Lecture 5

Memory

Memory

Faculty to retain information for processing and utilisation

Different types of memory

Sensory memory

Working memory (short-term)

Long Term Memory (LTM)

Working memory (short-term)

The ability to process and maintain temporary information in a wide range of everyday activities such as planning, learning, reasoning, problem solving and the following instructions

Serial Position effect

Serial Position Effect

Tendency to better recall items from the beginning and end of a list, while items in the model are often forgotten

Long Term Memory (LTM)

Declarative memory (explicit)

Procedural memory (implicit)

Declarative memory (explicit)

Can be consciously recalled

• Episodic memory (personal experiences)

• Semantic memory (general knowledge and facts)

Episodic memory (personal experiences)

Autobiographical episodic memory

Flashbulb memory

Procedural memory (implicit)

Unconscious skills and habits

Interference

Occurs when information learned disrupts other information

Retroactive interference

When new information disrupts old information

Proactive interference

When old information disrupts new information

Biological memory

Role of hippocampus

Study of Taxi drivers (Maguire et al. 2000)

Memory disorders

Looking at what can go wrong with memory helps us better understand the process involved in memory

List of memory disorders

Dementia

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Amnesia

Aphasia

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Dementia

A broad umbrella term for cognitive decline related to age

Alzheimer’s disease

Progressive decline in memory, reasoning, and problem solving due to neurodegeneration

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Early signs of dementia

Amnesia

A sudden and complete loss of all past memories, but the ability to form new ones remains intact

Aphasia

Acquired due to injury → impaired language ability

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Intense, disturbing and intrusive thoughts and feelings related to the experience that lasts long after the traumatic even has ended

Memory, sleep and dreams

Memory consolidation

Day-residue

Dream-lag

Memory consolidation

When something you have learned recently enters your long term memory

Day-residue

Freudian

What you dream tonight is related to what happens today

Dream-lag

More complex

Between 5 - 7 days later you will dream about what happens today