Unit 7: Memory

Question 1

Contrast explicit vs. implicit memories. (2)

Answer 1

Explicit (declarative): conscious memories you can intentionally recall like remembering the date of your mom’s birthday

Implicit (non-declarative): Unconscious memories that influence your behavior, like the ability to ride a bike even if you haven’t done it in years

Question 2

What are the types of memory that fall under explicit and implicit? (2)

Answer 2

Explicit:
-semantic
-episodic
-prospective

Implicit:
-procedural memory
-priming

Question 3

What is semantic memory (declarative)?

Answer 3

-Memory of general facts and concepts not tied to a specific time. For example, understanding that dogs are animals.

Question 4

What is episodic memory (declarative)?

Answer 4

-Memory of personal experiences and specific events in your life. For example, recalling your last birthday party.

Question 5

What is prospective memory?

Answer 5

-Remembering to do something in the future, like taking out the trash the next day

Question 6

What is retrospectic memory?

Answer 6

Recalling info from the past, like what you ate for dinner last night

Question 7

What are the steps within the memory process? (3)

Answer 7

-encoding
-storage
-retrieval

Question 8

What happens during encoding, give an example. (2)

Answer 8

Concept: The process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Example: When studying, repeating a phone number in your head to remember it.

Question 9

What is active encoding? Example. (2)

Answer 9

Actively focusing on the information to encode it better.

Example: Creating flashcards to study for an exam.

Question 10

What is selective attention? Example. (2)

Answer 10

Focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others.

Example: Listening to a lecture while ignoring background noise.

Question 11

What is the cocktail party phenomenon? Example

Answer 11

Focusing on one conversation in a noisy environment.

Example: Hearing your name mentioned in a crowded room and immediately tuning into that conversation.

Question 12

What is the levels of processing theory?

Answer 12

-How deeply information is processed affects how well it’s remembered.

Question 13

What do information-processing theories propose are the three memory stores? (3)

Answer 13

1. Sensory memory
2. Short-term memory
3. Long-term memory

Question 14

What is short-term memory? Example. (2)

Answer 14

Temporary storage with limited capacity.

Example: Remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it.

Question 15

What are STM limitations?

Answer 15

-Can typically hold 7 ± 2 items for about 20 seconds.

Question 16

What is maintenance rehearsal? Example. (2)

Answer 16

Repeating information to keep it in STM.

Example: Repeating a grocery list to yourself until you write it down.

Question 17

What are the four main components of working memory? (4)

Answer 17

1. Phonological loop
2. Visuospatial sketchpad
3. Central Executive
4. Episodic buffer

Question 18

What is a phonological loop? Example (2)

Answer 18

-it stores verbal and auditory information

Example: When you try to remember a phone number by repeating it to yourself until you can dial it, you’re using the phonological loop.

Question 19

What is a visuospatial sketchpad? Example (2)

Answer 19

• Handles visual and spatial information, like images and the layout of spaces.

Example: If someone asks you to describe the layout of your living room or mentally rotate a shape, you’re using the visuospatial sketchpad.

Question 20

What is the central executive? Example? (2)

Answer 20

-Acts as the control center that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad, as well as manages attention, planning, and problem-solving.

If you’re trying to solve a math problem in your head, the central executive directs your attention, decides whether to use the phonological loop for remembering numbers or the visuospatial sketchpad for visualizing parts of the problem, and manages the steps of the solution process.

Question 21

What is the episodic buffer? Example. (2)

Answer 21

Integrates information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and long-term memory into a single, coherent episode. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory.

Example: When you’re trying to recall a story you’ve read, the episodic buffer helps you bring together the visual imagery, the sequence of events, and the words used to describe the story.

Question 22

What is clustering? Example. (2)

Answer 22

Organizing information into related groups or categories.

Example: When trying to remember a grocery list, you might group items by category (fruits, vegetables, dairy)

Question 23

What are hierarchical relations? Example (2)

Answer 23

Information is organized in a hierarchy from general to specific categories.

Example: In biology, “animal” is a general category, under which you have more specific categories like “mammals,” and under mammals, even more specific categories like “dogs” and “cats.”

Question 24

What are schemas? Example? (2)

Answer 24

Mental frameworks that help organize and interpret information based on previous experiences and knowledge.

Example: If you have a schema for “restaurant,” you might expect certain things: a menu, waitstaff, a bill at the end. Schemas help you quickly make sense of new information.

Question 25

What are semantic networks? Example. (2)

Answer 25

A network of related concepts stored in your memory, where each concept (or node) is connected to others.

Example: The word “dog” might be connected to related concepts like “pet,” “bark,” and “fur.” Thinking of one concept can trigger the recall of related ones. This is called spreading activation

Question 26

Describe the connectionist models/networks idea using an example.

Answer 26

-Think of memory like a web. Each piece of information is a point on the web, and the connections between them represent associations.

Question 27

What is retrieval?

Answer 27

-accessing stored information, like trying to recall the name of your first-grade teacher

Question 28

What are retrieval cues?

Answer 28

-stimuli that help you recall information, like a smell reminding you of someone

Question 29

What are context clues useful for?

Answer 29

-the context in which you learned something helps you retrieve it

Question 30

What is the misinformation effect? Example. (2)

Answer 30

when a person’s memory of an event is altered by exposure to incorrect or misleading information after the event has taken place

Example: Peoples stories around 9/11 changing

Question 31

What is source monitoring, example? (2)

Answer 31

Determining the origin of a memory

Example: You remember learning about a new restaurant from a friend, but later you’re unsure whether you read about it online or heard about it from your friend

Question 32

What is retention and recall? Example. (2)

Answer 32

Retention is the ability to access and use information stored in long-term memory. Recall is a measure of retention that involves retrieving information without external cues.

If you are asked to list the items you bought at the grocery store without looking at your receipt, and you successfully remember and list them, you are demonstrating recall.

Retention: Imagine you studied for a biology exam last week. The fact that you still remember the material today and can understand it when you see it again (even if you don’t actively think about it every day) is an example of retention.

Question 33

What is the forgetting curve and what does it show over time? (2)

Answer 33

-illustrates how info is lost over time when there is not attempt to retain it
-memory retention decreases rapidly shortly after learning then levels off

Question 34

What is a retention interval? Example (2)

Answer 34

The period between learning information and being tested on it.

Example: If you study for an exam and take it a week later, the retention interval is one week.

Question 35

What is decay theory? Example. (2)

Answer 35

Suggests that memories fade over time due to the natural deterioration of memory traces.

Example: If you haven’t used a phone number in years, you might forget it because the memory trace has weakened.

Question 36

What is interference theory? Example?

Answer 36

Proposes that forgetting occurs because new or old memories interfere with the retrieval of other information.

Learning a new phone number might make it harder to remember your old one or vice versa

Question 37

What are false memories?

Answer 37

-recollections of events that did not actually occur or are distorted versions of actual events

Question 38

What is hindsight bias? Example. (2)

Answer 38

The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome of an event, that one would have predicted or expected the outcome beforehand.

Example: After a sports team loses a game, a person might say they “knew it all along” that the team would lose, even though they didn’t predict it beforehand.

Question 39

What is retrograde amnesia? Think retro

Answer 39

-A type of amnesia where a person loses memories of events that occurred before the onset of amnesia. The ability to form new memories might remain intact.

Question 40

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 40

-A type of amnesia where a person is unable to form new memories after the onset of amnesia. Existing memories from before the onset are usually intact.