Week 6 - Memory pt 2 Flashcards
Self-reference effect
Memory is better if you are asked to relate a word to yourself
Paired-associate learning
two noun words presented together. Then, first presented without the second and participant required to recall the second. E.g. boat-tree
Levels of processing theory
Shallow processing e.g.: Participant asked encode physical features of the word
Deeper e.g.: rhyming word with another word
Deepest e.g.: fill in the blank, where doing so positions the word in a context that makes sense (e.g. the ___ is on the street, for ‘car’) / trying to visualise what the word represents
Generation effect
Generating material yourself, rather than passively receiving it, enhances learning and retention
Retrieval cue
a word or other stimulus (smell, location etc.) that helps a person remember information stored in memory.
retrieval practice effect
This result shows that being tested is important for learning because when testing was stopped for Group 3 once items were recalled correctly, performance decreased
Testing effect
This result shows that being tested is important for learning because when testing was stopped for Group 3 once items were recalled correctly, performance decreased
Free recall (retrieval cues)
Where a participant is simply asked to recall a stimuli.
Cued recall (retrieval cues)
Participant is presented with retrieval cues to aid in recall of previous stimuli. (35% more effective than free recall)
Encoding specificity
we encode information along with its context.
Three specific situations in which retrieval is increased by matching conditions at retrieval to conditions at encoding
(1) encoding specificity— matching the context in which encoding and retrieval occur;
(2) state-dependent learning— matching the internal mood present during encoding and retrieval; and
(3) transfer-appropriate processing— matching the task involved in encoding and retrieval.
Transfer-appropriate processing
Matching the cognitive task (e.g. being asked whether a target word rhymes or makes sense when filling a blank during encoding), and then being asked to retrieval by that same task (rhyming or meaning) will improve recall.
Consolidation
the process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state, in which they are more resistant to disruption
Synaptic consolidation df/duration
Consolidation at the level of the synapses.
minutes or hours
Systems consolidation df/duration
gradual reorginisation of neural circuits within the brain
months or years
Long-Term Potentiation
enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation
The Standard Model of Consolidation (3 steps)
- the hippocampus is involved in encoding new memories, and makes connections with higher cortical areas.
- Connection between HC and higher cortical areas weakens, and strength between cortical regions strengthen
- until, eventually, the HC is no longer involved in those memories
Retrograde amnesia (df / duration)
After head trauma, loss of memory of past events (stretching back minutes, hours or years)
What is graded amnesia?
A pattern in retrograde amnesia where the event immediately prior to trauma tends to be effected the most, and events further back tend to be effected less.
The Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation
proposes that early in consolidation, the hippocampus communicates with cortical areas. However, in contrast to the standard model, the multiple trace model proposes that the hippocampus remains in active communication with the cortical areas, even for remote memories
When does hippocampal activity change (cues: semantic memory, episodic memory) and which theorist found it?
Theorist: Viskontas
When memory loses its episodic quality
Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) df/3 steps (machine learning)
Determines the pattern of voxel activation within various structures.
Step 1: train a classifier, a computer program designed to recognize patterns of voxel activity.
Step 2: This is repeated for many trials, so the classifier can learn which pattern goes with each object.
Step 3: Test classifier - can classifier tell which object was presented based on pattern of voxels that are activated?
Reminiscence bump
The enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40
The self-image hypothesis
The self-image hypothesis proposes that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed
The self-image hypothesis
Proposes that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed
cognitive hypothesis (cues: retrieval, reminiscence bump)
proposes that periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories.
cultural life script hypothesis (cues: memory)
the culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in the life span.
Youth Bias (cues: cultural life script hypothesis)
the tendency for the most notable public events in a person’s life to be perceived to occur when the person is young
flashbulb memory
refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding how a person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself
repeated recall
testing someone’s recall of an event multiple times over time, to see if there have been changes to the memory indicating loss of accuracy
narrative rehearsal hypothesis
we may remember events like those that happened on 9/11 not because of a special mechanism but because we rehearse these events after they occur
constructive nature of memory
what people report as memories are constructed based on what actually happened plus additional factors, such as the person’s knowledge, experiences, and expectations
Source Monitoring Error (aka source misattributions)
misidentifying the source of a memory
cryptomnesia
unconscious plagiarism of the work of others
the illusory truth effect
The enhanced probability of evaluating a statement as being true upon repeated presentation
pragmatic inference
When reading a sentence leads a person to expect something that is not explicitly stated or implied by the sentence
Script
Our conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience
misleading postevent information (MPI)
misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describes that event later.
Missinformation effect
When missinformation results in false belief
Post-identification feedback effect
Increase in confidence due to confirming feedback after making an identification
Four Reccomendations to prevent mistaken identifications from witnesses
- When asking a witness to pick
the perpetrator from a lineup, inform the witness that the perpetrator may not be in the particular lineup he or she is viewing - When constructing a lineup, use “fillers” who are similar to the suspect
- Use a “blind” lineup administrator—someone who doesn’t know
who the suspect is. - Have witnesses rate their confidence immediately.
Cognitive interview
Interview which involves letting the witness talk with minimal interruption.
Also includes techniques to help a witness recreate the situation present at the crime scene by having them place themselves back in the scene and recreate things like emotions they were feeling, where they were looking, and how the scene might have appeared when viewed from diff perspective.
Music-enhanced autobiographical memories (MEAMS)
Memories elicited by hearing music. Often thought of as involuntary memories.
Proust effect
When taste and olfaction unlock memories that haven’t been thought of for a long period.
