Long-Term Memory: Representation, Categorization, and Retrieval in Psychology, Working Memory, Cognitive Tasks, and Memory Dissociations in Psychology

What is Semantic Memory?

A type of memory that consists of general knowledge and facts not tied to a specific time or place.

How does Semantic Memory differ from Episodic Memory?

Episodic Memory is tied to personal events and specific times and places, while Semantic Memory is not.

What is the Classical View of mental categories?

Categories are defined by necessary and sufficient defining properties.

What are the problems with the Classical View of categorization?

It is often difficult to specify necessary and sufficient criteria for categories.

What is the Modern Probabilistic View of categorization?

An object belongs to a category if it is similar to the members of that category, relying on characteristic properties.

What is Typicality Evidence in categorization?

Some members are judged as better examples of a category than others, affecting verification speed.

What is the Sentence Verification effect?

People are faster to verify sentences about more typical exemplars compared to atypical ones.

What are Hedges in categorization?

Phrases like 'A whale is technically a mammal' used when classical defining properties conflict with characteristic properties.

How does reasoning affect categorization in children?

Children may base category decisions on conceptual knowledge rather than physical features.

What is the Geometric Approach to similarity judgments?

It assumes concepts are represented as points in a multi-dimensional space, where distance corresponds to similarity.

What are the three Metric Axioms of the Geometric Approach?

1. Minimality, 2. Symmetry, 3. Triangle Inequality.

What is the Featural Approach to similarity judgments?

Items are represented as sets of discrete features, with similarity measured by common and distinctive features.

What is the formula for similarity in the Featural Approach?

Similarity (I, J) = features common to I and J - features unique to I - features unique to J.

What is the Hierarchical Network Model (TLC)?

An early semantic network model with a strictly hierarchical structure and cognitive economy.

What is cognitive economy in the Hierarchical Network Model?

Features are stored only once at the highest relevant node, and lower nodes inherit properties.

What is the Distance Effect in the TLC model?

The time taken for sentence verification increases with the number of links traversed in the hierarchy.

What are Reverse Distance Effects?

People may verify membership faster involving more links than expected, contrary to the TLC model predictions.

What are Typicality Effects in the TLC model?

The model fails to explain why typical items are verified faster than atypical items despite equal link traversal.

What is the Revised TLC Model?

A flexible network model allowing direct links between concepts and varying connection strengths.

What is Spreading Activation in the Revised TLC Model?

When a concept node is activated, activation spreads to adjacent nodes, allowing for relationship verification.

What are Privileged Categories (Basic Level)?

Basic level categories maximize informativeness and distinctiveness, leading to faster verification and preference in naming.

How can expertise affect category verification?

Experts can verify membership at both basic and specific levels equally fast in their domain.

What are Category Prototypes?

Summary descriptions abstracted from instances used to explain typicality effects in categorization.

What is the difference between Gist and Verbatim memory?

Memory preferentially preserves semantics (meaning) and gist over exact wording.

What did the Sachs (Galileo) study reveal about sentence comprehension?

Subjects detected semantic changes better than changes in wording, syntax, or word order.

What is the difference between central and peripheral information in memory?

Subjects remember central/important information better than peripheral details.

Define 'schema' in the context of memory.

A schema is generalized conceptual knowledge that organizes information and dictates expectations.

How does prior knowledge facilitate comprehension?

Consistent prior knowledge with new information enhances memory recall, as shown in the Bransford & Johnson experiments.

What was demonstrated in Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study?

Participants distorted details of a Native American story to align with their cultural knowledge.

What is an event schema (script)?

Knowledge about the typical order of events, which can lead to false recall of items consistent with the schema.

What is a scene schema?

Knowledge about typical objects in a setting, which can lead to false memories for schema-consistent items.

What is the main focus of Lecture 15 regarding memory?

It examines how memory can be influenced and distorted, particularly in legal testimony.

What are logical inferences in memory?

Inferences made during encoding based on spatial relations that accept logically consistent new sentences.

What are pragmatic inferences?

Inferences based on real-world knowledge, such as assuming tools were used for specific tasks.

What effect does misleading postevent information have on memory?

It can dramatically alter memory, as shown in Loftus's experiments with word choice affecting speed estimates.

What is the difference between overwriting and acceptance in memory distortion?

Overwriting suggests old memory is lost, while acceptance indicates original and new information coexist, causing confusion.

What issues were highlighted by the Brewster case in eyewitness identification?

It demonstrated the dangers of suggestive procedures and source monitoring errors in eyewitness testimony.

What are general impairment variables in eyewitness identification?

Factors like stress and exposure time that account for overall poor performance in identifications.

What are suspect-bias variables?

Factors explaining why an innocent suspect was selected over fillers, such as biased lineups.

What is the difference between relative judgments and sequential presentation in lineups?

Relative judgments compare suspects to others, while sequential presentation requires an absolute judgment, reducing errors.

What interviewing technique can improve eyewitness accuracy?

The cognitive interview, which allows the witness to narrate freely and includes questions in reverse order.

What are Schacter's seven sins of memory?

They include transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence.

What is transience in memory?

The decreasing accessibility of information over time, linked to encoding levels.

What is absent-mindedness in memory?

Lapses of attention during encoding or retrieval, leading to poor memory performance.

What is blocking in memory?

Temporary inaccessibility of stored information, exemplified by the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon.

What does misattribution in memory refer to?

Attributing a recollection or idea to the wrong source, leading to errors like source confusion.

What is suggestibility in memory?

Memories implanted by leading questions or comments, often inflating confidence in false memories.

What is bias in memory?

Retrospective distortions influenced by current knowledge or beliefs, affecting recall consistency.

What is persistence in memory?

Pathological, intrusive recollections that individuals cannot forget, often seen in PTSD patients.

Working memory

the system or systems involved in the temporary storage of information used in the performance of cognitive skills such as reasoning, learning, and comprehension

Raven's Progressive Matrices and Mental Arithmetic

often used as an IQ test, correlates with performance on many cognitive tasks, suggesting the centrality of WM in higher-level thought

Interference effects in reasoning

syllogisms are logical arguments that apply deductive reasoning -> like logic puzzles

the working memory task interferes with reasoning -> this implies you need working memory for reasoning

Measuring span

The most frequently used measure, exemplified by the reading span task, involves presenting a series of sentences that must be processed (read or verified), followed by the recall of the final word of each sentence

Digit span

how many letters or numbers you can hold in your memory at one time

working memory capacity

Aging and working memory

Scores on Raven's tests worsen for older people

may be caused by the decline in working memory capacity with age

Double dissociation between working memory and long-term memory

evidence from patients with brain lesions supports the idea that WM and LTM are separate systems

Anterograde amnesia

Patients like H.M., who sustained damage to the medial temporal lobes (including the hippocampus), exhibited a substantial impairment in long-term memory but preserved working memory (normal digit span and retention in short-term tasks if not distracted)

Retrograde amnesia

Other patients, such as K.F., showed the opposite deficit pattern: impaired working memory (digit span of only two items) but normal long-term learning ability

Double dissociation logic

The existence of these two patient groups (H.M. impaired LTM/intact WM and K.F. intact LTM/impaired WM) provides powerful evidence for a double dissociation, indicating that the two types of memory rely on different underlying cognitive systems

Behavioral Dissociation (Serial Position Curve)

The standard serial position curve in free recall shows high accuracy for words presented early in the list (primacy effect) and words presented at the end of the list (recency effect)

Recent Effect (WM)

The recency effect is sensitive to delay

If recall is immediately delayed by a distracting task (like counting backwards), the recency effect is disrupted (or disappears), while the primacy effect remains

This suggests the recency effect is dependent on a temporary short-term store (WM)

Primacy Effect (LTM)

Recall of earlier items (the primacy effect) depends on factors that influence long-term learning, such as the rate of presentation

A slower presentation rate allows more time for rehearsal -> resulting in a larger primacy effect

Baddeley's Tripartite Theory (Three-Part Model)

The phonological loop

The visuospatial sketchpad

The central executive

The Phonological Loop

a system specialized for storing and manipulating speech-based information

consists of a verbal store and an articulatory rehearsal process

subvocal rehearsal is needed to refresh the information stored

non-auditory information is often converted to a phonological format for storage and rehearsal

Evidence for the phonological loop

Phonological Similarity Effect

Word Length Effect

Articulatory Suppression

Neuroimaging evidence

Phonological Similarity Effect

Immediate recall for items similar in sound (acoustic confusion) is poorer than for dissimilar items (e.g., B C P T V are confused)

This occurs because items are stored using a speech-based code, and similar items have fewer distinguishing features

Word Length Effect

Memory span is larger for short words (e.g., sum, harm, wit) than for long words (e.g., opportunity, university)

Subjects can remember approximately as many words as they can say in 2 seconds

This effect shows that WM span is also larger for people who speak quickly and in languages (like Chinese) where words are pronounced quickly

Articulatory Suppression

Requiring subjects to utter irrelevant sound (e.g., saying "the" repeatedly) prevents subvocal rehearsal

Suppression leads to increased errors and eliminates the word length effect (as rehearsal is blocked)

* also causes the phonological similarity effect to disappear with visually presented materials

Neuroimaging Evidence for phonological loop

The rehearsal process in the phonological loop activates the left hemisphere

Specifically, regions in the left inferior prefrontal cortex (Broca's area) are important for phonological rehearsal, while the left (posterior) parietal lobe subserves phonological storage

The Visuospatial Sketchpad

system devoted to visual imagery and spatial processing

it holds and manipulates information about objects and locations

Behavioral Double Dissociation (Brooks' Task)

the VSS is functionally distinct from the PL, demonstrated by behavioral interference patterns:

◦ A visuospatial task (like mentally tracing a block letter, the Brooks letter-scanning task) is severely impaired by a concurrent visuospatial response (like pointing), but not by a vocal response.

◦ A purely verbal task (like judging if words in a sentence are nouns) is impaired by a vocal response, demonstrating that the two systems operate independently

Neuroimaging evidence for the visuospatial sketchpad

Visuo-spatial WM activates the right frontal lobe

PET scanning studies indicate the involvement of occipital, parietal, pre-frontal, and frontal lobes, primarily in the right hemisphere

This contrast with the left-hemisphere activation for the phonological loop suggests a PET double dissociation between the two slave systems

The Central Executive

the most complex component, acting as the attentional controller

Its functions include supervising attention, planning, coordination, and monitoring the activity of the slave systems and the interaction with LTM

Frontal Lobe Syndrome

Damage to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) results in CE dysfunction (frontal lobe syndrome)

Patients exhibit problems with organization and planning, alongside core deficits in attentional control: distractibility, perseveration, and utilization behavior

Perseveration

failing to stop inappropriate or routine behavior

Utilization behavior

here patients respond inappropriately by manipulating any object that comes to hand (a symptom of distractibility)

Capacity and Chunking

WM capacity is typically 7 ± 2 items, but this capacity is often better described in terms of chunks (meaningful units) rather than solely the number of syllables

Rehearsal process function

(the articulatory loop) activates the left hemisphere, specifically the left inferior prefrontal cortex (Broca's area)

Phonological store function

(verbal buffer) activates the left posterior parietal lobe (Wernicke's area)

evidence suggests that we use the brain's language area for subvocal rehearsal

Psychogenic Amnesia

Rare in the real world, caused by psychological rather than physical trauma

Organic amnesia

caused by brain damage

Explicit Memory

Conscious recollection or declarative knowledge ("knowing that")

- Includes recall and recognition

Implicit Memory

Unconscious change in behavior or performance, including procedural knowledge

Patient H.M. deficits and intact functions

Famous amnesiac -> had a bilateral removal of his medial temporal lobes to treat severe epilepsy

Impaired explicit memory: anterograde amnesia

Intact working memory & implicit memory

Evidence for Implicit vs. Explicit Dissociation

PET studies using a word stem completion task demonstrate differential brain activity for explicit recall vs implicit priming

Explicit Task (Recall): Requires conscious recollection

Implicit Task (Priming): Requires generating the first word that comes to mind.

Behavioral Double Dissociation (Modality of presentation)

Explicit Memory: Performance (recognition/recall) is equal regardless of whether the words were presented visually or auditorily.

Implicit Memory: Priming is stronger when the presentation and test modalities match

Behavioral Double Dissociation (Depth of processing)

Explicit Memory: Performance is strongly affected by processing depth (deep/semantic encoding leads to better recall than shallow/physical encoding)

Implicit Memory: Performance (priming effects) is not affected by the depth of processing; priming occurs regardless of whether encoding was shallow or deep