are real words and some are nonsense words. They are primed before the lexical decision. Reaction times are speeded for targets that are similar to the prime.
PET Imaging Evidence: Explicit vs Implicit (Healthy)
Subjects presented with list of words.
Then PET.
- Visually presented 20 three-letter word stems (10 of which could be completed using previously studied words)
- Explicit task: say the word from the list that completes the stem
- Implicit task: say the first word that comes to mind
Explicit results: hippocampus and frontal lobe activity
Implicit results: posterior visual area activity
Explicit memory is associated with what areas of the brain?
- Frontal lobe
- Hippocampus
Implicit memory is associated with what areas of the brain?
- Occipital
- Posterior Visual activity
Behavioral evidence: explicit vs implicit - Modality study (Jacoby)
Learn a list of words (some auditory some visual)
Explicit test:
Visually presented, yes-no recognition test
Result: No difference for auditory and visual words
Implicit test: visually presented priming test. Subjects had to name word.
Result: faster if word had also been visual in study phase than if word had been auditory.
Conclusion: modality of presentation affects implicit but not explicit
Behavioral evidence: explicit vs implicit - Depth of processing experiment (Bowers)
Learn a list of words
1. rate how pleasant they are
2. respond with a word that rhymes
Explicit test: recall the words
Explicit result: better recall for words learned with ‘deeper’ encoding strategy
Implicit test: priming - fragment completion = likelihood of using previously learned word
Implicit results: No difference in levels of processing on the likelihood of completing using a previously learned word.
Conclusion: depth of processing affects explicit but not implicit
Dissociative amnesia
The predominant disturbance is one or more episodes of inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness
Study on memory and emotion
Shown emotional and neutral words
- Participants remembered emotional words better even in the longer term
Emotion can enhance our memory
Emotion influences consolidation in the sense that…
consolidation processes act more strongly with emotional material
How does emotion influence consolidation?
Emotion increases synaptic change
- Short-term change in synaptic structure
(emotional stimuli excite the brain more effectively than neutral stimuli, so their contiguous firing may be more easily detected - leading to greater ‘wiring together’) - Long-term change in synaptic structure
(not all emotional response is captured, those memories that seem to have more emotional significance are the ones that get consolidated)
Flashbulb memories
Vivid and long-lasting memories, refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding a public and highly charged event
Now Print memories
Occur under highly emotional circumstances, are remembered for long periods of time, and are especially vivid and detailed
Flashbulb memories vs Everyday memories study
Participants tested a few years after about memories
Results:
- Vividness and confidence higher for flashbulb memories
- But fewer details and more errors over time
Conclusion: our confidence is higher with flashbulb memories
How emotion influences memory
- Emotion creates stronger memories
- Emotion creates more vivid memories
- Different emotions influence memory differently
Memory and pictured (frames) - Davachi
Some neutral and some negative pictures. Pictures framed in different colors. They had to say whether they had seen the picture before or not.
Results:
- More likely to remember emotional
- Not easy to name color of the frame
Conclusion: emotion enhances memory for main elements of an event but reduces memory for peripheral details
Positive vs negative emotions on memory study
Negative emotions:
- Tunnel memory: better central not peripheral info
Positive emotions:
- Better central and peripheral info
Source monitoring
the process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge and beliefs
