PSYC 513/703 Lecture Notes Flashcards

Flashcards based on lecture notes covering long-term memory, consolidation, encoding & retrieval, and varieties of long-term memory.

Consolidation (in Long-Term Memory)

An ongoing process involving connections at the synaptic and structural level, with an initial dependence on the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe, eventually reorganizing into more permanent representations in neocortical areas.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memories prior to the onset of amnesia.

Anterograde Amnesia

No new memories post-trauma.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of pre-trauma memories.

Temporal Gradient in Retrograde Amnesia

Remote memories are intact, but memory loss increases closer in time to the trauma.

Memory Consolidation Over Time

Newer memories are more fragile and susceptible to disruption.

New memory representations

Initially formed by the hippocampus, but over time become consolidated in other regions of the cortex.

Cortical Representations

Transfer to cortical representations increases their endurance; reactivation strengthens neuronal connections and creates additional copies.

Episodic Memory

Specific personal experiences from a particular time and place.

Semantic Memory

World knowledge, object knowledge, language knowledge, conceptual priming.

Procedural Memory

Skills (motor and cognitive).

Episodic Memory Processes

Encoding, storage & consolidation, and retrieval.

Factors Affecting Encoding

The quality of representation and depth of processing.

Shepard (1967) Picture Recognition Study

Recognition memory accuracy is very high shortly after seeing images but decreases over time.

Picture Superiority Effect

Memory for pictures is superior to memory for words.

Bower & Winzenz (1970) Imagery Study

Forming a mental image results in superior memory compared to silent repetition.

Autobiographical Memories

Mental time travel or reliving the past, highly associated with mental imagery.

MacLeod et. al (2010) - production effect

Study list of words: read silently or say aloud. Better recognition memory for “produced” words.

Distinctiveness

Suggesting that its intrinsic properties, that are unusual, emotional, or arousing, makes something more memorable.

Von Restorff (1933) Isolation Effect

Memory for an item depends on the context, e.g., distinctive = different (isolated) from surrounding items.

Craik & Tulving (1975) Levels of Processing

Structural, Phonomic, and Semantic.

Self-Reference Effect

Deeper = more (personally) meaningful; most distinctive, elaborative.

Survival

Imagine that you are stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land, without any basic survival materials.

Moving

Imagine that you are planning to move to a new home in a foreign land. Over the next few months, you’ll need to locate and purchase a new home and transport your belongings.

Pleasantness

We are going to show you a list of words, and we would like you to rate the pleasantness of each word.

Encoding Specificity

Memory is better if the retrieval context matches the encoding context.

Retrieval Problem

Memory interference. Need to search through many similar memories which makes remembering difficult

Encoding Specificity

Memory is better if the retrieval context matches the encoding context.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Memory best when you use the same processing at encoding and retrieval

State-Dependent Learning

Memory best when the environmental or mental context is the same at encoding and retrieval.

Familiarity

Feeling of recognition without specific details.

Recollection

Recall of specific episodic details or associations.

Characteristics of Familiarity

Fast, automatic, (unconscious?).

Characteristics of Recollection

Slow, deliberate, conscious.

Objectively, Remembering

associated with accurate memory for source, context, associations and declines rapidly over time, with a large impact of reduced attention

Jacoby, Woloshyn & Kelley, (1989)

Divided attention at encoding has a large effect on recognition memory but no effect on fame judgments.

Conclusion about Recollection and Familiarity

Recollection requires conscious attention and Familiarity is automatic, unconscious

Time Course of Recognition Memory

Initial reliance on familiarity until recollection becomes available later in time.