Week 9 - LTM continued Flashcards
What are the (2) theories of forgetting?
Decay theory = memory traces decay due to time.
Interference theory = memory traces become less accessible due to interference of competing memories. You learn more as time goes on.
When does interference effects work/ not work? Describe an experiment.
Interference effects occurs when multiple pieces of info have no intrinsic relationship to each other.
In contrast, interference does not occur when the info is relevant and can be reversed.
Experiment: participants learn some little-known info about famous people:
~ single condition (target fact)
~ irrelevant condition (target plus 2x unrelated facts)
~ relevant condition = (target plus (2) related facts)
Participants given names of famous people and asked to recall target facts.
Learning memory relevant material does not interfere with target memory.
Describe the relationship between retrieval and interference.
We make inferences at the time of memory retrieval. Sometimes we are not aware of this.
What is exact and plausible retrieval? Provide an example.
Plausible inference - where the man got his french fries from.
Plausible retrieval might seem inaccurate, but in real-world settings it often works well.
What is source confusion?
Where people confuse what they observe about an incident with what they learn from other sources.
What is reconsolidation?
Brief stage where the memory can be reinforced or altered. Putting the client back into the memory, cueing memory from incident, then change or remove fearful aspects or inferences from that memory.
Used in EMDR and exposure therapy.
Intrusions are primarily visual. Traumatic memories can be reduced.
Provide an example of long term non-declarative memory?
Remembering how to type.
What is extinction learning?
Repeated presentations of a conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus creates a competing memory trace, that can supersede the conditioned memory.
Basis of modern exposure therapies.
Provide an example of how a fear memory works.
A red hat may be the feared conditioned stimulus, then results in fearful response.
Patients exposed to feared conditioned stimulus, until conditioned response disappears.
Describe a conditioned stimulus and its relations to response.
Conditioned stimulus will trigger a response. Often not related to the trauma. E.g. red hat or foot steps. However the conditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response.
So, extinction of fear response is not forgetting; it is creating a competing memory (extinction memory) that will compete and inhibit fear memory, as opposed to getting rid of the memory.
New memory association should become strong enough to override the other memory.
