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Mind, Brain and Behavior > Test 2: Learning, Memory, and Amnesia > Flashcards

Test 2: Learning, Memory, and Amnesia Flashcards

1
Q

What causes the brain to change its functioning?

A

Experience

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2
Q

Learning

A

How experience changes the brain

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3
Q

Memory

A

how changes are stored and reactivated

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4
Q

What did Ebbinghaus study

A

Retention of nonsense syllables

Consonant-vowel-consonant and all consonants

These have no emotional connotations or past experiences to connect to

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5
Q

Ebbinghaus - savings score

A

relearning ability

you learn forgotten material faster the second time around

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6
Q

What discoveries did Ebbinghaus make

A

primacy and recency effects

curve of forgetting

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7
Q

Primacy effect

Recency effect

Example of how to eliminate during studying

A

Remember things at the beginning better - no prior knowledge can interfere

Later material is remembered better - no post-material can interfere

Mixing up notecards

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8
Q

Lashley

What did he study and for what purpose

What was his method and how did it work out?

A

Studied memory organization

Searched for an engram: memory trace (a map of routes)

Had animals learn a task, then removed parts of the cortex one by one to figure out where memory was stored

He could never find a specific location for the trace

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9
Q

Describe the parts of the brain involved in memory formation (in general)

How do memories appear to be stored and how are they organized

A

Many regions along with the cortex are involved

In cortex, organized in a distributed and meaningless way

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10
Q

Penfield

A

First to use electrical stimulation to directly activate the cortex during brain surgery

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11
Q

Hebb

Who was he?

What did he believe about STM and LTM

A

A student of Lashley

STM is an active process, it’s short, there is no trace or engram, like writing an address on an envelope – no memory beyond

LTM is formed by structural changes in the brain

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12
Q

What did Hebb believe happened when you learn something?

What did he believe about cell assembly?

A

Loops of neurons become interconnected when you learn something - the repeated activation of those loops

Cell assemblies are connected neurons

Must have activation in some cells of assembly for memory

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13
Q

3 steps to remember something

A

Acquire

Retain

Retrieve

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14
Q

3 stages of memory

A

working memory

short term memory

long term memory

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15
Q

working memory

A

info held in for a few seconds - just long enough for you to use it

the brain’s “scratch pad”

involves ACTIVE CONSCIOUS PROCESSING

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16
Q

Short term memory

A

Passive storage + automated subconscious processing

lasts, seconds, minutes, possibly longer

not necessarily manipulated

ex: mental grocery list

holds 5-9 items

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17
Q

Chunking

How is it useful

What does it do

Example

What brain process is it an example of

A

can increase the capacity of STM

organizes items into a familiar and manageable unit

acronyms

example of an executive function of the prefrontal cortex

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18
Q

Long term memory

What is it

What helps STM info get to LTM

A

permanent info storage

repetition (rehearsal) helps transform STM info to LTM

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19
Q

Working memory: “where” system

What is it involved in

What part of brain

It’s development

A

spatial location

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

develops slowly during year one

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20
Q

Working memory: “what” system

A

object recognition

orbitoprefrontal cortex

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21
Q

2 types of experimental tasks for spatial working memory

A

delayed response task

A not B task

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22
Q

What happens in a delayed response task

A

Put food in a well

Barrier goes up for a view seconds

animal must remember which well food was put in

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23
Q

A not B task

Who and what

Describe method

Results

What do the results mean

A

Piaget

delayed response but for humans

object is moved from A to B; delay; must retrieve

Youngest children would forget object ever moved - begin to start tolerating about 8 - 10 seconds around 1.5 years

This means the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex develops slowly

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24
Q

What part of the brain is associated with STM?

What does it include?

What does it play a role in?

How is it involved in memory process overall

A

Medial temporal lobe

Hippocampus and entorhinal cortex

Memory consolidation

Involved in forming a memory but NOT permanent storage

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25
Quote by Larry Squire
May take years for memories to consolidate
26
Where is LTM stored and what could this explain developmentally?
Cerebral cortex Infantile amnesia (can't recall events before 3/4 yrs old) Cortex region for LTM may not even fully develop until later in childhood
27
2 distinct mechanisms of memory that depend on what is being learned and remembered
Procedural and declarative memory
28
Procedural memory what is it another name examples
the memory for how to do something even if you're unaware you're doing it implicit memory Ex: habituation, classical conditioning, mirror tracing....
29
What parts of brain does procedural memory involved Examples
Many cortical areas depending on the task and type of memory being measured (visual priming in visual cortex; motor programs in basal ganglia) Does NOT involve temporal lobe
30
What happens in a serial reaction time task
Push button for corresponding light that appears Measure time it takes to press button and remember the serial pattern
31
Declarative memory what is it like what is it what part of brain does it involve
Explicit and consciously retrievable An accessible record of previous experiences and familiarity about them medialtemporal lobe structures
32
2 types of declarative memory and part of brain that is associated
episodic - memory of life events; time and place; rich in context (hippocampus) semantic - memory of facts and general knowledge (entorhinal cortex)
33
How do mnemonic devices work to make you more likely to remember something
Helps you become consciously aware of something Imagery makes it meaningful
34
Loci used by ancient Greeks 3 steps How did the ancients use it
Think of a familiar place Place items along it's route Take mental journey through the place Used it to help remember long speeches
35
What procedure did H.M. have done and why What happened What was the issue
bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to control for epilepsy stopped seizures along with memory could not transfer memories into LTM
36
Types of amnesia What type did H.M have
retrograde: backward acting; cannot remember past anterograde: forward acting; cannot make new memories mild retrograde and sever anterograde
37
How did H.M. perform on the digit span test What sense is involved
could repeat as long as time between learning and recall was within STM capabilities
38
Block-tapping memory span test How did H.M perform What sense is involved
9 blocks; psych touches sequence then you have to repeat Could never go beyond 5 blocks Involves vision
39
What does it mean to say that tests showed H.M.'s amnesia was global
Amnesia was present in all sensory modalities
40
How did HM perform in mirror drawing task
improved with practice even though he couldn't remember previous trials
41
Rotary pursuit task HM performance
Pen on "record player" improved but couldn't remember ever doing it before
42
what happened when H.M. learned a response via classical conditioning
CR still expressed years later....never remembered learning it
43
3 scientific contributions of H.M.'s case
1. MTL is involved in memory 2. STM & LTM are seperate (he was unable to move things from one to the other - consolidation problem) 3. Memories may have existed they just weren't recalled (like when he showed improvement on skills he couldn't remember learning)
44
What plays a role in binding memories?
PKMZeta
45
3 tests/examples of implicit memory
visual priming word priming mixed up letters
46
How have others expressed mediotemporal lobe amnesia?
Not all unable to form new explicit memories Semantic memory may function normally while episodic doesn't - can learn facts just not when they did it Both are declarative and consciously retrievable
47
Skinner
Operant responses that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated
48
Nature of responses and repititions Nature of survival
Repeated if associated with positive emotions, not if negative Survival depends on doing rewarding things and avoiding hurtful or scary behavior
49
Korsakoff's syndrome Who is it mostly seen in What causes it Symptoms Damaged locations
Alcoholics Loss of vitamin B1 (thiamine) Amnesia, confusion, personality changes, physical problems Medial diencephalon and frontal cortex (medial thalamus and medial hypothalamus)
50
How are Korsakoff's syndrome and MTL amnesia similar and different
Early stages: anterograde amnesia for episodic memories Later: severe retrograde amnesia Progressive amnesia
51
How does Alzheimer's disease first appear
slight memory loss (dementia)
52
Defecits predementia AD types of amnesia with what kind of memory Memory deficits
major anterograde and retrograde amnesia in tests of explicit memory deficits in STM and some implicit memory tasks - both verbal (digit span) and perceptual (fill-in-the-blanks)
53
What remains intact with AD
Implicit sensorimotor memory (swinging baseball bat)
54
Where is AD damage found (3)? What do these changes specifically do?
Basal forebrain degeneration (nucleus basalis) - decreases acetylcholine bc it is produced here MTL Prefrontal cortex (causes personality changes)
55
What is likely the response for amnesia in people with AD?
Acl depletion and brain damage
56
Types of posttraumatic amnesia
Concussions Comas
57
Amnesia in concussions
May cause retrograde amnesia for before the blow Some anterograde for after
58
Amnesia in comas
severity of amnesia correlates with duration of coma
59
What does a period of anterograde amnesia suggest for posttraumatic events
a short period of time where memory consolidation fails
60
Electroconvulsive shock treatment What is it used to treat What does it cause How does it work
severe depression causes loss of memory mostly for recent events (LTM remains intact) Induces seizures in temporal lobe and probably disrupts the hippocampus
61
reconsolidation When is memory in STM susceptible to posttraumatic amnesia T or F all memories are subject to consolidation
every time a memory is retrieved from the LTM it is held in STM for a little bit Until it is reconsolidated False
62
What did Arsen et al. (2012) find in their study?
Disruption of reconsolidation erases a fear memory trace in the human amygdala
63
place cells
cells that respond when you are in a particular place
64
The role of hippocampus with ______ memory
spatial location hippocampectomy produces deficits in radial arm maze
65
2014 Nobel Prize winners
O'Keefe Moser and Moser place and grid cells
66
James McGaugh
The amygdala modulates emotional arousal via connections to hippocampus which can actually influence memory (we best remember things with strong emotional content)
67
Cerebellum and memory
stores memories of sensorimotor skills Ex: conditioned eye blink

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