Psych 240 Exam 2 princy

Memory

processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information when the original information is no longer present

memory is involved

whenever past experience affects later behavior

Sensory (iconic) memory

memory at the level of the sense

short term/working memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten (attention important)

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences (explicit/conscious vs implicit/unconscious)

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

A model for describing memory in which there are three distinguishable kinds of memory (sensory, short term, long term) through which info passes in a sequential way as it is processed

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system;

decays very quickly

Sperling's (1960) classic paradigm

Briefly present letter arrays (e.g. 3 rows of 4 letters); participants asked to report as many as possible;

concurrent cue increases accuracy, delayed cue decreases

short-term memory

briefly stores small amounts of information; sensory information and interpretive information recalled from long-term memory

how to measure STM?

Basic experimental strategy: prevent rehearsal (ex. count backwards by threes then have them recall initial material like 3 letters)

how long is STM

15-30 seconds without rehearsal

Proactive interference

occurs when previously learned information interferes with learning new information

Retroactive interference

new learning interferes with remembering old learning

Chunking

small units can be combined into larger (but less numerous) meaningful units

Ericsson et al. (1980)

Trained a college student with average memory ability to use chunking

S.F. had an initial digit span of 7

After 230 one-hour training sessions, S.F. could remember up to 79 digits

Chunking them into meaningful units

Alvarez and Cavanaugh (2004)

Used colored squares as well as complex objects;

STM capacity larger for less complex objects/items, smaller for more complex objects/items

encoding

the processing of information into the memory system (STM to LTM)

executive attention

how is memory from LTM related to STM

retrieved in order to use it for current task

Working memory

limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information; use for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning; along with, of course, transfer into LTM if desired

WM research suggests "central executive" processes which

selectively attend what gets into STM from sensory memory; directs control processes on material once in STM

Phonological Loop

the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

Phonological similarity effect

confusion of letters or words that sound similar

Word-length effect

The notion that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words

Articulatory suppression

Interference with operation of the phonological loop that occurs when a person repeats an irrelevant word such as "the" while carrying out a task that requires the phonological loop; eliminates word-length effect and reduces phonological similarity effect for reading words

Visuospatial Sketch Pad

The part of working memory that holds and processes visual and spatial information

Visual imagery

the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a visual stimulus

Working Memory

since phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad are at least partially independent, (to some extent) can process both kinds of info at once

Brooks mental image of "F"

Decide whether each corner is "in" or "out"; Interference if point to answer, not if say in or out

central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

Attention controller

Focus, divide, switch attention; selects STM contents from sensory memory

How to study central executive?

brain damage to frontal lobe, study individual differences in Working Memory

WM and the brain: individual differences

study individual differences in WM/central executive function;

split into high vs low WM, show stimuli w/few vs more distractors, decide whether next is same

episodic buffer

A component of working memory where information in working memory interacts with information in long term memory (eg. relating information you are processing to a previous memory); Episodic buffer holds info longer and has greater capacity than phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad

Cowan WM model

attention and WM essentially synonymous

Prefrontal cortex important in WM

monkeys without a prefrontal cortex have difficulty holding information in WM (e.g., can't remember where food just put)

Funahashi et al. (1989)

Single cell recordings from monkey's prefrontal cortex during a delay-response task

Neurons responded when stimulus was flashed in a particular location and during delay

Information remains available via these neurons for as long as they continue firing

Harrison and Tong (2009) - fMRI

-presented different gratings (varying orientation, leaning certain way)

-cues indicate which grating to remember during delay

-then present test display (compare with cued initial display)

RESULT: fMRI activity in visual cortex could predict which stimuli was cued (being held in visuospatial sketch pad)

Long-term Memory

contains information about past events and learned information (knowledge); works closely with STM/WM

Murdoch (1962)

studied the distinction between short-term and long-term memories using the serial position curve

Read stimulus list, write down all words remembered

Recency effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well (still in STM)

Primacy effect

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well (maybe more rehearsal for earlier items)

Rundus (1971)

found that the primacy effect is related to longer rehearsal time available for words at the beginning

Visual and auditory encoding

memory for faces and songs

Semantic encoding

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Wickens et al. (1976)

- Proactive interference, Tested release from PI; happened due a shift in material, with the bigger the shift, the bigger the release; concluded that PI was due to interference from similar material

Sachs (1967)

Determined the importance of meaning in LTM. In this study participants listened to a tape recorded passage then measured their recognition memory (rather than recall) to determine wether they remembered exact wording or general meaning.

Henry Molaison (H.M.) - surgery for epilepsy

Clive Wearing - encephalitis

Both had brain damage involving the hippocampus, now known to be critical for transfer from STN to LTM - i.e., forming new LTM

Had intact STM - so eternally "living in present" (although LTM from before brain trauma ok)

K.F. - brain injury in a motorbike accident

-parietal lobe damage

-could form new LTM, but impaired STM (low capacity, small recency)

episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place; if concerns you, autobiographical

semantic memory

a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

"K.C." - damaged hippocampus

No episodic memory, cannot recall past events

But--semantic memory intact (even involving past events)

DeRenzi et al. (1987)—Italian woman--encephalitis

Impaired semantic memory (e.g., Italy's role in World War II)

But—can form new episodic memories (what she did earlier that day, etc.)

Precise brain damage involved not clear

Interactions between episodic and semantic memories

often intermingled; Semantic memory routinely "informs" episodic memory; episodic memories also "need" semantic, but not vice versa

Remember/Know procedure

"Remember"—if recall stimulus and events/circumstances of its original occurrence—thought to index episodic memory

"Know"—if stimulus familiar, but don't recall related events/circumstances—thought to index semantic memory

"Don't know"—If don't remember the stimulus at all

explicit memory tasks/tests

present initial "study" list, later test either recall or recognition

Types of Long-Term Memory

explicit and implicit

three subtypes of long-term memory

Procedural (skill) memory;

Priming: previous experience changes response without conscious awareness;

Classical conditioning

Implicit Memory: Procedural Memory

classic examples involve learned skills involving movements (ex. riding a bike)

Repetition Priming

The phenomenon where processing a stimulus (or a similar one) is faster or more accurate if it has been presented previously, demonstrating a form of implicit memory

Implicit Memory in Everyday Experience

Tend to prefer/like/trust previously presented stimuli more than novel/less familiar stimuli

Propaganda effect

more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true (even when told statements were false when initially presented!)

Implicit memory: classical conditioning

Classical conditioning occurs when an initially neutral stimulus occurs along with another non-neutral stimulus

Implicit memory: more kinds of processes?

implicit memory regarded as fairly simple/primitive (vs. more "complex" explicit)

implicit learning

learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition

Encoding

various processes utilized in transferring information from WM to LTM

Retrieval

various processes utilized in transferring information from LTM to WM

Maintenance rehearsal

simply repeating the information (e.g., a phone #). Somewhat effective; better w/more reps

Elaborative rehearsal

using meanings and generating connections to target information (e.g., noticing similarity of phone number to birthdate or whatever)

Shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words; poor memory

Deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Craik & Tulving (1975)

Various words presented at study

IV: How study words presented—vary processing task

shallow: ask if study word printed in capital letters or lower case

intermediate (?): ask if study word rhymes w/another word

deep: ask if study word fits (makes sense) in fill-in-blank sentence

Then memory test

Result: deeper encoding yields better memory

Various elaborative methods help

Whether or not buy levels of processing theory, still clear that various kinds of (meaningful) elaborative encoding strategies improve transfer to LTM

Organizing information

Bower et al. (1969)--lots of study words in four categories (minerals, animals, clothing, transportation); organized group had more recall

Bransford & Johnson (1972)—present potentially confusing passage

one group saw clarifying picture before reading passage

another group saw clarifying picture after reading passage

third group never saw clarifying picture

result: group w/preceding clarifying picture recalled twice as much about passage;

organizing incoming info helps

Visual Imagery Aids Encoding

better test performance in word pairs w/imagery

retrieval practice

the repeated retrieval of an item of information from memory

Retrieval cues

stimuli that aid the recall or recognition of information stored in memory

Cued-recall

cue presented to aid recall

Increased performance over free-recall

Retrieval cues most effective when created by the person who uses them

Matching encoding & retrieval conditions

recall/recognition better when study & test conditions/states match, worse when mismatch

Transfer-appropriate processing

the idea that memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding and retrieval contexts of the situations match

Synaptic consolidation

A process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes.

Systems consolidation

a consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long time scale, lasting weeks, months, or even years; interactions between hippocampus and areas in cortex are replayed until hippocampus involvement drops out/reduces

LTM memory is delayed

list 1 recall when delay before list 2 presented

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

graded amnesia

When amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and becomes less severe for earlier, more remote events

Retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

does hippocampus really drop out?

showed pictures relating to recent vs. old events—hippocampus activated during both; in remember/know procedure hippocampus was more active for "remember" than "know" but a week later fewer remember/more know; "drop out" may actually be artifact of "semantization"

Sleep and Consolidation

a process by which immediate memories become lasting through long-term storage;

sleep and expectation help

what happens to LTM over time?

become less fragile/more "established" over time; retrieving them may make them more fragile again

"Construction" of episodic memory

memory varies in accuracy, can change over time

Autobiographical Memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story; includes multimodal sensory information

Cabeza et al (2004)

- Compared brain activity for autobiographical memory and laboratory memory

- Participants viewed:

1. Photographs they took (own photos)

2. Photographs taken by someone else (lab photos)

Both types of photos activated

1. Medial Temporal Lobe (episodic memory)

2. Parietal Cortex (scene processing)

Own photos activated more of the

1. Prefrontal Cortex (info about self)

2. Hippocampus (recollections)

most remembered events

Significant events in one's life, highly emotional events

Reminiscence Bump

the empirical finding that people over 40 years old have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other periods of their lives (10-30)

Self-image hypothesis

memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person's self-image or life identity is being formed

Cognitive hypothesis

periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories

Cultural life-script hypothesis

the idea that events in a person's life story become easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script for that person's culture

emotion and memory

well-remembered events tend to have emotional meaning thus leading to enhanced memory

Flashbulb Memories

detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events