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
