Topic 7 Flashcards
Memory
Memory is the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information
- Not static, can change over time
- Sometimes we “fill in the gaps”
- Generally adaptive and sometimes correct, but makes us prone to error
Brains go above and beyond available information to make sense of the world
Foundation of memory
Encoding → Storage → Retieval
Three-stage model of memory
3 different types of memory, differ in span and duration
Information must travel through all stages to be remembered
Sensory → STM(short term) → LTM(long term)
Sensory memory
Storage for brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes
- Each sense has its own sensory memory - very brief
- Iconic: visual system, < 1 sec
- Echoic: auditory, 2-3 secs
- Snapshot that stores sensory info
- Unless it is transferred to other types of memory it is lost
- High precision
Short term memory
Limited capacity memory system where information is retained for only as long as 30 seconds (unless you try to retain it longer, via rehearsal)
- Capacity is 7 -+2 (magic number 7)
- STMs are either discarded or stored in LTM
Extending our STM capacity
Can extend our STM span by chunking
- Organizing a large body of information into smaller, meaningful groups
Rehearsal: transferring from STM → LTM
Rehearsal (repeating information)
- Is the repetition of info that has entered STM
- This leads to memory consolidation
Maintenance rehearsal
- Repeating the stimuli in the same form
Elaborative rehearsal
- Information is considered & organized
- Link stimuli to each other in a meaningful way
- Usually more effective - much more likely to be transferred
- Understand not memorize
Working memory
Set of active temporary memory stores that actively manipulate & rehearse information
Working memory is thought to contain a central executive processor that is involved in reason & decision making
Mental whiteboard
Long term memory
Continuous storage of information
May last decades or lifetimes
It has no limit and is like the information you store on the hard drive of a computer
Anterograde vs. retrograde amnesia evidences the distinction from STM
What words did you recall?
Primary effect
- Ability to remember stimuli presented first
Recency effect
- Ability to remember stimuli present recently
LTM: Declarative memory
Explicit memory
- Conscious recollection of information such as facts & events
Semantic
- General knowledge
- Knowing who the prime minister is
Episodic
- Recollection of events in our lives
- The Christmas you finally got a CD player
- Your first kiss
- The first day of university
LTM: Non-declarative memory
Implicit memory
- Memory in which behavior is affected by a prior experience without a conscious relocation of that experience
Procedural memory
- Memory for how to do things
Priming
- Activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember/identify new information faster
Neuroscience of Memory
Memory traces distributed throughout the brain
The hippocampus plays a role in memory consolidation
- Damage leads to the inability to process new declarative memories
Amygdala
- Heavily involved with memories involving emotions
Long term potentiation
- Certain neural pathways become easily excited while a new response is being learned
- Synapses between neurons increase, dendrites branch out
Encoding failures
Stress
- Stress reduces the accuracy of eyewitness recall and correct identification
- Stress can focus attention
Encoding failures can also happen because of
- Own age bias
- Cross race effect
Retrieval failure
Decay
- Fades over time
Interference
- Loss of information due to competition with new information
Retroactive interference
- Leaning new information harpers something previously learned
Proactive interference
- Earlier learning gets in the way of learning something new
Amnesia
The loss of long-term memory that occurs as a result of disease, physical trauma, or psychological trauma
- Anterograde amnesia
- Inability to remember new info after point of trauma
- Commonly caused by brain trauma
- The hippocampus is usually affected - inability to transferor info from STM to LTM
- Retrograde amnesiaia
- Loss of memory (partial or complete) for an event that occurred before trauma
Retrieving memories
Retrieval
- The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness
Recall
- Being able to access information without cues
- short answer test
Recognition
- Being able to access information that you have previously learned after encountering it again
- Multiple choice questions
Levels of processing theory
The depth of information during exposure to material is critical
- The degree to which it is analyzed & considered
The greater the intensity of the initial processing the more likely we are to remember it
Shallow
- Information process by physical and & sensory aspects
Deepest
- Analyzing information in terms of meaning thinking about the meaning and reflecting on how it relates to information we already know
Encoding specificity
Remembering something better when the conditions under which we retriever the information are similar to the encoding conditions
Context-dependent learning
- Scuba study
- Students tend to do better when untested in their usual classroom
State-dependent learning
- Alcoholism
Flashbulb memory
A record of an atypical and unusual event that has a very strong emotional association
- Exceptional memories are more easily retrieved
Depending on the age and awareness/interests, certain flashbulb memories act as generational refrecespoin
E.g
- Assassination of john Kennedy, Martin Luther King
- The first humans landing on the moon
- Attack on 9/11
Memory is reconstructive
We forget over time
Memories change over time and can be influenced by .
- Cognitive “hardware” stereotypes, …
- Post-event information
Schemas & scripts
Organized knowledge structures or mental models that we stored in memory - used to “fill in the gap”
- The memory may be distorted to conform with schema/script
- E.g robbery script study
Stereotypes can also influence memories
Memories are suggestible
The effect of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of false memories
Can cause people to claim to remember something that was only a suggestion someone made
Memories are fragile and vulnerable to suggestion
An important area of study is eyewitness testimony
The misinformation effect
Where post-event information alters or becomes incorporated into the original memory
False memories cases
Loftus 1997
- Participants were asked to report what they recalled about events from their past (3 true, 1 false)
- After two interviews, 25% of participants remembered an implanted memory of being lost at the mall
Hyman et al 1997
- Told participants they had spilled punch on a wedding guest when they were 5
- Initially, none recall this, but eventually, 27% accepted it as true, and some elaborated with details
Laboratory induction of false childhood memories
Researchers have been able to implant a wide variety of false memories including some mildly traumatic ones
- Being hospitalized overnight
- Being attacked by a dog
- Nearly drawing
- Witnessing demonic possessions
- Meeting Bugs Bunny at Disneyland
