Semantiskt minne

Question 1

Vad e semantiskt minne

Hippocampal amnesia - intact semantic memory for information acquired before onset of amnesia(to which extent they can acquire new memory after is unclear), but episodic memory is fucked up

Answer 1

Semantic memory: It is an individual’s store of knowledge about the world. The content of semantic memory is abstracted from actual experience and is therefore said to be conceptual - generalized and without reference to any specific experience

Question 2

Relationen mellan semantiskt och episodiskt minne

Answer 2

Från bok: Semantic & episodic systems are separate but interdependent. Autobiographical facts and repeated personal events activate brain regions both associated with semantic and episodic memory
Från föreläsning: Episodiskt minne delar mycket med semantiskt minne som det kommer från men episodiskt minne har egenskaper semantiskt minne inte har (recently evolved, late-developing, early-deteriorating, past-oriented system, mer sårbart för skador och sjukdomar)

Question 3

Semantic dementia

Answer 3

Progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of semantic memory. always involves degeneration of anterior frontal temporal lobes(but other areas are also often damaged). Severe loss of concept knowledge from semantic memory, but reasonably intact episodic memory and (most) cognitive functions.

Question 4

Förklara eller rita upp ett nätverk enligt hierarchical network theory

Answer 4

Mkt enklare m bild pallar nt försöka skriva svaret i ord.

Men här e facts som nt egentligen va med i frågan:
(enligt denna teorin går bör d gå snabbare att besvara frågan “kan fåglar flyga?” än “kan kanariefåglar flyga?” pga mer separation i hierarkin)
Finns dock argument o studier som visar mot, t.ex typicality effect

Question 5

Spreading-activation theory

Answer 5

• Assumes semantic memory is organized on the basis of semantic relatedness/semantic distance.
• according to this theory, the appropriate node in semantic memory is activated when we see, hear or think about a concept.
• activation then spreads rapidly to other concepts, with greater activation for concepts semantically closely related

Question 6

Proposed 3 levels of hierarchical organization of concepts

Answer 6

1. Superordinate categories(item of furniture)
2. Basic-level categories(Chair)
3. Subordinate categories(easy chair)

• We have strong preferences for Basic-level categories(most of the times this level provides the best balance between informativeness and distinctiveness)
• Howeverthis doesnt necessarily mean that level processes faster; subordinate processing can be fast in cases of individual familiarity(ex. Faster to identify eiffel tower as eiffel tower than tower), and in a lot of studies superordinate categories have been shown to be faster processed(ex. “Vehicle or animal is faster than “cat or dog?”)

Question 7

Characteristics of concept representations according to the traditional viewpoint

Answer 7

1. Abstract in nature and as such detached from input(sensory) and output (motor) processes
2. Stable in that any given individual uses the same representation of a concept on different occasions
3. Different people generally have fairly similar representations of any given concept

Question 8

Sandwich theory

Answer 8

en problematiserande beskrivning av teorier där kognition(including concept processing) är “sandwiched” mellan perception och aktion men ses som nästan helt separat från dem

Question 9

Situated simulation theory

Answer 9

• Teori om konceptrepresentation som Tkr alla punkter i den traditionella synen är fel
• vi processar sällan koncept i isolering. Vi processar dom istället i olika settings och processningen påverkas av the current context or setting (concept processing is influenced by out current goals and the major features of the situation)
• olika studier har kollat på aktivering i hjärnområden associerade med perceptuell processing och med motoriska områden när de tänker på olika typer av koncept

(Det verkar som att både den traditionella synen o denna e korrekt när det kommer till variation i koncept över tid; koncept har en stabil core och concept processing är context-dependent)

Question 10

Hub-and-spoke model

Answer 10

• Spokes: consist of several modality-specific brain areas where sensory and motor processing occurs
• Hubs: Each concept has a hub - a general, modality-independent unified conceptual representation that provides an efficient way of integrating our knowledge of any given concept. - Assumed to be located in anterior temporal lobes

Question 11

Teorin om semantic dementia baserad på Hub-and-spoke model

Answer 11

Based on this theory, it was theorized that semantic dementia involves progressive loss of “hub”-information causing a blurring of the boundaries separating category members from nonmembers(Mayberry, sage and lambon ralph, 2011)
* They predicted that patients with semantic dementia would have particular problems with making accurate predictions with two kinds of stimuli:
1. Atypical category members(ex emu = atypical bird)
2. Noncategory members resembling category members(ex butterfly resembles bird)
- both predictions were supported

+ bonus fact: Evidence shows that patients with damaged to areas involved in only 1-2 spokes have category specific deficiencies(ex. Color, taste, function, smell, visual motion)

Question 12

Personal semantics

Answer 12

Aspects of one’s own personal or autobiographical memory combining elements of episodic memory and semantic memory.

Question 13

Semanticization

Answer 13

The phenomenon of episodic memories changing into semantic memories over time.
Typicality effect
The finding that the time taken to decide a category member belongs to a category is less for typical than atypical members.
Semantic priming The finding that word processing is facilitated by the prior presentation
of a semantically related word.

Question 14

Category-specific deficits

Answer 14

Disorders caused by brain damage in which semantic memory
is disrupted for certain semantic categories (e.g., living things)

Question 15

Schemas

Answer 15

“Superordinate knowledge structures that reflect abstracted commonalities across multiple experiences”

Question 16

4 necessary and sufficient features of schemas(according to Ghosh and Gilboa, 2014):

Answer 16

1. Associative structure: Schemas consist of interconnected units
2. Basis in multiple episodes: schemas consist of integrated information based on several similar events
3. Lack of unit detail: this follows from the variability of events from which any given schema is formed
4. Adaptability: schemas change and adapt as they are updated in the light of new information

Question 17

Concepts vs schemas

Answer 17

Assumed distinction between two major types of information in semantic memory
1) abstract concepts generally corresponding to individual words
2) broader and more flexible organizational structures based on schemas

Question 18

Scripts A

Answer 18

form of schema containing information about a sequence of events (e.g., those
occurring during a typical restaurant meal).

Question 19

Frames

Answer 19

A type of schema in which information about objects and their properties is stored.

Question 20

Vad kan studier av personer med olika typer av demens säga oss om separationen mellan koncept och scheman

Answer 20

• People w semantic dementia detected as many semantic errors as sequencing errors.
• temporo-frontal dementia patients failed to detect twice as many sequencing errors as semantic errors- they had relatively intact semantic knowledge of concept, but fairly severe impairment of script-based knowledge relating to sequencing.
  Massa andra studier
  =
• semantic memory for concepts centers on the anterior temporal lobe(patients w damage to this area have severely impaired concept memory)
• semantic memory for scripts or schemas involves the prefrontal cortex(especially ventromedial prefrontal cortex)
  although, when we use our script knowledge (ex preparing a meal), it is important to access relevant concept knowledge(ex knowledge about ingredients) - so patients w semantic dementia also have great difficulties in accessing and using script knowledge

Question 21

Usefulness of schemas

Answer 21

• allows us to form realistic expectations of immediate future(makes world predictable)
• enable us to draw inferences(thus important for listening and reading)
• Help to prevent cognitive overload(simpler and less demanding to use schema information rather than engage in detailed cognitive processing
• schematic information can assist us when we are trying to recognize an object
• the adaptability of schemas is useful(we can update or modify schemas according as to reflect the current environmental conditions)

Question 22

Bad things abt schemas

Answer 22

• Schematic knowledge can lead to recall errors confirming that knowledge(t.ex i ett kontor minns folk att dom sett böcker även om det nt fanns några böcker)
• stereotyping can be bad

Question 23

Rationalization

Answer 23

A term introduced by Bartlett to refer to the tendency in story recall to produce errors conforming to the rememberer’s cultural expectations.

Question 24

Ecological validity

Answer 24

The extent to which research findings (especially laboratory ones) can be generalized to everyday life.