Exam 2 Human memory

Episodic retrieval

Partial re-creation (recapitulation) of mental state from the original experience

Cue overload

The more memories are associated with a single cue, the less effective the cue will be.

Retrieval mode

Deliberate attempt to retrieve something from episodic memory.

What can trigger retrieval with no apparent effort or intention to remember?

Retrieval mode

Cue specification

Coming up with a retrieval cue if it isn’t already physically present

Cue maintenance

Keeping that cue in working memory while you search long-term memory

Interference resolution

When an undesired memory pops up, suppressing it

Direct memory test

Person is explicitly asked what’s in their memory.

“tell me what you remember”

Free recall

“tell me what you remember, here’s hint (the cue)”

Cued recall

“did you study this?”

Recognition

“Did you see or hear THIS before?

Yes/no recognition or old/new recognition

“Which ONE OF THESE did you see/hear before?”

Forced-choice recognition

Copy cue

Effective, and identical to the studied item.

Free-recall test

No cue in the sensory input

Direct memory test

Person is explicitly asked what’s in their memory

Indirect memory test

Person is asked to do some task. Some of the items they work on are the same/similar to recently-encountered material and some are not. Person is NOT asked to consult their memory. Nonetheless, task performance is different for recently-encountered versus new items.

An example of an indirect memory test. Hint: “Press the right button for real words, left button for nonwords”

Lexical decision task

Incidental forgetting

The person would LIKE to remember.

Motivated forgetting

The person has a reason not to remember.

Consolidation

A process that continues after initial learning, making memories more resistant to forgetting.

Contextual drift hypothesis

Explains why accuracy is lower for older memories. As time passes, one’s mental state becomes increasingly different from mental state at the time of study.

Synaptic consolidation

Structural changes that take hours to days. Takes place in essentially all parts of the brain

System consolidation

Structural changes that can occur over years in humans. Produced by retrieving / re-creating/ re-playing a memory.

Decay

Memories just fade over time

Interference

New and old memories overlap, hard to pull out ONE memory

Proactive interference

Old material impairs memory for new material

Retroactive interference

New material impairs memory for old material.

Cue overload principle

The more memories are associated with a single cue, the less likely retrieval will be successful. Suggests competition between related memories during retrieval