Week 3 - Episodic Memory

Question 1

Define semantic memory

Answer 1

The neurocognitive memory system that encodes, and retrieves information concerning knowledge of the world.

It is impersonal, meaning detached from our personal experience. We express is by saying “I know” and not “I remember”

Question 2

Define episodic memory. What is also known as?

Answer 2

The neurocognitive memory system that encodes, stores and retrieves memories of our potential individual experiences. Encodes the what, when and where of past events.

It is based on personal experiences and characteriszed by feelings of “remembering” rather than knowing

Also known as “mental time travel”

Question 3

Define flashbulb memories

Answer 3

highly confident personal memories of surprising events. Ex. 9/11

Question 4

What are some differences b/w semantic memory and episodic memory

Answer 4

Semantic memory:
- need not to be personal
- usually concern the present
Episodic memory:
- are always personal experiences
- are concerned about the past

Question 5

Define autobiographical memory

Answer 5

Memories we have of our own lives. It is composed of our memory for both events from our lives and the facts of our lives (static memory and self-reference semantic memories)

Question 6

All _________ memories are _________ however, not all _________ memories are _________

Answer 6

All episodic memories are autobiographical however, not all autobiographical memories are episodic.

Question 7

Behavioural evidence of episodic memory

Answer 7

Remember ( R judgments)/ Know ( K judgments) - Tasks in which participants determined the feeling of Memories by assigning them categories of “ remember” or “ know”

Found that “I know” judgements and “I remember judgments are influenced by different factors.

Remember are more likely to be accompanied by memories of time and place of event.

Question 8

Neuropsychological evidence

Answer 8

Memory impairment occurs more often for episodic memory. Semantic memory

Question 9

Define developmental amnesia

Answer 9

congenital memory ______, usually restrictive to episodic memory

Question 10

Define dissociation

Answer 10

Brain damage that affects one cognitive that leaves another one intact

Question 11

Evidence from neuroimaging

Answer 11

During retrieval of tastes samples, researchers found a greater activity in the right prefrontal pain in the left prefrontal lobe, supporting the idea that retrieval from episodic memory employs a network that uses the right prefrontal lobe more than the left prefrontal.

Therefore, episodic memory and semantic memory are likely the product of different neurocognitive systems.

Question 12

Define encoding

Answer 12

Refers to the learning process- that is, how information is initially learned

Question 13

Define representation

Answer 13

how we store information when it is not currently in use

Question 14

Define retrieval

Answer 14

The process of how we activate information from long-term and access it when we need it

Question 15

Define levels of process

Answer 15

refers to the fact that more meaning-based handling of information leads to better encoding of that information.

Question 16

Define incidental learning

Answer 16

It occurs when people encode information not by actively trying to remember but rather as a byproduct of perceiving and understand the world.

ex. you don’t study the names of people at your party because they’re your friends.

Question 17

Define intentional learning

Answer 17

Takes place when people actively engaged in learning information, because they know that their memories may be tested.

Example: lectures because you know exams are coming

Question 18

Define elaborative rehearsal

Answer 18

Processing the meaning of information in working memory which leads to deeper processing

Question 19

Define maintenance rehearsal

Answer 19

Repeating information over and over leads to shallow processing

Question 20

Define shallow processing. Give an example.

Answer 20

Processing information by using maintenance rehearsal or processing for sensory characteristics to produce less remembering then deep.

Example: Reading a novel and only paying attention to the size of the type come on other book is old or new, what designs are on the cover

Question 21

Define deep processing. Evidence?

Answer 21

Processing information by using elaborative or meaningful processing to produce more remembering than shallow processing

Example: reading a novel and you’re trying to connect the plot to ideas about the world., apply book to your life, gauge whether book is enjoyable or not.

Sporer (1991) show. We’re better at recognizing faces if they had first process them in terms of whether or not the face looked “ honest” then it is a hard process them in terms of whether or not the person had a wide nose.

Question 22

Explain oriented tasks. What did researchers found on deep/shallow processing?

Answer 22

Direct the participants his attention to some aspect of the stimuli - either deep shallow - but not alert the participant to the potential of a later memory test.

Visual shallow: does the word have any capital letters?
Auditory shallow: does the word rhyme with “skip”?
Meaningful: does it fit in the following sentence: The boy were only allowed to eat one potato ___ each?

Research found that using deep or meaning based encoding strategies can improve memory without any additional investment of time and effort.

Question 23

Define self-reference and survival processing

Answer 23

Observation that linking to-be-learned information to personally relevant information about oneself create strong and encoding

Processing information in terms of its value to surviving in the wild is a surprisingly effective manner in which to encode information

Question 24

Define generation effect and enactment effect

Answer 24

Memory is better when we generate associations ourselves then when we simply read them

Performed tasks are remembered better than those that are read about.
Example: bending a paperclip and reading “bending a paperclip

Question 25

Define organization and distinctiveness

Answer 25

Imposing a meaningful strike on to-be-learned material.

Searching for the unique meaning for each item. Distinctive aspects causes good memory performance.

Question 26

What is the von Restorff effect?

Answer 26

Advantage in memory that if items have over less distinctive items

Question 27

Define availability

Answer 27

Refers to all information present in the memory system - everything that you’ve ever learned is currently stored in your episodic memory.

Question 28

Define accessibility

Answer 28

Refers to that part of our storage… that we can retrieve under the present conditions. At any given time, we may be able to access only some of our memories but not all of them

Question 29

What are retrieval cues?

Answer 29

Information present in Akron environment that we used to trigger memories of past events

Question 30

What is the difference b/w part-set cueing and part-list cueing?

Answer 30

part-set : occurs when people study some of the information in a set of already learned information but not all of it.

part-list : occurs when retrieving part of a list interferes with retrieving other parts of a list.

Question 31

What is the difference b/w part-set cueing and part-list cueing?

Answer 31

part-set : occurs when people study some of the information in a set of already learned information but not all of it.

part-list : occurs when retrieving part of a list interferes with retrieving other parts of a list.