week 6 memory Flashcards
when is info better remembered
when it has meaning
semantic encoding
words and their meaning
what did atkinson and shiffrin propose
msm of memory
what did baddeley suggest
STM is not a unitary store - working memory model
2 types of ltm
explicit and implicit
explicit ltm
memories you try to recall
implicit ltm
memories not part of the conscious - non-declarative
2 types of explicit memories
episodic and semantic
2 types of implicit memory
procedural and emotional
declarative memory
storage of facts and events we personally experience
engram
group of neurons that serve as physical representation of memory
who suggested role of engram
karl lashley
what did lashley suggest about the brain
if part of one area of the brain involved in memory is damaged, another part of the same area can take over that memory function
main job of amygdala
regulate emotions eg fear and aggression
why does amygdala affect how memories are stored
storage is influenced by stress hormones
role of hippocampus
spatial memory, projects information to cortical regions that give memory meaning and connect them with other memories
role of prefrontal cortex
remembering semantic memories
5 neurotransmitters involved in memory
- epinephrine
- dopamine
- serotonin
- glutamate
- acetylcholine
what is arousal theory by Christianson 1992
strong emotions trigger formation of strong memories and weaker emotional experiences form weaker memories
what did McGaugh 2003 suggest about memories and stress
when humans and animals are stressed, the brain secretes more of the neurotransmitter glutamate which helps remember the stressful event - flashbulb memory phenomenon
flashbulb memory
exceptionally clear recollection of an emotional event
anterograde amnesia
- caused by brain trauma
- cannot remember new information but can remember information and events pre injury
- hippocampus usually affected
- suggests damage to brain results in inability to transfer info from STM to LTM - inability to consolidate memories
retrograde amnesia
- loss of memories pre trauma
- difficulty remembering episodic memory
suggestibility
describes the effects of misinformation from external sources leading to the creation of false memories
3 stages of memory
- acquisition
- retention
- retrieval
acquisition
process of attending to a stimulus and encoding into memory
retention
preservation of stored material over an interval
retrieval
process of getting info back for use
Main difference between computer and human memory
computer memory is passive but not with humans
what is iconic memory
sight
how long is iconic memory
few hundred milliseconds
what is echoic memory
about 4 seconds
how can items be lost from stm
decay or displacement
decay
with time, memory rusts
displacement
new items enter and knock others out
2 types of rehearsal
maintenance and elaborative
maintenance rehearsal
keep items active in stm
elaborative rehearsal
can transfer an item from stm to ltm
what happens if rehearsal is not performed
lost after 20 seconds
from the serial position curve, as delay increases…
recency effect disappears but primacy effect remains
how does serial position curve support msmof memory
shows duration of stm is limited and if rehearsed, info Is transferred to ltm
what does serial position suggest for lists
people generally remember first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in list
how to increase capacity of stm
chunking
what does chess master experiments show
expertise matters for memory
shallow processing
processing of superficial features, not good for memory
deep processing
processing for meaning, better for memory
summarise craik and tulving 1975 loP study
Have people study concrete nouns, but have them process them
during study in different ways: to process the case of the letters
in the word (shallow), the rhyme of the word (medium) or for
meaning of the word (deep).
Results (percent recalled):
case: 17%
rhyme: 37%
sentence: 65%
semantic priming
if a word is processed
immediately preceding a second related word, the processing of
the second word is enhanced.
trace
what is left behind in memory after an event has
occurred. Can be retrieved at any time after the event has occurred but can deteriorate with time. NOT ALTERED BY SCHEMA
schema
set of expectations about the way the world works and it affects the info we attend to and remember
who was the first memory theorist to develop notion of schema
Bartlett
what did Bartlett argue
schemas play a crucial role in memory
what did remembering 1932 show
memory is constructive not reproductive, shema plays a key role eg filling in the gap so the story makes sense to them
what were Bartletts findings
Transformations were in the direction of accepted conventional
representations (drawings become more “normal”)
* Features that could not be labeled were elaborated until a
recognised form was produced (i.e., weird bits are transformed
into something familiar - odd wing becomes a tail)
* Once a recognisable form is produced, simplification into
something more conventional (e.g., cat)
* Assignment of a name influences what is reproduced (“Portrait
d’homme” - “Portrait of a man”)
* Preservation of certain details once recognised form is achieved
(e.g., tail on cat)
general conclusion from war of the ghosts study
people tended to leave out parts that were
unconventional, and fill in bits with information that was consistent with their viewpoint.
if memory is a passive
re-experiencing of the past, like putting a tape in a tape
player, it should not behave in this way
what was Loftus and palmer 1974 study
showed ptsp videos of a car crash and asked how fast was the car going when it (smashed, collided,
bumped, hit, contacted) into the other car?, smashed had highest mph while contacted had lowest, then asked did you see any broken glass? ptsp that heard smashed reported more glass broken
what did Loftus and palmers study indicate
post-event information (the phrasing of the question; “smashed
into” implies a much more serious accident than “hit”) alters
how the person’s schema and how the original event is
reconstructed
illusory truth effect
repeated information tends to be believed more than novel info
what was vellani et al 2023 study
– Compared people’s belief in and tendency to share repeated versus
novel statements
– Half the statements were true and half were false
– Two experiments:
* Experiment 1: Health related (mis)information
– “For better health, one needs to remove sugar entirely from one’s diet” (false)
* Experiment 2: General Knowledge (mis)information
– “The Cyclops is the legendary one-eyed giant in Greek mythology” (true)
what was the results of vellani et al 2023 study
– People were more likely to both believe and share repeated information
– Happened with both true and false information
– Happened with both health-related (mis)information and general
knowledge (mis)information
– Tendency to share was caused by believing the (mis)information
The superior ability of expert chess players to remember positions of pieces from an actual game underscores the:
advantages of chunking information
is the trace approach active or passive
passive
is the schema approach active or passive
active
