Memory chapter 1-4

Clive Wearing

A musician who lost his short-term memory and ability to form new memories after illness, while retaining his ability to play piano.

Metamemory

An individual's awareness, knowledge, and understanding of their own cognitive memory processes.

Sensory memory

The shortest time span of memory that holds raw sensory information briefly before decay or processing.

Iconic memory

A type of visual sensory memory that briefly stores visual information during the early stages of perception.

Echoic memory

A type of auditory sensory memory that holds sound information for 3 to 4 seconds.

Short-term memory

A limited-capacity memory system that holds information temporarily for around 15 to 30 seconds unless maintained by rehearsal.

Working memory

An active memory system that allows for both the temporary storage and manipulation of information during cognitive tasks.

Explicit memory

Also known as declarative memory, a class of long-term memory involving conscious recall of facts and personal events.

Episodic memory

A type of explicit memory consisting of personal, autobiographical events tied to specific times and places.

Semantic memory

A type of explicit memory involving general knowledge, facts, and concepts about the world.

Implicit memory

Non-declarative memory involving motor skills, habits, and conditioned responses that operate without conscious recall.

Procedural memory

A subcategory of implicit memory responsible for knowing how to perform physical motor actions and skills.

Amnesia

A cognitive condition involving severe memory loss, often affecting explicit episodic recall while leaving implicit skills intact.

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new long-term explicit memories following brain trauma or injury.

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to recall memories created prior to a specific point of brain trauma or injury.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

A long-lasting strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity, serving as a neural basis for learning.

Computerized Tomography CT scan

multiple x-rays used to make a 3D image of the brain

Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI

strong magnetic field pulses and diffrent parts of the brain release the enrgy diffrently

Diffusion Tensor Imaging DTI

detects water movement through fatty myelin shealth

tells us about functional connections

Sensitization and Habituation

• A memory is recalled with less activation required

• Response is decreased over repeated exposure

Long term potentiation and depression

LTP: long-lasting increase in the strength of synaptic connections between neurons ◼ LTD: long-lasting decrease in the strength of synaptic connections between neurons

Chunking

A memory strategy that involves grouping smaller items into larger, meaningful units to increase effective memory capacity.

Phonological loop

A component of working memory that processes and holds auditory and verbal information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

A component of working memory responsible for storing and manipulating visual images and spatial relationships.

Word length effect

The phenomenon where recall memory span is lower for longer words due to the extra time required for rehearsal.

Primacy effect

The enhanced recall of items from the beginning of a list because they receive more rehearsal and enter long-term memory.

Recency effect

The enhanced recall of items from the end of a list because they remain actively held in working memory.

Articulatory suppression

The disruption of verbal rehearsal in the phonological loop caused by repeating an irrelevant aloud sound or word.

Central Executive

The master component of working memory responsible for directing attention, coordinating subsystems, and processing information.

Episodic Buffer

A component of working memory that integrates multi-modal information into coherent chronological sequences with limited capacity.

Double dissociation

A neuropsychological research method proving that two cognitive functions are independent by identifying separate brain regions responsible for each.

Levels of processing theory

A cognitive framework suggesting that deeper, semantic processing of information leads to stronger memory traces than shallow perceptual processing.

Maintenance rehearsal

The process of repeatedly reciting information to keep it active in short-term memory without analyzing its meaning.

Elaborative rehearsal

A memory encoding technique that involves thinking about the meaning of information and connecting it to existing knowledge.

Neuroimaging

Techniques such as fMRI and PET scans used to visualize brain structure and activity related to memory functions.

Chunk size effect

The finding that memory capacity is constrained by both the number of chunks and the information density of each chunk.

Spatial STM

A temporary memory system dedicated to retaining spatial locations of objects, lasting roughly 30 seconds without maintenance.

Cowan's Embedded-Process Model

A cognitive theory proposing that working memory is not a set of distinct physical stores, but rather the temporary activation of long-term memory representations controlled by a limited-capacity focus of attention.

Focus of Attention (Cowan's Model)

The central component in Nelson Cowan's model that holds a limited capacity of roughly 3 to 4 activated items in conscious awareness at one time.

Activated Long-Term Memory (Cowan's Model)

The broader set of memory representations that are currently highlighted by attention or environmental cues, from which the focus of attention selects items.

Two main functions of Working Memory

Short-term storage of incoming information and active processing or cognitive manipulation of that stored information.

Broca's area

A region in the left frontal lobe of the brain involved in motor speech production, language processing, and subvocal rehearsal within the phonological loop.

Role of Broca's area in Working Memory

Mediates the inner speech mechanism and silent rehearsal process required to refresh verbal information in short-term storage.

Smith and Jonides Neuroimaging Findings

Neuroimaging research using PET and fMRI demonstrating a double dissociation where verbal working memory activates left-hemisphere regions and spatial working memory activates right-hemisphere regions.

Current Multi-Component Model of Working Memory

An integrated framework that combines Baddeley's four-part model (Central Executive, Phonological Loop, Visuospatial Sketchpad, Episodic Buffer) with state-based attentional models and neural networks.

Double dissociation

A neuropsychological research method proving that two cognitive functions are independent by identifying separate brain regions responsible for each.

Levels of processing theory

A cognitive framework suggesting that deeper, semantic processing of information leads to stronger memory traces than shallow perceptual processing.

Maintenance rehearsal

The process of repeatedly reciting information to keep it active in short-term memory without analyzing its meaning.

Elaborative rehearsal

A memory encoding technique that involves thinking about the meaning of information and connecting it to existing knowledge.

Neuroimaging

Techniques such as fMRI and PET scans used to visualize brain structure and activity related to memory functions.

Chunk size effect

The finding that memory capacity is constrained by both the number of chunks and the information density of each chunk.

Spatial STM

A temporary memory system dedicated to retaining spatial locations of objects, lasting roughly 30 seconds without maintenance.

Cowan's Embedded-Process Model

A cognitive theory proposing that working memory is not a set of distinct physical stores, but rather the temporary activation of long-term memory representations controlled by a limited-capacity focus of attention.

Focus of Attention (Cowan's Model)

The central component in Nelson Cowan's model that holds a limited capacity of roughly 3 to 4 activated items in conscious awareness at one time.

Activated Long-Term Memory (Cowan's Model)

The broader set of memory representations that are currently highlighted by attention or environmental cues, from which the focus of attention selects items.

Two main functions of Working Memory

Short-term storage of incoming information and active processing or cognitive manipulation of that stored information.

Broca's area

A region in the left frontal lobe of the brain involved in motor speech production, language processing, and subvocal rehearsal within the phonological loop.

Role of Broca's area in Working Memory

Mediates the inner speech mechanism and silent rehearsal process required to refresh verbal information in short-term storage.

Smith and Jonides Neuroimaging Findings

Neuroimaging research using PET and fMRI demonstrating a double dissociation where verbal working memory activates left-hemisphere regions and spatial working memory activates right-hemisphere regions.

Current Multi-Component Model of Working Memory

An integrated framework that combines Baddeley's four-part model (Central Executive, Phonological Loop, Visuospatial Sketchpad, Episodic Buffer) with state-based attentional models and neural networks.