Semantic Memory

Question 1

Semantic memory

Answer 1

general knowledge about the world
- where the city of Paris is
-general vocab
- what kinds of animals can be pets
specific expert knowledge
- expert in my own life
- kind of person who likes coffee, go to concerts
- specific vocab- know a series very well or characters

Question 2

Remembering getting your driver’s license is
________. Remembering how to parallel park is
________.
A. Semantic knowledge; an episodic memory
B. An episodic memory; semantic knowledge
C. Procedural memory; declarative memory
D. Implicit memory; explicit memory

Answer 2

B. An episodic memory; semantic knowledge
- for most people if we have our drivers license it is small number, very specific event. Rules we are supposed to follow, understand that we need certain space

Question 3

Semantic vs Episodic- differences

Answer 3

declarative memory systems
some functions and systems are different however they also share functions and systems.
they share info with each other because info from episodic memory can be semantizied.
first time we hear a new word it is episodic, but the more we hear it it becomes semantic.
our episodic memories become semantic when we have enough of them.

Question 4

Double Dissociation

Answer 4

damage to one area hurts area 1 and damage b does damage to area 2
evidence that function can be localized to those area
stronger evidence than a single dissociation
possibility 1: brain area is not involved in second process
possibility 2: it is involved but other areas have picked up the slack for second process

Question 5

Example: Aphasia
Broca’s aphasia (difficulty
speaking)
Wernicke’s aphasia (difficulty
comprehending meaning

Answer 5

language comprehension and production are independent process with different areas in the brain that support them

Question 6

Double Dissociation: Semantic vs Episodic

Answer 6

damage to the hippocampus caused significant impairment for new episodic deficits but not to semantic
damage to the anterior, towards the front, temporal lobes causes semantic deficits but not episodic

this is evidence that there is separability between episodic and semantic memory

Question 7

Semantic vs Episodic

Answer 7

some knowledge is clearly semantic vs episodic
sometimes they overlap
what usually happens when you were in kindergarten?

Question 8

STUDY: Renault vs et all
overlap

Answer 8

Asked participants a series of questions that tapped
into a variety of memory types
Episodic: “Did you drink coffee this morning?” specifically think back to your life
Semantic: “Do many people drink coffee?” general question about world
Autobiographical: “Do you drink coffee every day?” think about one self
Repeated personal events: “Have you drunk coffee
while shopping?
results: turns out that when we ask semantic question the N400 is the biggest, when we ask episodic question the
autobio: we can see red and green fall in between blue and black, brain is doing a little semantic access.

autobiographical an repeated events are in between semantic and episodic, there is seperation but sometimes they can overlap

Question 9

Which of the following is statements about semantic
memory is NOT true?
A. Semantic memory can be dissociated from
episodic memory in patients with brain disorders.
B. Semantic memory can be dissociated from
episodic memory in electrophysiology.
C. The hippocampus is important for semantic
memory.
D. Some memories seem to straddle the line between
episodic and semantic memory.

Answer 9

C. The hippocampus is important for semantic
memory.
- it is important, but not as important as anterior areas

Question 10

Concepts

Answer 10

grouping of information that represents things out in the world: objects, events, features
objects: cats, info about the way cats usually are
events: birthdays, balloons
feature: fuzzy, colors

Question 11

Different types of concepts

Answer 11

superordinate: vegetable
basic: tomato
subordinate: cherry tomato

Question 12

Organization:
Hierarchal Network Theory

Answer 12

how are concepts organized??
Collins and Quillian (1969)
Information is arranged in a hierarchy of concepts
- different levels of organization
Broader concepts contain more specific ones
Features are stored at the top level to which they apply

Question 13

Hierarchal Network Theory

Answer 13

canart: is yellow and sing bluebird: is bluebird is blue
stored in category of birds
but also in categories of animals
if we have to verify a statement, then we have to move up 3 levels in the hier
predicts that it will be easier to verify features that are the same level as the concepts
Is a canary yellow? Fast!
Is a canary a bird? Medium
Does a canary have skin? Slow

Question 14

Problems with Hierarchal Network Theory
STUDY: Rips, Shoben, and Smith (1973)

Answer 14

1) everyone has to belong to one category and that one only
2) experimental findings- categorizing things are not really as stable. People can think a pupmkin is a fruit one week than a vegetable the next
3) does not account for atypical and typical things
Asked participants to verify statements about typical
and atypical category members
Typical
“Is a robin a bird?”
Atypical
“Is a penguin a bird?
the theory predicts the robin and penguion are in the same hierarchal network it should be fast BUT when that found
faster to say yes that a robin is a word than say that a peguin is a word

Question 15

Spreading Activation Theory
STUDY Collins and Loftus (1975)

Answer 15

Concepts are linked to each other based on how
semantically similar they are
sematic distance’
robin is closed to bird because they are traits
dover is sort of close
and pengiun is the farthest from a bird

Question 15

Spreading activation theory
Rose et al. (2019)

Answer 15

Rose et al. (2019)
Asked to name pictures in the presence of a distractor
if we have 2 distractors it is easier to
distance distractors created less interferance thats why naming was easier in therir presence

Question 16

Problems Spreading activation theory

Answer 16

suggest that each concept has a fixed representation
suggest that a concept is represented by one node (a network of things and the dots betwen the things)
hard to mesure semantic distance
2 birds are more similar than a bird and tomato but mathematically it is hard to understand

Question 17

Participants are asked to verify the sentences “A
dolphin is a mammal” and “A dog is a mammal.” What
does Hierarchical Network Theory predict?
A. That the verification times will be the same
B. The verification time for “A dog is a mammal” will
be longer
C. The verification time for “A dolphin is a mammal”
will be longer
D. That participants will not categorize these animals
as mammals

Answer 17

A. That the verification times will be the same
moving the same hierarchical levels to get to mammal

Question 18

Schemas

Answer 18

is knowledge that averages common features across multiple experiences. w

Question 19

Types of schemas

Answer 19

Script: a schema that is laid out over time, typically
with a goal in mind
- layed out over time, not just an idea
Ex. getting dressed, ordering a coffee
Frame: a knowledge structure with some fixed
information, and some interchangeable info
Ex. A car, almost always has wheels. different number of doors and seats
– always has wheels, may have two or four
doctors

Question 20

Concepts vs schema

Answer 20

concept; ONLY refer to a single thing
a cat
schema: are larger and more flexible; cay vary when there is a rush, flexible structure
building or university

Question 21

Neuroscience Evidence : STUDY Bier et al. (2013)
semantic dimentia

Answer 21

have difficulty with concepts but not with schemas
Patients with semantic dementia can describe scripts
like getting dressed, but have difficulty with concepts

Question 22

Which of the following is the best example of a script?
A. A gas station
B. Going to the movies
C. Thanksgiving dinner foods
D. A dog

Answer 22

B. Going to the movies

Question 23

Using Schemas

Answer 23

positive things that help cognition
make the world more predictble
reduce cognitive load- if we have some idea of what to expect, we do not have to process all information

Question 24

STUDY: Schema Auckland, Cave, and Donnelly
(2007)
random objects in game vs objects that fit

Answer 24

Asked participants to identify objects that were
presented brief
things that are all used when playing games, similar game pieces
and gave random objects
results: people are better at identifying items in context than out of context across all conditions
schemas help people in difficult tasks

Question 25

Problems with Schemas

Answer 25

can result us overgeneralizations, and harmful side affects
Ex. stereotypes
May also result in incorrect memories
Ex. Brewer and Treyens (1981)
How often are schemas misleading us?

Question 26

Steyvers and
Hemmer (2012)- diining tables

Answer 26

instead of having a fake room, tested how many times di dinning rooms have a table
results: fpr objects that appear in all 5 scenes are easier to recall, objects that appear a little bit are also easier to recall
the amount of real life erros is less than we would think