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Medical Psychology 104 > W6 Memory (L+T) > Flashcards

W6 Memory (L+T) Flashcards

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1
Q

Memory (unscientific) -

A

learning we retain over a long period of time

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2
Q

Memory (scientific) -

A

Information Processing System that works constructively to encode, store and retrieve information

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3
Q

three key memory processes

A
  1. encoding
  2. storage
  3. retrieval
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4
Q

three major stages of memory

A
  1. Sensory Memory
  2. Short Term Memory (Working Memory) and
  3. Long-term memory
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5
Q

Difference of three stages of memory (3):

A
  1. Capacity - how much information can be stored.
  2. Duration - how long the information can be stored.
  3. Function - What is done with the information. stored, capacity and function.
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6
Q

Sensory input -

A

everything we see, hear, taste, smell

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7
Q

After being encoded (format for the brain), sensory input goes into:

A

sensory memory

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8
Q

Sensory memory - what is it and how long it stays:

A

everything from all of our senses and processes them very quickly, very briefly; forms automatically, without attention or interpretation

information stays there for 2 seconds unless we give the information attention

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9
Q

Sensory memory characteristics (capacity, duration, function)

A
  1. Capacity - Large: many items at once
  2. Duration - Very brief retention of images: 250 ms for visual information, 3 s for auditory information.
  3. Function - It holds information long enough to be processed for basic physical characteristics
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10
Q

Iconic Memory -

A

visual information sensory memory, 250 ms

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11
Q

Echoic Memory -

A

auditory information sensory memory, 3 s

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12
Q

rehearsal or maintenance rehearsal -

A

order to keep the information in the short-term memory, we must repeat or practice it

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13
Q

Short Term Memory (STM) or Working memory consists of 3 components:

A

• Central Executive: this resembles what we would call ‘attention’
• Phonological Loop: holds information in a speech based form
• Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad: specialised for holding visual and spatial information

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14
Q

STM or Working memory characteristics (capacity, duration, function, code)

A

Capacity - limited (7+/-2 items)
Duration - brief storage (20 s)
Fn - Conscious processing of information (where information is actively worked on).
Code - often based on sound or speech even with visual inputs

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15
Q

If maintenance rehearsal cannot be used, then

A

working memory decays quickly

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16
Q

Way to Improve STM -

A
  1. Chunking (grouping Small bits of information into larger units of information)
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17
Q

Psychologists estimate that how much of the information that reaches the short-term memory goes into the long-term memory?

A

around 25%

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18
Q

Memory scheme

A

Sensory input => Sensory memory => Attention => Working/Short-term memory (Maintenance rehearsal) => Encoding (<= Retrieval) => Long-term memory

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19
Q

Long-term memory characteristics (capacity, duration, function)

A

Capacity: Unlimited
Duration: permanent?
Fn: organises and stores information (more passive form of storage than working memory)

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20
Q

Encoding -

A

Process that controls movement from working (STM) memory to long-term memory storage (getting information in).

In general, meaning is encoded rather than exact representation.

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21
Q

Retrieval -

A

Process that controls flow of information from long-term to working memory store (getting information out)

22
Q

Primacy - Recency or the Serial Position Effect -

A

When presented with lots of information in serial order, we remember more from the beginning and end of the list, at the expense of the intermediate items

23
Q

Consolidation -

A

Storage into long-term memory;

Involves structural change: the pattern of neural pathways are changed.
• Long term potentiation: strengthening of synapses, believed to be the cellular foundation
for memory.
• Research in to how to induce LTP is useful for dementia treatment
• Rats given NMDA* (ionotropic glutamate receptor) antagonists display memory deficits. Mice
bred with enhanced NMDA function show greater LTP and better memory.
• Requires metabolic activity for minutes/hours after the stimulus has been presented

*NMDA = N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor

24
Q

Interference in Working Memory (2 types)

A

Traces only remain in WM with repeated rehearsal (i.e. attending to the information) => prone to interference.

Retroactive interference
Proactive interference

25
Q

Retroactive interference -

A

New information interferes with the retention of old information in WM

exs: trying to remember your old phone number, having used your new number for a few months; finding it difficult to revert back to manual gear changes having recently been shown how to use an
automatic).

26
Q

Proactive interference -

A

Old information interferes with the recall of new information

exs: mistakenly giving your old phone number instead of your new one; attempting to change gears manually in a newly bought automatic)

27
Q

What helps retrieval?

A

• Cue required (e.g. prompt, reminder, question). The more information available, the easier the retrieval
• A good ‘filing system’ also aids retrieval (e.g. mnemonics, memory aids, Method of Loci).
• Make something personally relevant to you and you’re more likely to remember it.
• Retrieval can be affected by interference. 2 types: Proactive – new phone number replaces old number. Retroactive – old route home blocks new route home.

28
Q

Factors Affecting Retrieval

A

Levels of Processing
The more something is elaborated at time of encoding, the easier it will be to retrieve.

Organisation of concepts in memory (also, associations between concepts stored in LTM may facilitate recall).

Context
Being in the same place/emotional state as the time of encoding facilitates recall.

29
Q

State Dependent Memory

A

Being in the same place/emotional state as the time of encoding facilitates recall

30
Q

Types of memory (3 main and 5 others):

A

MAIN:
1. Short term memory
2. Working memory
3. Long term memory

other:
a) Episodic memory (autobiographical)
b) Semantic memory
c) Declarative
d) Procedural
e) Prospective

31
Q

Episodic Memory (autobiographical):

A

It stores every event/fact that you have been involved in. If you haven’t been involved in it will not be stored as autobiographical memory. The other interesting feature of episodic or autobiographical memory is that we are designed to be preferentially more likely to remember that information.

ex: If one experiences brain damage and is likely to lose information from memory, autobiographical information seems to be disproportionally spared. That can make perfect sense in that the last thing that one needs to loose is who he/she is, where he/she has been to etc.

32
Q

Semantic Memory -

A

Memory of facts about the world.

ex: This is a pc, this a desk this is a chair, London is the capital of UK…

33
Q

Declarative Memory / Explicit memory -

A

“knowing what” => memory of facts and events, refers to those memories that can be consciously recalled (or “declared”). It is sometimes called explicit memory, since it consists of information that is explicitly stored and retrieved.

34
Q

Procedural -

A

Memory for procedures

ex: driving a car, tying my shoe laces

35
Q

Prospective -

A

Memory for the things I will do in the future.

ex: Buy milk after I leave this lecture. Put petrol in my car on my way home tonight

36
Q

Procedural and Declarative memory: Dissociating Function
Temporal Lobe Amnesia (e.g. Korsakoffs)

A

• Patients are able to learn skills = Procedural
• Patients are unable to learn new facts = Declarative (especially episodic)

Example: A patient may show improved performance on a simple task over time, but each time they will show no recognition or memory of ever having performed the task before (despite obvious improvements).

37
Q

Semantic & Episodic Memory: Dissociating Function

The case of KC

A

left frontal-parietal and right parieto-occipital lobes damage in a car accident
=> can no longer retrieve any personal memory of his past (autobiographical memory) but general knowledge remains good
=> plays chess well but does not remember where he learned to play.
=> can learn semantic knowledge when care is taken but cannot acquire episodic knowledge: will claim never to have met people met recently, but will be more friendly towards them than people he really hasn’t met.

38
Q

Semantic dementia

A

Specific to Semantic Memory (knowledge & concepts): Semantic dementia primarily and selectively affects semantic memory in its early stages

Effects:
• Difficulty in understanding language and recognizing familiar objects or faces
• Loss of general knowledge about the world, including facts, concepts, and meanings
• Preservation of Episodic Memory (experienced events): Episodic memory, which involves memory of specific events and experiences, remains relatively preserved in the early stages of the disease

39
Q

Alzheimer vs Semantic dementia

A

Initial Impact:
Alzheimer’s: Episodic Memory
Semantic Dementia (type of Frontotemporal Dementia): Semantic Memory

Progression:
Alzheimer’s: Widespread cognitive decline
Semantic Dementia: Gradual loss of semantic knowledge but may progress to impairment in episodic memory in late stages

Brain Regions:
Alzheimer’s: Starts in the Hippocampus and Entorhinal cortex, progresses to widespread areas
Semantic Dementia: Predominantly in the anterior temporal lobes

40
Q

Recognition -

A

Sensing that a stimulus has been previously encountered, sense of familiarity

Generally easier than recall, as information is contained in the cue

Can be direct from a set stimuli or from a mental search of LTM store

41
Q

Recall -

A

Reconstruction of a stimulus using the information available from the cue and information from LTM

Checked by the process of recognition

Greater ‘cognitive demand’ than recognition

Can be direct from the cue or arise after problem solving strategies have been employed

42
Q

The main causes of forgetting from either working memory or long-term memory:

A
  1. Passage of time
    • Rapid decay of information from WM
    • Cell death leads to loss of LTM (can be accelerated e.g., dementia)
  2. Interference
    • Interference to storage in WM e.g., pro-/retroactive
    • Connections are remolded over time in LTM, influenced by pro- and retroactive interference of information
43
Q

Amnesia can be brought about by:

A

• Damage (head injury, stroke)
• Chronic alcohol abuse (Korsakoff’s syndrome (a lack of thiamine - vitamin B1 in the brain), affecting storage and retrieval processes)
• Disease (Alzheimer’s: extensive damage to cortex, progressive deterioration from some impaired memory skills (esp. episodic memory) to more general cognitive impairment)
• Reversible brain disease (tumours, hydrocephalus, subdural haematoma, deficiencies in B1, B6, B12, endocrine disease, syphilis)
• Psychogenic Memory Loss (abuse, war)

44
Q

Types of amnesia (2):

A

Anterograde amnesia (as in patient HM): Inability to store new information

Retrograde amnesia: Inability to recall information prior to trauma, often following closed head injury, can be relatively short duration

45
Q

Factors that will aid a patient’s memory for medical information:

A

• Higher IQ (Think about your own memory for topics you have read about which you really do not understand that well)
• Greater medical/technical information.
• Age?

46
Q

Factors Affecting Memory for Information: Anxiety levels

A
  • Mild levels can lead to improved memory, but reduced capacity to solve problems effectively (improves memory, reduces flexibility)
  • Too much anxiety or stress can lead to attentional narrowing.
    EXAMPLE:
    Scenario: A doctor informs a patient, “You have X disease, impacting your everyday activities for life.”
    Central Message: Diagnosis and life-long impact.
    Peripheral Information: Therapy adherence, follow-up appointments.
47
Q

Attentional Narrowing -

A

cognitive phenomenon where one’s focus narrows down to the central message due to perceived stress or emotional weight, causing peripheral information to be overlooked

48
Q

Patients are more likely to remember (7):

A
  1. Information at the start or at the end of
    consultation     (primacy / recency effect).
  2. Statements perceived to be important.
  3. When the total amount of information provided is less.
  4. When short words and sentences are used.
  5. When the material is organised e.g., into categories.
  6. When material is repeated.
  7. When instructions are explicit and concrete (e.g., use of practical examples).
49
Q

Recalling the information immediately after it has been stored has been shown to lead to

A

good LTM retention

50
Q

Information is remembered best when - ?

A

when it is interpreted according to one’s own ‘schema’

Medical Psychology 104 (5 decks)

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